TheWrap Cannes magazine: Nowhere else in the world does a single ecstatic ovation have the power to change a director’s life
This story about the Cannes Film Festival first appeared in TheWrap’s Cannes magazine.
When competing for the Palme d’Or, “franchise” can be a four-letter word.
Sure, Cannes might program some out-of-competition would-be blockbusters here and there (this year’s entry is the Elton John biopic “Rocketman”), but examples of the F-word find little welcome in the discerning main competition of the world’s high temple of cinema — at least, not since “Shrek 2” somehow blustered its way in back in 2004.
Which makes it all the more ironic that the 2019 Cannes Film Festival feels in so many ways like a sequel to last year. We pick up the same storylines right where we left off. The war with Netflix rages on, with the streaming service staying away for the second year in a row. Female directors remain woefully under-represented. And certain hot-ticket titles (say, James Gray’s “Ad Astra”) remain conspicuously absent.
Also Read:Heavyweight Cannes Lineup Ties Record for Female Directors in Competition
In true sequel fashion, this year takes what worked so well last time and replicates it on a larger scale.
