This week on “Screen Talk,” we take you behind the scenes of the goings-on at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival on the French Riviera, where we recorded on Day Two. Politics dominated the first press conferences with director Thierry Frémaux and the nine-member jury led by Juliette Binoche. They turned up for opening night as well, where Leonardo DiCaprio presented an honorary Palme d’Or to Robert De Niro, and Quentin Tarantino bounded onto the stage to declare the festival open. The opening night film “Leave One Day,” from French rookie Amélie Bonnin, a strictly local jukebox musical with the actors singing French pop hits of the ’80s, will not travel.
Later that night, DiCaprio attended the gala dinner with De Niro at the Palm Beach, where Anne enjoyed talking with “Anora” Oscar-winners Sean Baker and Samantha Quan (he produced, wrote, and edited Critics’ Week entry “Left-Handed Girl“), the hilarious Michael Covino (“Splitsville”), Amazon’s Scott Foundas, Michael Barker and Tom Bernard (Sony Pictures Classics), and Searchlight’s Matthew Greenfield, among others.
When we recorded the podcast on Thursday, the first breakout film of the fest, Mascha Schilinski’s German-language “Sound of Falling,” led the Screen International jury grid (by Friday, Sergei Loznitsa’s “Two Prosecutors” was on top). Ryan and Ane both admire “Sound of Falling” with some caveats. Most buyers admire the bravura filmmaking, but mainly art-house distributors are circling.
Anne attended the IMAX showing of “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” which features several satisfying Tom Cruise death-defying stunts shot in IMAX. (You must see the film in IMAX.) Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie explain the $400-millon movie’s craziest stunts here. Ryan suspects the Entity enemy is not only an AI but a metaphor for streaming services, where Cruise is leaning on his legacy as the man who saved Hollywood (and will keep saving it) with “Top Gun: Maverick.” Anne thinks this one, billed as the finale, will do better than the last, which was dinged by “Barbenheimer.” That doesn’t mean it will make its money back: while the film’s ending leaves a sequel open, the box office will tell that tale.
We also dig into big news out of Cannes that Neon has hired Cinetic Media executive Ryan Werner as its next global president. (His lieutenant Courtney Ott will now run Cinetic Media marketing.)
And we share our thoughts on a few titles premiering in the Competition and other sections. Ryan previews “Sirat,” “Left-Handed Girl,” and “The Little Sister,” while Anne raves about Ugo Bienvenu’s “Arco,” a charming French animated film with an eco message.
Listen to the episode below or watch in the video above.
