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Cannes film festival : Director Mati Diop becomes first black woman to win award in 72 years
French-Senagalese director Mati Diop has become the first black female director to win an award in Cannes’ 72-year history.
Diop took home the Grand Prix – the equivalent of a silver prize – for her film Atlantics , a Senegalese drama about sexual politics among young migrants.
Cannes 2019: What the critics are sayingShow all 20 1 /20Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying The Dead Don't Die Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die opened Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews. The Independent's Geoffrey Macnab wrote that the cast – including Bill Murray, Adam Driver and Steve Buscemi – gave "strangely listless and deadpan performances". The two-star review continued: "Tilda Swinton brings some comic vim to her role as a samurai-like undertaker with a broad Scottish accent while Caleb Landry Jones and Danny Glover are good value as they take a stand against the undead in the local convenience store, but neither the satire nor the slapstick here are as sharp as you would like them to be."
AP
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Rocketman Dexter Fletcher’s Elton John biopic Rocketman had its world premiere at Cannes. While The Telegraph awarded the film with five stars, most other publications were more muted. The Independent's Geoffrey Macnab called the film "a rousing and emotional affair with an operatic sweep". However, he added: "At times, Rocketman risks turning into a chronicle of woe. Much of the film focuses on the years when Elton was abusing alcohol and drugs. He was miserable in his own life and took out his unhappiness on those closest to him. This doesn’t make him very good company. It can become tiresome to hear him say yet again how much he hates himself. However, Fletcher films even the darkest scenes in a very flamboyant fashion and manages to leaven matters with some ironic humour."
Paramount
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Sorry We Missed You Ken Loach, two-time winner of the Palme d'Or, returned to the festival with Sorry We Missed You. "Late in his career, Loach retains the ability to make heart-wrenching and very topical dramas that expose the grimmer aspects of contemporary British society," wrote Geoffrey Macnab in a five-star review for The Independent. "Scripted by his regular collaborator Paul Laverty, this is another of Loach’s films about decent people trying to do the best for themselves but being defeated by a system in which 'everything is out of whack.'" Other publications were equally positive about the film.
Sixteen Films
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Pain and Glory Geoffrey Macnab described Pedro Almodóvar's Pain and Glory as "the kind of indulgent and self-absorbed film that only a director with such a glittering career behind him would be allowed to get away with". The four-star review continued: "It’s about a filmmaker looking back on his past, mulling over his life and relationships. Imagine a Spanish version of a Bergman or Woody Allen film about love and loss and you will come close to its essence. It’s a wonderfully evocative affair with a subtle, soulful performance from Antonio Banderas."
Sony Pictures
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Probably the biggest film of the festival, Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, was met with almost unanimous praise. "Quite simply, I just defy anyone with red blood in their veins not to respond to the crazy bravura of Tarantino’s film-making, not to be bounced around the auditorium at the moment-by-moment enjoyment that this movie delivers – and conversely, of course, to shudder at the horror and cruelty and its hallucinatory aftermath," wrote Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian, awarding the film full marks. Variety was slightly more damning, with Owen Gleiberman writing: "By the end, Tarantino has done something that’s quintessentially Tarantino, but that no longer feels even vaguely revolutionary. He has reduced the story he’s telling to pulp."
Sony
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying The Lighthouse Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson star in Robert Eggers's follow-up to The Witch. Titled The Lighthouse, the two-header won over critics, with both The Telegraph and Guardian awarding the film five stars. "The film is shot in inky black and white, on grainy 35mm film, and presented in a series of rigorously composed square frames," wrote Kevin Maher in The Times. "It has the feel of a newly discovered artefact from FW Murnau (Nosferatu) and is certainly one of the most beautiful-looking movies at the festival. If it has a palpable flaw, it’s that the style sometimes overwhelms. More head than heart. The final image is so breathtaking, however, that you can forgive even this."
Erik Chakeen
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Parasite Bong Joon-ho was last at Cannes with the Netflix film Okja. His return with Parasite was met with critical acclaim. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described the film as "a luxuriously watchable and satirical suspense drama". He added: "It runs as purringly smooth as the Mercedes driven by the lead character, played by Korean star Song Kang-ho. Parasite is a bizarre black comedy about social status, aspiration, materialism and the patriarchal family unit, and people who accept the idea of having (or leasing) a servant class."
CJ Entertainment
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Les Misérables Director Ladj Ly's debut turned heads at Cannes. Nicholas Barber of the BBC wrote that the "racially charged urban drama about the hostility between police and civilians" is "impressive" but lost momentum in the middle. However, Barber concluded: "Just when you think that the story is drifting towards an obvious ending, there is an explosion of savage action which, although highly implausible, is so shocking, exciting and politically fascinating that it blasts the film into a different level."
BAC Films
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Portrait of a Lady on Fire Few films received praise equal to Portrait of a Lady on Fire. The film website IndieWire awarded French filmmaker Céline Sciamma's film an "A" grade. Critic David Ehrlich wrote: “Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a profoundly tender story about the process of self-discovery and becoming... The film is paced at the speed of a world that’s lit by candlelight, the sex is sensual without being provocative, and the third act will frustrate anyone hoping for a more radical takedown of heteronormative structures."
Pyramide Films
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Beanpole Russian talent Kantemir Balagov may be just 27 years old, but the director has already won over critics from across the world. "The first sounds, over the black of the opening titles, are of tiny, gasping breaths catching in a throat," wrote Variety's Jessica Kiang of Balagov's second feature film. "It could be a death rattle or an asthma attack or the last throes of a strangulation, but it is undoubtedly a human in distress. And it’s a very close analogy for how Beanpole, the slow, ferocious, and extraordinary film from Balagov, can make you feel. You quite often have to remind yourself to breathe."
