The 69th Cannes International Film Festival concluded this past week, where some of the biggest and brightest in the entertainment industry gathered together to admire some of the newest creations in film. Last week, I showed you the beautiful scenery I was lucky enough to experience on this trip, but now, let's get to work. Here are some of the films that debuted at the festival that you should take a look into.
La Tortue Rouge (The Red Turtle)
Yes, I am partial to this film because of my love of turtles, but it is an adorable animated gem that extends the genre far beyond the children's films it is typically associated with. Through the story of a man shipwrecked on a tropical island inhabited by turtles, crabs, and birds, the film recounts the milestones in the life of a human being. It is also the first production from Studio Ghibli in Japan since their main man, Hayao Miyazaki, went into retirement.
Inversion (Varoonegi)
Tehran's air pollution has reached the maximum level because of the inversion. Niloofar, a 35-year-old woman who owns a sewing workshop, lives with her mother and takes care of her. This becomes an issue when doctors say her mother must leave the city because of her respiratory system and Niloofar's siblings feel she must be the one to accompany her mother because she is the youngest child and still single without any children. Niloofar has always obeyed orders, but she has now reconnected with an old lover and doesn't want to leave, leaving her to stand up to the decisions other have made for her. Although it can get slow at times, this film highlights a serious issue in Iranian society regarding women's roles and lack of equality.
Blood Father
What is intended to be a comeback for Mel Gibson after the great controversy he's caused in recent past, the film is actually one I attended the red carpet premier for. After her drug kingpin boyfriend frames her for stealing a fortune in cartel cash, 17 year old Lydia (Erin Moriarty) goes on the run, with only one ally in the world - her perennial screw-up and motorcycle outlaw dad, John Link (Gibson), who is also an ex-convict. He becomes determined to keep his little girl out of harm and finally do something right in his life.
Loving
What will undoubtedly be a favorite come Oscar season after it is released in November, "Loving" celebrates the real-life courage and commitment of an interracial couple, Richard and Mildred Loving, who married and then spent the next nine years fighting for the right to live as a family in their hometown in Virginia. Their civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia, went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 1967 reaffirmed the very foundation of the right to marry - making their love story an inspiration to couples everywhere.
I, Daniel Blake
This film was undeniably my favorite of those I saw, and also the deserving winner of the highest prize at Cannes, the Palm d'Or. Daniel Blake, 59, has worked as a joiner most of his life in Newcastle, England. Now, after a heart attack and nearly falling from a scaffold, he needs help from the State for the first time in his life. He crosses paths with a single mother, Katie and her two young children, Daisy and Dylan. Katie's only chance to escape a one-roomed homeless hostel in London has been to accept a flat in a city she doesn't know some 300 miles away. Daniel and Katie find themselves in no-man's land caught on the barbed wire of welfare bureaucracy as played out against the rhetoric of 'striver and skiver' in modern day Britain. You'll occasionally smile, you'll definitely cry, and you'll be amazed at this realistic portrait of the issues in the government aid system.
