Cannesdiary: Critics by caste

With my lowly pink badge,I set off to see the big-ticket Hollywood film which is in competition,Lawless. It is a well-made,well-acted film,based on a true story,about 1930s America when Prohibition was in full force. Directed by John Hillcoat,starring Tom Hardy,and the girl who’s on everyone’s lists these days,Jessica Chastain,it turns out to be a film that wears its gratuitous violence on its very attractive sleeve. I forget how many times Shea LaBeouf is battered,how many brains are blown out,and I close my eyes when a throat is being cut,the sawing sound filling my ears. It is a film I might watch when it comes to my neighbourhood multiplex,but this,in Cannes competition? The cast shows up for the after-the-movie presser,and I watch it from the lobby on the big TV screen (the press conference room is full to bursting,places having been staked out even as the film is on).

The real thing

But I cannot linger because I have to be right back in a long queue for the next film. And that turns out to be the real thing. Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu’s Beyond The Hills is the kind of film one comes to festivals for: a deeply personal,deeply immersive experience,which leaves you sated. It tells the story of two girls,who have clearly shared a physical relationship,and who are now on opposite sides of a huge divide. Voichita seems to have gone over to the Church,and given herself up to service. Alina arrives,and her coming to the monastery,ruled by a priest and a senior nun,throws everything into turmoil. The director’s style is deceptively simple,and he says that the most complex things by keeping it simple. I’m ushered right to the front row,from where I can’t read the subtitles. I use desi wiles to get to the back,and find myself a better seat: so much for the pink card!

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