Kennedy | Through the Shattered Lens

The initial line-up for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival was announced today. Usually, films are added (and occasionally even withdrawn) after the initial announcement so this list will probably be added to in the days and weeks to come:

COMPETITION:

Club Zero, Jessica Hausner
Asteroid City, Wes Anderson
The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer
Fallen Leaves, Aki Kaurismaki
Les Filles D’Olfa (Four Daughters), Kaouther Ben Hania
Anatomie D’une Chute, Justine Triet
Monster, Kore-eda Hirokazu
Il Sol Dell’Avvenire, Nanni Moretti,
La Chimera, Alice Rohrwacher,
About Dry Grasses, Nuri Bilge Ceylan,
L’Ete Dernier, Catherine Breillat,
The Passion of Dodin Bouffant, Tran Anh Hung,
Rapito, Marco Bellocchio,
May December, Todd Haynes,
Firebrand, Karim Ainouz,
The Old Oak, Ken Loach,
Perfect Days, Wim Wenders,
Banel Et Adama, Ramata-Toulaye Sy,
Jeunesse, Wang Bing,

OUT OF COMPETITION:

Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese
The Idol, Sam Levinson
Cobweb, Kim Jee-woon
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, James Mangold
Jeanne du Barry, Maiwenn

MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS:

Omar la Fraise, Elias Belkeddar
Kennedy,” Anurag Kashyap
Acide, Just Philippot

SPECIAL SCREENINGS:

Retratos Fantasmas (Pictures of Ghosts), Kleber Mendonca Filho
Anselm, Wim Wenders
Occupied City, Steve McQueen
Man in Black, Wang Bing

CANNES PREMIERE:

Le Temps D’Aimer, Katell Quillevere,
Cerrar Los Ojos, Victor Erice,
Bonnard, Pierre et Marthe, Martin Provost,
Kubi, Takeshi Kitano

For Oscar watchers, the big news is probably that both Asteroid City and Killers of The Flower Moon will be premiering at Cannes. Asteroid City is the latest from Wes Anderson and, to be honest, I have my doubts about it as an Oscar contender. The trailer indicates that it’s very, very quirky. While Anderson did receive some Oscar recognition for Grand Budapest Hotel, a good deal of that film’s success was due to Ralph Fiennes’s lead performance. Fieness kept Grand Budapest rooted in a stylized reality. I’m not sure if anyone in the cast of Asteroid City is going to perform the same duty. If Asteroid City is going to become an Oscar contender, a good showing at Cannes would definitely help.

As for Killers of the Flower Moon, it’s being shown out of competition. I can understand the logic. With all of the high expectations that come along with being Martin Scorsese’s latest film (as well as being the first Scorsese film to feature both De Niro and Di Caprio), it’s best not to run the risk of being snubbed by the unpredictable Cannes jury. The last thing anyone wants is for the narrative to shift from “sure-fire contender” to “late career disappointment.”

The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 16th to May 27th!

November 22, 1963. While the rest of the world deals with the aftermath of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, a man named Michael Curtis drives a jeep across the South Texas desert, heading for the border. In the jeep, he has a $800,000 and a high-powered rifle. When the jeep crashes, the man, the rifle, and the money are left undiscovered in the desert for 21 years.

1984. Two border patrol agents, Logan (Kris Kristofferson) and Wyatt (Treat Williams), are complaining about their job and hoping for a better life. It looks like they might get that opportunity when they come across both the jeep and the money. A bitter Vietnam vet, Logan wants to take the money and run but Wyatt is more cautious. Shortly after Wyatt runs a check on the jeep’s license plate, a FBI agent (Kurtwood Smith) shows up at the station and both Logan and Wyatt discover their lives are in danger.

Though it was made seven years before Oliver Stone’s JFK, Flashpoint makes the same argument, that Kennedy was killed as the result of a massive government conspiracy and that the conspirators are still in power and doing whatever they have to do keep the truth from being discovered. The difference is that Flashpoint doesn’t try to convince anyone. If you’re watching because you’re hoping to see a serious examination of the Kennedy conspiracy theories, Flashpoint is not for you. Instead, Flashpoint is a simple but effective action film, a modern western that uses the assassination as a MacGuffin. Though Kris Kristofferson has never been the most expressive of actors, he was well-cast as the archetypical gunslinger with a past. Rip Torn also gives a good performance as a morally ambiguous sheriff and fans of great character acting will want to keep an eye out for both Kevin Conway and Miguel Ferrer in small roles.