As per tradition, all the lights on the Croisette on the opening day of the Cannes Film Festival will be focused tomorrow - at seven in the evening - on the only, authentic event of the day: the now famous "montée des marches", or the ascent to the empyrean film on the catwalk for photographers, fans, onlookers.
For the last time this year it will be the "queen couple" made up of President Pierre Lescure and director Thierry Fremaux to welcome guests of honor, jurors, well-known faces of the star system and the protagonists of the opening film.
In fact, at the end of this edition the president will leave his place while there is no deadline for the other landlord who, between self-irony and certainty of popularity,
After a dry inaugural ceremony marked by television rhythms and orchestrated by the master of ceremonies of the year, Virginie Efira, cinema on the big screen will finally take its place for what everyone in France has already renamed the "restart" edition, 75th edition of an event often referred to as a world thermometer for the health of the seventh art.
In fact, apart from an almost Carbonaro appointment to review the restored edition of "La maman et la putain" by Jean Eustache at Cannes Classics, no other room of the festival has screenings for tomorrow.
And the opening film itself is screened out of competition at the end of a long production run.
FINAL CUT
by Michel Hazanavicius with Romain Duris, Matilda Lutz, Bérénice Bejo, Luàna Bajrami, Finnegan Oldfield.
France, OUT OF COMPETITION.
It is actually an amused homage to the Zombies cinema in the "Z series" version, that incredible filmography of horror works at very low cost that have scanned the history of cinema without ever entering the official dictionaries, but carving out the legendary cult movies.
In fact, the original title of the new work by the Oscar-winning author for "The Artist" was supposed to be "Z (Comme Z)", but the political implications of a letter used by the Russian military in Ukraine then advised a change that alludes both at the final editing of a film and at the cutting of the heads.
Yes, because the story told is that of a shabby film crew that in full filming in the town nurse is attacked by real hungry zombies who must be exterminated with an ax.
At the origin of the cinephile fun of Hazanavicius there is a true cult movie of the genre, "Zombie against zombie - One cut of the Dead" by the Japanese Shin'Ichiro Ueda awarded in 2017 at the Far East Festival in Udine from which he took off for a beautiful international career.
Hazanavicius adds a touch of European humor, exalts himself in the game of cinema on cinema, invites the general public and thoughtful critics to a wedding.
We will see it soon in Italy.
