Gentle monsterthe latest Austrian work author Marie Kreutzer’s film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival late Friday night. The dark and disturbing drama, which is in competition at the festival, was warmly welcomed by the audience inside the Grand Théâtre Lumière, especially when its star Léa Seydoux appeared on screen. In fact, the film’s standing ovation ended in six minutes, but it only ended because Kreutzer accepted the microphone and began addressing the audience; I think if he hadn’t been interrupted, it would have lasted a little longer.
The film’s subject matter is certainly heavy: A woman (Sedoux) is happily married and the mother of a young son whose life is turned upside down when authorities arrest her husband (Laurence Robb) on charges of possession and distribution of child pornography. It is not immediately clear if her husband was involved in producing the material and/or if their child was among those exploited, but the woman knows that her life will never be the same again. So, as she figures out her next steps, and while her husband is being investigated under the supervision of a young policewoman (Elsa Cohn) struggling with her own family problems, she and her child take temporary refuge in the home of her mother (Catherine Deneuve).
Gentle monster It is among the strongest competitive titles screened so far at this year’s festival, and seems likely to enter consideration for Best International Feature at the Oscars – though howExactly, it is still unclear. The movie stars are no more fluent in French than Seydoux and Deneuve, but more German than French is spoken in this film, and again, Kreutzer is from Austria and has already been in another of her films in 2022. corsagewas chosen to represent Which A country in the Oscar race. So, it’s not entirely clear to me which country might have the strongest claim Gentle monster.
No matter how things go, I’ll be keeping a close eye on Sidou. The 40-year-old, who has been acting in films at an astonishing pace over the past 20 years, is always excellent on screen, but often in films that aren’t as great as hers, are too polarizing, or are ensemble pieces that no one pays much attention to. But in Gentle monsterIt really shines.
She could definitely win Best Actress here in Cannes. (She and Adele Exarchopoulos shared the 2013 Palme d’Or with them Blue is the warmest color director Abdellatif Kechiche, but she has never been recognized individually for any of her many powerful performances revealed here). Gentle monster With proper distribution in the US outside of festival, it may also give her the first Oscar nomination of her impressive career. (Kate Winslet won Best Actress for another film about pedophilia, 2006.) Young children.)
