When the list of filmmakers who would compete this year for the palm d’orI was glad to find the name of James Grayits fifth opportunity in the Official Section, and it seemed somewhat depressing to me that the Dardenne compete again, confirming that whatever they do, they are guaranteed a privileged space at the Cannes Festival. During the closing gala, my feelings were very different: I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the American was forgotten in the list of winners and I applauded the award for the Belgians.
‘Tori et Lokita’ (Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne)
The Dardenne brothers return to Cannes three years after winning the award for best screenplay with ‘Young Ahmed’, a film that seemed half-made to me, with a rather clumsy resolution. His new job, ‘Tori and Lokita‘, has at first glance the appearance of social pornodrama, the tragedy of two immigrant brothers struggling to survive in Belgium, desperate to earn some money, with the only balm of their company. And as soon as they start it becomes clear that their bond is in danger, so they won’t even have that left…
Indeed, ‘Tori et Lokita’ is a very tough film. The young protagonists try to escape from a trap that crushes them a little more each day, but it is narrated with such sensitivity and authenticity that captivates, hooks and keeps you with your heart in your mouth throughout the footage. By the way, only 88 minutes; one of the two films in the Official Section for which an hour and a half is enough when the vast majority (15 of 21) need two hours or more.
The Dardennes go straight to the point, not wallowing in their characters’ misery, abuse, or dire circumstances, nor do they unnecessarily complicate their outrageous situation in their attempt to portray a case of genuine bondage in the center of the most advanced, modern and inhumane Europe. It is a raw and painful film supported by two amazing performances by Joely Mbundu and Pablo Schils, actors with no previous experience who fly hand in hand with the Dardennes.
The Belgian brothers achieve one of the best movies of his career, one of the most rounded and balanced, where the social portrait, the urgent message and the naturalistic style of the filmmakers are integrated with the inspired choice of adorable characters who conquer with their simplicity and human warmth. It breaks your heart. I will remember the rest of my life the song that unites them:
‘Armageddon Time’ (James Gray)
All that truth that emerges from the Dardenne film is missing in the stiff ‘Armageddon Time’recreation of an important period in the adolescence of James Gray which partly functions as a sequel to ‘Ellis’s Dream’ (‘The Immigrant’). The filmmaker follows in the footsteps of other acclaimed colleagues who in recent years have been carried away by nostalgia to evoke some episodes of their youth: Alfonso Cuarón in ‘Roma’, Paolo Sorrentino in ‘Was the hand of God’ or Kenneth Branagh in ‘Belfast’.
Gray takes us back to the 1980s to introduce a Jewish family in New York and focus on their young alter ego, a dreamy kid who loves to draw and gets bored in class (like many of us). After making friends with another boy described as troublesome, he begins a struggle between his search for identity and the pressure of an environment that has a definite plan about what you need to do with your life to be successful and a respectable citizen. Because in the end the soul does not matter, what matters is money and appearance.
‘Armageddon Time’ talks about frustration, maturity, family, the lie of the american dream, entrenched racism and classism that always finds a new disguise. Gray’s intentions are interesting but the result is disappointing, conventional and shallow. never find the tone suitable for a story that alternates comic and light situations, an easy movie for all audiences, with other very dramatic and dark ones, leaving an irregular set that only catches you in specific scenes.
for your own coming of ageGray assembles a striking cast that includes Anthony Hopkins, Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Jessica Chastain (deluxe cameo) and debutant Banks Repeta, who does sensational, a great find. Hopkins is a titan but here he is somewhat lost and Gray does not take advantage of him, wasting the potential of the protagonist’s encounters with his grandfather and great emotional charge in important moments.
Nor is Hathaway very inspired, perhaps overacted to compensate for the corseted role of “exemplary” wife and mother. Strong, who is experiencing a moment of great fame thanks to the success of ‘Succession’, seems more comfortable with a secondary role of little brilliance and I found it to be the most interesting of the adults, leaving two of the best dramatic scenes in the film. Of course, Gray is an excellent director and I am looking forward to seeing his next work, I only hope that he recovers the stimulating staging that he has offered in works such as ‘We Own the Night’ or ‘The Lost City of Z’ (‘The Lost City of Z’).