Goodbye Hollywood: Europe tells where America is silent
Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Tom Hanks and Kristen Stewart are just a few of the Hollywood stars who are currently celebrating premieres at the Film Festival in Cannes. They stand for the US cinema-but that is, as is evident on the Côte d’Azur, in a crisis. The strong, new films are being created elsewhere.
For example in Germany: Mascha Schilinski, Fatih Akin and Christian Petzold present their impressive new works in Cannes and inspire the audience. In their films, they illuminate family dynamics in their own way.
Schilinski has a chance of the golden palm because her film is in competition. Her poetic, experimental historical drama « look into the sun » was particularly well received by many. The 41-year-old dares to do without traditional narrative structures in this story about four women on a farm in the Altmark. The industry magazine « Deadline » wrote: « Cinema is a word that is too small for what this extensive and yet intimate epic achieves in its ethereal, disturbing brilliance. »
Family stories
Petzold’s « Miroirs No. 3 » follows the story of a young woman (Paula Beer), who is recorded by a family after a car accident and experiences a disturbing secret there. The 64-year-old has succeeded in a precise and elegantly filmed drama.
Today, I think America is no longer a place of longing.
Faith Akin
director
Fatih Akin’s film « Amrum » with Diane Kruger is a touching story about the childhood memories of the director and author Hark Bohm. History plays in the last days of World War II and tells how ideological indoctrination affects a family and a child. The greatest challenge was to tell of this time « without kitsch and without clichés and precisely, » said Akin of the dpa.
New York also plays a role in his film; A goal in the 1940s where many Amrumers emigrated. « Today, I think America is no longer a place of longing, » said Akin.
However, the situation seems bleak for the US cinema. One of the great stars of Hollywood, Kristen Stewart, told in Cannes about the difficulties of getting funding for her directorial debut « The Chronology of Water ». « We had to leave the USA to make it possible, » the 35-year-old told the « Hollywood Reporter ».
« The Chronology of Water » is a breathless, powerful film adaptation of a woman who tells of her love for swimming and writing, at the same time became victims of sexual abuse and is lost in alcohol and drug excesses. Among other things, filming was made in Latvia.
From fake news and Trump criticism
Another film of the competition was made in the United States, but is about how terrible it feels there for many. « Eddington » by Ari Aster is particularly prominently occupied with Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Austin Butler and Pedro Pascal. The black comedy is an allegory about the poisoned debate climate in the USA, which is characterized by fake news and hostility.
At the press conference on the film, journalists asked almost exclusively questions about US President Donald Trump, to which all stars emerge except for Pascal (« Game of Thrones »). Pascal has a migration background, his parents come from Chile. However, after he had spoken out for the rights of migrants, he also said: « It is of course very scary for an actor who has participated in a film to comment on such topics. »
There has been a climate of fear in the US film industry since Trump’s second term. It doesn’t feel good at just living there, said director Aster. In addition, there is an uncertainty through Trump’s statement of wanting to raise tariffs on films produced abroad. He wants to lure film productions back to the USA.
France and Babelsberg
Because US filmmakers like to turn elsewhere. The cult director Wes Anderson presents in Cannes « The Phoenician Scheme » with Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Benicio del Toro and many other stars, shot in the Babelsberg film studio. It is told by an unscrupulous Tycoon (del Toro), who should once again make many viewers think of US conditions.
Networking between palms: Eric Thill meets the film industry in Cannes
Another competition contribution is « Nouvelle Vague » by Richard Linklater. « I admire the French film industry and the determination with which she takes care of her industry, » said Linklater in Cannes. « Our country, the USA, could use a little of it. »
His film « Nouvelle Vague » is a tribute to a French film classic, Jean-Luc Godards « A Bout de Souffle ». A film that shows that Europe is becoming a place of longing … at least on the screen.