Non-Stop Production
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Atlantics French-Senegalese director Mati Diop was the first black female director to ever compete for the Palme d’Or. Her film, Atlantics, won positive reviews, with Screenrant's Allan Hunter writing: "Constantly intriguing, Atlantics successfully blends its disparate elements of love story, ghost story and female empowerment into a distinctive, involving drama."
Cannal Plus interactions
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Port Authority Danielle Lessovitz's Port Authority went down well with audiences. The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "a boy-meets-trans girl romance about identity and belonging around the New York underground ballroom scene". Their critic David Rooney wrote of the film: "There's a disarming gentleness to Port Authority, echoed in composer Matthew Herbert's subtle score, that makes this story of love, family and self-discovery quite satisfying."
Cannes Film Festival handout
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying The Wild Goose Lake Diao Yinan's first film since Black Coal, which won the Golden Bear at Berlin Film Festical in 2014, received mixed reviews. Peter Bradshaw wrote in the Guardian that The Wild Goose Lake is "a movie showcasing similar flourishes of brilliance, violent impacts and setpiece bravura – but also some of the same slightly stolid, opaque style that made me a little agnostic about that 2014 hit". One fan was Tarantino himself who is reported to have "cried" at the film's premiere.
Bai Linghai
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Adam Another directing debut, this one from French actor and screenwriter Maryam Touzani. The Hollywood Reporter's Deborah Young described Adam as "a bright addition to Cannes' Un Certain Regard section". She added: "With great delicacy, Touzani shows how Moroccan society censures a woman who gives birth outside marriage — not a terribly original theme, but here it is made heartrending by the superb performances of Lubna Azabal and Nisrin Erradi in the lead roles."
Cannes Film Festival handout
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying The Climb Michael Angelo Covino's debut The Climb, described as depicting a "bromance" by numerous outlets, was met by rave reviews. "The Climb is a fantastic film about frenemies, bringing craft and intelligence to what easily could have been a hackneyed, boring bit of cringe comedy," wrote Jason Gorber for SlashFilm. "Instead there’s genuine heart at the connection between these two, foolish and friendly and flawed in equal measure. With bravura cinematic flourishes that never get in the way of the character moments, this remarkable film clambers its way into your heart as you find yourself rooting even for these decidedly awkward individuals."
Cannes Film Festival handout
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying The Whistlers Corneliu Porumboiu's noir suspense thriller The Whistlers was compared to Neil Jordan’s Mona Lisa and Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai by The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw. "Porumboiu gives us a knotty, twisty, nifty plot that’s quite involved but hangs together well, and there’s an amusing juxtaposition of gloomy, rainy Bucharest and the sunny terrain of La Gomera," he continued. "We also get a neat and unexpected coda. An elegant and stylishly crafted piece of entertainment."
Vlad Cioplea
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Joan of Arc (Jeanne) Bruno Dumont's sequel to Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc, simply titled Joan of Arc, received equally as negative reviews as its 2017 predecessor. "Enthusiasts of the prolific Dumont will surely get something out of this latest effort — as perhaps will Joan of Arc movie adaptation completists," wrote Jordan Mintzer in The Hollywood Reporter. "But beyond that niche, many will find watching the 137-minute movie akin to being burnt at the stake."
Cannes Film Festival handout
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Young Ahmed The Dardenne brothers' latest effort, "a taut study of a devout 13-year-old Muslim", marked a rare misfire for the directing duo. On the aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the film sits – following the festival screening – as their lowest rated work yet. Charles Bramesco of Little White Lies wrote: "The Dardennes have often settled on not-knowing in their work, only here, that acceptance of uncertainty plays like a concession that they're in over their heads."
Cannes Film Festival handout
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Frankie Despite starring Isabelle Huppert, Ira Sachs' Frankie has divided critics like no other film at the festival. Whereas The Guardian awarded the film a squalid one star, The Hollywood Reporter called Huppert "magnetic" in the starring role. IndieWire concluded: "It's like an elegant bracelet that's modest enough to go unnoticed, but nevertheless reveals a quietly exquisite beauty to those who are willing to lean in and look closer (even if they have to squint)."
Cannes Film Festival handout
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying A Hidden Life Terrence Malick made his return to Cannes with A Hidden Life. While critics have been harsh on the director's more recent works, he's impressed many with his latest effort. "It may not have the stellar Hollywood casts of his last couple of films, but it has the driving sense of purpose," wrote Nicholas Barber for the BBC. "It even has a proper screenplay, instead of hours of sleepy improvisation. The fact that it is gorgeous to look at is a bonus."
Cannes Film Festival handout
The 36-year-old had previously said she was a “little sad” to make history as the first woman of African descent to even have a film screened at the festival.
“It's pretty late and it's incredible that it is still relevant,” she said at the time.
“My first feeling to be the first black female director was a little sadness that this only happened today in 2019.
”I knew it as I obviously don't know any black women who came here before. I knew it but it's always a reminder that so much work needs to be done still."
Meanwhile, South Korean director Bong Joon-ho also made history after being honoured with the most prestigious award at Cannes .
The Palme d’Or was given to the filmmaker for his film Parasite – a dark comedy that explores the dynamics of social class. Bong is the first Korean to win Cannes' top prize, but received acclaim at the festival in 2017 for his film Okja.
US director Quentin Tarantino's latest film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood left the closing ceremony empty handed, although the movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt received strong reviews.
The festival came to a close on 25 May after 11 days showing premieres of new films and documentaries.
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