Listen to the audio version of the article
The curtain rises on the 2024 Cannes Film Festival: the program of the 77th edition of the French film event, which this year will take place from 14 to 25 May, has been revealed.
The opening film will be “The Second Act” by Quentin Dupieux, a French director who has always created crazy and eccentric cinema (think of “Double Skin” or “Mandibules”, among his previous works), which will inaugurate the event with a comedy starring Léa Seydoux, Vincent Lindon and Louis Garrel.
Dupieux’s film will be out of competition, as will two other particularly anticipated titles that were announced before the press conference: “Furiosa” by George Miller, prequel to “Mad Max: Fury Road”, and the first part of “Horizon: An American Saga”, a western epic directed by Kevin Costner who returns to the genre 21 years after “Borderland – Open Range”.
Italians
In the competition, the presence of Paolo Sorrentino with “Parthenope” should be immediately noted, a film that promises to be another great homage to the city of Naples by the director after the beautiful “It was the hand of God”. The only Italian title in competition, “Parthenope” will be based on the myth of the famous Siren, but also on the story of a woman whose existence appears directly connected to that of the city. Another Italian name to note in the notebook is that of Roberto Minervini, who will bring in the Un certain regard section his new work, “The Damned”.
However, there is also a pinch of Italy in the film by French director Christophe Honoré, “Marcello mio”, dedicated to Marcello Mastroianni in the year in which the centenary of his birth occurs. The cast of the film includes Chiara Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve.
Francis Ford Coppola and the other most important names in competition
In the running for the Palme d’Or stands one of the most anticipated titles of recent years: “Megalopolis” by Francis Ford Coppola, a project that the great American director has been meaning to create for several decades. Centered on an idealistic architect, determined to reconstruct New York under a utopian key, “Megalopolis” stars Adam Driver and is certainly one of the titles that will be talked about a lot on the Croisette. Great expectations, also, for “The Shrouds” by David Cronenberg, “Bird” by Andrea Arnold, “Emilia Perez” by Jacques Audiard, “Caught by the Tides” by Jia Zhang-ke, “Grand tour” by Miguel Gomes, “Oh, Canada” by Paul Schrader and “Limonov – The Ballad” by Kirill Serebrennikov.