The glitterati of Hollywood descended upon the Cannes Riviera on Saturday for the grand unveiling of Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese’s Native American crime saga, Killers of the Flower Moon.
Listen to the article
This cinematic epic of three and a half hours, which features Scorsese’s other perennial muse Robert De Niro, intricately traces a series of homicides plaguing the affluent Osage Indians in the 1920’s, simultaneously chronicling the genesis of the FBI. After enduring a downpour that has relentlessly soaked the Riviera town all week, throngs of devoted cinephiles erupted into rapturous applause as DiCaprio, De Niro, and Scorsese made their grand entrance to the Premiere, accompanied by several Native Americans adorned in traditional regalia.
Jesse Plemons, also a part of the film’s ensemble cast, arrived arm-in-arm with his wife Kirsten Dunst, while other luminaries such as Salma Hayek, Cate Blanchett, and erstwhile Spiderman Tobey Maguire graced the red carpet. A second wave of Hollywood aristocracy is slated to attend Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore’s premiere of May December, a poignant exploration of the unconventional bond between an older woman and a schoolboy, whose marriage persists years after their affair became tabloid fodder.
The race for the Festival’s most coveted accolade, the Palme d’Or, is reaching a fever pitch. There was an overwhelming affection for Four Daughters, a heartrending documentary delving into the radicalisation within a Tunisian family, an inventive and engaging narrative. This may strike a chord with jury president Ruben Ostlund, the laureate of the previous year for Triangle of Sadness, who has a penchant for arthouse films imbued with lighter nuances.
A total of 21 films are vying in the main competition, which culminates on May 27, featuring past victors like Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-Eda, Germany’s Wim Wenders, and Britain’s Ken Loach.
Despite the unseasonably damp weather this year, Cannes has been anything but short on dazzling spectacles since its inauguration on Tuesday, commencing with the contentious appearance of Johnny Depp. His first cinematic venture since his acrimonious trial with former spouse Amber Heard, Depp dons the royal garb of French monarch Louis XV in Jeanne du Barry. The film met with lukewarm reviews, and Festival director Thierry Fremaux irked the online populace by asserting his nonchalance toward Depp’s legal predicaments.
An emotional cameo by Harrison Ford also stirred the festival, as he was awarded an honorary Palme d’Or at the global premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. At the risk of transforming this year’s Cannes into a parade of vintage Hollywood leading men, Michael Douglas also received an honorary Palme, while Sean Penn featured as a weathered New York paramedic in Black Flies.
However, the lion’s share of anticipation was reserved for Scorsese’s latest project, merging three stalwarts of Italian-American cinema. Both DiCaprio and De Niro have long-standing collaborative histories with Scorsese. Still, the visionary filmmaker has not previously shared them in the same frame, save for a comedic short in 2015, The Audition, where they jostled for a role in his subsequent film.
The cinematic realm is also painfully cognizant that this could potentially be among the final offerings from the maestro behind such masterpieces as Goodfellas, Raging Bull, and Taxi Driver. In a moving interview earlier this week, the octogenarian Scorsese confessed to Deadline: “I’m old… I want to tell stories, and there’s no more time.” Taxi Driver clinched the Palme d’Or in 1976, but Scorsese hasn’t returned to the Cannes competition since the lesser-known After Hours in 1985, although he did preside over the jury in 1998.
Killers of the Flower Moon, bankrolled by Apple, is being showcased out of competition.
With AFP
