Bad Blood

There are no surprises at the Cannes Film Festival yet

The organizers of the 59th Cannes Film Festival asked all interested observers a serious riddle. The fact is that in the very first days of the main competition they showed “The Wind Shakes the Barley” by Ken Loach, “Come Back” by Pedro Almodóvar, “Suburb Lights” by Aki Kaurismäki and “Caimana” by Nanni Moretti. Such an abundance of classics of world directing in the first half of the program makes one suspect that towards the end of the festival the organizers have saved several real sensations that can compete with the films of the masters.

The first candidate for a sensation - judging by the excitement at yesterday's screening and press conference - was "Babel", directed by former Mexican-born prodigy Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu. If in Iñárritu’s previous mosaic compositions (“Love Bitch”, “21 Grams”) the role of a connecting link was assigned to a car accident, then this time the hunting rifle firing at the very beginning became the compositional center and a metaphor for fate-accident. A Japanese hunter gives a gun to his Moroccan guide; he sells it to a neighbor whose children guard a herd of goats from jackals. Instead of a jackal, the random victim of a bullet is an American tourist (Cate Blanchett), who has just survived the death of her newborn son and has come to the end of the world with her husband (Brad Pitt) to prevent the seemingly inevitable breakup of the family. The husband is desperately fighting for the life of his bleeding wife, but the ambulance still cannot reach the remote Moroccan village, although all the world media are already trumpeting about a terrorist attack against American citizens. At this time in Tokyo, a Japanese man is trying to improve relations with his deaf-mute daughter, who witnessed her mother's suicide. And two young children of an American couple are forced to go with their nanny, an illegal immigrant, to the wedding of her eldest son in Mexico, since there is simply no one to leave them with.

At one time, “Love Bitch” (2000) by Iñárritu, not without reason, claimed to be the first film of the new, non-calendar century. The inventive and passionate film perfectly met the needs of those who lacked “fresh blood” and “new sincerity” in modern cinema. “21 Grams” (2003) played on the brink of a foul, but the acting work of Sean Pen, who received the heart of Naomi Watts’ deceased husband, ultimately helped the melodrama turn into tragedy.

“Babel” has almost everything that was in Iñárittu’s previous films: a whimsical chronology, ridiculous errors of fate, a stream of undiluted emotions. But there are problems with fresh blood. The acting duo of Blanchett and Pitt try their best, but never rise above the level of a run-of-the-mill mainstream tearjerker. Frequent collaborator director Guillermo Arriaga piles one tragic accident on top of another, but the quirks of fate look like the whims of a screenwriter who decided to add drama to the story. The name smells of bad pretentiousness a mile away. And the final shot with a naked Japanese woman against the backdrop of Tokyo at night is filled with such inexplicable vulgarity that a suspicion creeps in: whether the film was made specifically to satisfy the needs of Japanese pedophiles. And only in the stories of Moroccan boys (they are played by non-professional actors) is the breath of talent occasionally felt.

“Babylon” turned out to be too smooth and vulgar, too predictable and professional. All too quickly, Iñárritu learned to master large budgets, work with Hollywood stars and deftly talk in interviews about “lack of communication” and “the loneliness of a person in a big city.” In one word, this film is a fake. Masterful enough to deserve its share of applause and praise, but still a fake. It seems that they succeeded in deceiving the majority of the Cannes public, but I want to believe that this trick will not work with the chairman of the jury, Wong Kar-wai.

In the ratings of the international press, Almodóvar’s “Come Back” is leading (see your correspondent’s previous report) . Following him are “Seasons” by Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan and “Suburban Lights” by Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki. Moretti's ponderous "Cayman", directed against Berlusconi's policies, caused predictable delight among the French and cool reviews among the Americans. One of the freshest pleasant impressions was yesterday's premiere of “Flanders” by nonconformist director Bruno Dumont. His characters are still thoughtfully silent, have quick sex and wander through existential spaces, which this time are the fields of the director’s native Flanders and the deserts of an unnamed third world country, where peaceful farmers of military age are sent to yet another humanitarian slaughter.

On Saturday, May 27, the premiere of the only Russian film in the Cannes official program (Un Certain Regard) is expected - “977” directed by Nikolai Khomeriki and produced by Arsen Gottlieb. And the next day we will find out the winners.

Alexey MEDVEDEV, Cannes