Didn’t you miss John Cameron Mitchell?
The loud and proud auteur has been dabbling here and there with short films, producing, script and story polishing — but the “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” filmmaker hasn’t given us a significant feature since 2010’s stark “Rabbit Hole.”
He’s back with an army of ambiguous millennials, and a much more joyous reteam with Nicole Kidman. More good news? Sean Baker has successfully captured the joy and abject poverty of Florida as he did for the trans sex workers of East Hollywood, to meaningful effect.
Let’s do this, Lundi.
How to Disrupt Cannes? Party.
Mitchell’s festival entry “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” premiered to mixed reviews, and A24 will have a lot of runway to build up fanfare for the still-undated U.S. release.
The film didn’t make a major splash for its reception or the performances of stars Kidman and Elle Fanning — it did for giddily stomping the Croisette in getups that represented not only the unconventional story Mithcell tells, but his career-long aesthetic of genderqueer rock n’ roll.
Latex, genital cutouts, boys in dresses and naughty schoolchildren chic abounded Sunday as Mithcell, Kidman, Fanning and company attended their premiere. In tow was the architect of the film’s costumes, Oscar winner Sandy Powell. “How to Talk” is about a clique of Suburban punk rockets in 1970s England who stumble upon a visiting group of Aliens, and madness ensues.
We see (and dramatically approve) of the same trouble this bunch kicked up in Cannes:
One legend snaps two more: @neilhimself with the brilliant Sandy Powell & the unstoppable John Cameron Mitchell #HowToTalkToGirlsAtParties pic.twitter.com/JtxjflahUZ
— Dylan Emery (@dylanemery) May 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/JotallyWalksome/status/866480019585077248
https://twitter.com/sal_mar_/status/866396267995439107
https://twitter.com/jowrotethis/status/866328914745937920
The crew of How to Talk to Girls at Parties de John Cameron Mitchell #Cannes2017 pic.twitter.com/M2IX2PiPID
— Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) May 21, 2017
Baker’s Back
Noted iPhone user Sean Baker does not have the splashiest Cannes title, but many saw his follow up to the breakout “Tangerine” as a prime acquisition target and an opportunity for his leading man Willem Dafoe.
Where “Tangerine” explored the lives and desires of Los Angeles trans sex workers — and found profundity in rampant addiction, danger and fleeting romance — Baker’s “The Florida Project” takes a similar lens on the American family.
Baker and Dafoe follow both the magical summer of children and the sweltering hell of the adults who raise them in a Floridian motel.
Sean Baker's THE FLORIDA PROJECT is an immersive wonder. Has a lively, organic humor that nonetheless builds toward something heartbreaking
— Richard Lawson (@rilaws) May 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/hlkneedler/status/866620987449757696
Big fan of THE FLORIDA PROJECT. As full of life as TANGERINE. Not many films where a child star could outshine Willem Dafoe.
— Jess Ellicott (@jellicottt) May 22, 2017
The Florida Project, Sean Baker's child's-view portrait of budget motel row near Orlando's Disney World, is exhilarating. pic.twitter.com/4iffXadRAZ
— Anne Thompson (@akstanwyck) May 22, 2017
THE FLORIDA PROJECT: Motel kids of Recession America say the funniest things! Colours pop like Demme's, then it all darkens. Pretty great.
— Tim Robey (@trim_obey) May 22, 2017
We’re half way to Palme d’Or glory — keep checking back with TheWrap for daily Cannes recaps.