Cannes Film Festival Opens With A Film About Social Welfare
- Text by Sophie Monks Kaufman
Cannes Film Festival organisers like to perpetuate the image of its glitz and glamour by making sure that sparkling A-list actors are decorating the red carpet from the get go. Scheduling the opening film as Standing Tall (French title: La tête haute) by Emmanuelle Bercot – a director that no one had really heard of who cast a newcomer as her lead man – was a curveball. Adding to the novelty, Emmanuelle Bercot is of the female persuasion, making her the second woman in Cannes’ 68 year history to open the festival.
There was no sense in becoming frothy-mouthed with excited at this anomalous choice ahead of checking out the film. But now it has been watched, we can safely say that what it lacks in high-octane cinematic firepower is compensated for in the integrity of its ideas. The weighty social themes will resonate beyond its French judicial setting to UK society where we are still processing what the Conservative election victory will mean for our own welfare system.
Second-guessing whether festival director Thierry Frémaux has a radical agenda in this programming choice is futile. He probably just liked the film and wanted to support an emerging French filmmaker (Bercot is more established as an actress). But as far as audiences are concerned, it is a rare treat to watch a clear-eyed story of a juvenile delinquent and the care system that tries to exert damage control across over a decade of his wayward life.
Rod Paradot, the film’s breakout star, gives an opaque performance as the twitchy, violent teenager, Malony, who would activate in more fallible humans than those presented in the film world the desire to disengage forever. A children’s judge played by the incomparable Catherine Denueve and a counsellor played by Benoît Magimel have compassion built into their life plans enabling them to be consistently supportive. The main value of watching the film is contrasting their patience with the volatile emotions that Malony elicits in us. The lesson is obvious but still worth saying – welfare services change lives that no one else has the skills to intervene in. Who would have expected that message to be beamed down from this heady film bubble on the French Riviera?
Read the LWLies review of Standing Tall here.
You might like
Confronting America’s history of violence against student protest
Through A Mirror, Darkly — In May 1970, two separate massacres at American college campuses saw deaths at the hands of the state. Naeem Mohaiemen’s new three-channel film memorialises the brutality.
Written by: Miss Rosen
New documentary spotlights Brixton’s community in the face of gentrification
Beyond Brix & Mortar — With property prices rising by 1,700% since the ’80s, the film explores the rich cultural history of the area’s Afro-Caribbean community, and the threat to the area’s soul.
Written by: Sydney Lobe
On the set of ‘La Bamba’, lost Latino legend Ritchie Valens’s biopic
The overnight rockstar — The Chicano rock & roll star exploded overnight in the late ’50s, but just as quickly he was gone, killed in a plane crash along with Buddy Holly. An ’80s biopic saw him immortalised on the big screen, which photographer Merrick Morton captured behind the scenes.
Written by: Miss Rosen
The Women of the Sea Film Fund is granting £10k to tell femme-focused surfing stories
Finisterre x London Surf / Film Festival — Open exclusively to women to tell stories about other women, applications are open until March 8.
Written by: Isaac Muk
New documentary explores football ultras culture around the world
ULTRAS — Directed by Swedish filmmaker Ragnhild Ekner, the film takes an insider’s view of the terrace subculture, and the unifying power of fandom.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The vibrant pre-Taliban ski community deep in the Afghan mountains
Champions of the Golden Valley — A bittersweet documentary by Ben Sturgulewski spotlights the unlikely rise of Bamyan Ski Club, while charting what happened next for skiers forced to flee their country.
Written by: Sam Haddad
