The Cannes Film Festival is a place where audacity is rewarded and experimentation is encouraged. But ordinary people and their struggles also find their place on the screen, in-between the magic and the glamour. One thing is certain, Cannes is like a curveball – you never know what you’re going to get or quite how you’re going to react.
The official selection is definitely full of surprises this year, with first-time directors rubbing shoulders with a host of experienced veterans.
In the running for the coveted Palme d'Or is the latest offering by French director Jacques Audiard – who wowed Cannes audiences in 2015 with Dheepan, that won the top prize.
With Emilia Perez, he has taken the idea of "experimental" into a new dimension.
The pitch goes something like this: mix a Mexican cartel boss wanting a sex change, a lonely lawyer ready to help him with a cast of singing and dancing characters, and you have an explosive cocktail.
This is in part thanks to the trio of women leading the film, each with their own very strong character. Zoe Saldana is the lawyer yearning to be more appreciated in her job and find love, Selena Gomez is the cartel boss’ wife while Karla Sofia Gascon shines as both the cartel boss Manitas and Emilia Perez.
This is Audiard’s first foray into the musical comedy genre and the film took four years to make – indeed a labour of love.
It was completely shot at studios in Paris, spoken and sung mostly in Spanish, providing quite the international melting pot.
On paper it sounds completely crazy, but somehow it works.
By linking drama, comedy and something in-between it leaves the audience stunned and convinced.
A wild ride
Then there’s Kirill Serebrennikov with Limoniv - The Ballad – the Russian director’s fourth time in competition at Cannes.
Based on the award-winning novel by French writer Emmanuel Carrère, it explores the unpredictable and crazy life of Soviet dissident Edouard Savenko – who changed his name to Limonov which translates as “hand grenade”.
The Russian director takes the audience on a wild ride – following the rebellious Savenko (played by the British actor Ben Whishaw) from the USSR to New York via Paris.
His obsession with becoming famous never lets up even when he ends up doing odd jobs and setting up his own political party.
Graphics, music and dream sequences are cleverly used to carry the story from the late 1960s to the 2000s – sometimes flicking back and forth – echoing the chaotic ramblings of the lead character.
Expect the unexpected
And then there are quiet debut films like Eephus, from American director Carson Lund, selected in the Directors’ Fortnight.
Set in a country town, two teams gather to play their last baseball match at a stadium that is earmarked for demolition.
The guys have been playing every week for as long as they can remember. They’re going grey for the most part, have aching knees and have trouble running to first base but they are adamant they will play until the bitter end – even if that means using car headlights to illuminate the pitch.
Strangely, the story is about much more than the game, and through gentle humour and camaraderie we learn about their hopes, their dreams and what makes them tick.
For a while, audiences who know nothing about baseball (probably most people in Cannes, let’s face it) are wondering why is the film called Eephus? Is it a person? A team? A nickname?
It turns out it's a pitching technique like a curveball, moving deceptively slowly so that the batsman loses his nerve and either strikes above or below – missing it.
That's exactly what the Cannes Film Festival is – kind of like the curveball of cinema.
Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, you are left speechless by something new and unexpected.
You never know what you’re going to get, you might hate it or love it or feel something in-between. In any case, you won’t be left unmoved.
