12300 steps: that’s roughly the number of steps we have climbed since our first festival in what was “the new palace” in the late ’80s… Demonstration: the famous staircase with the red carpet has 24 steps, each year we go to see 15 to 25 films and thatโs been for 3 decades. The count is accurate. Stacked up, that would measure over four kilometers in height (in altitude, a small Mont Blanc).
Mental calculation is a good way to patiently await the awards. On that note, as far as I’m concerned โ and the choice was difficult as the selection was of high quality and homogeneous โ my top three are as follows: the Russian film LETO, the Polish film COLD WAR, and the Japanese film UNE AFFAIRE DE FAMILLE. For Dominique, LETO also makes an appearance, but with the Lebanese film CAPHARNAรM and the Chinese film LES รTERNELS. Wait and see.
My tenth Cannes chronicle tomorrow will be dedicated to commenting on the awards but also to critiquing the three films seen this Friday: the disappointing French film Un couteau dans le coeur (the second “mรฉdekicemoketon” of the selection after the Godard), the very moving Lebanese film Capharnaรผm, and the terrifying yet realistic Russian film Ayka.
