The two films in competition discussed here come from Japan and the USA respectively. Towards the Light directed by Naomi Kawase with Ayame Misaki and Masatoshi Nagase, and Good Time directed by the Sadfie brothers with Robert Pattinson headlining. The presence on the red carpet of the latter will have generated less screams than during his last visit in 2012 for Cosmopolis by David Cronenberg.
Towards the Light by Naomi Kawase
Misako is an enthusiastic young woman who likes to describe everything she sees, and feels. What could be more perfect for her than her job as an audio descriptor? During a test session with blind people to improve her work, she meets Nakamori, a photographer whose sight is slowly fading. A relationship full of tenderness and respect then begins between them. After her film, Les délices de Tokyo, selected in the "Un Certain Regard" category two years ago, Naomi Kawase returns to Cannes in the official competition. His film starts from an idea that consists in asking how films would be if they were made by blind people. This moving and poetic story is about films, how they are told and how they are perceived despite blindness.
Naomi Kawase chooses to film almost all of her film in very close-ups. Always close to faces, focusing a lot on their eyes. We quickly feel their emotions, their looks and their feelings. With a more than intimate camera, she captures the slightest expression of her characters and especially Misako. Of great sensitivity, the angelic face of Ayame Misaki is constantly captured by the lens. His desire to capture these faces and light in this way is a sweet esteem for the very invention of the 7th art. With images sometimes bright, sometimes dark, sometimes smooth and other times veiled, Vers la lumière offers a very beautiful moment of cinema approved with its own identity. We like it a lot.
Good times by Ben and Joshua Sadfie
It all starts with a failed robbery by Connie and Nick, her mentally disabled brother. After escaping, Nick (Ben Sadfie) is arrested and Connie (Robert Pattinson) tries to use the money from the robbery to pay bail. When asked for the $10,000 that was missing to achieve this, he decided to make his brother escape from the hospital room where he was admitted.The endearing, even moving interpretation of Nick (by one of the Sadfie brothers) is one of the strengths of the film. An amazing and crazy Robert Pattinson uses all his vice to find his brother. The film is a long night of almost acid-acid chase in the New York suburbs. Among the other strong points, there is the music that constitutes, in the staging, the foundation of all the suspense felt. A constant tension that greatly rewards the journey of these failed characters.
Unfortunately for the talented director duo, ambition and intention are not obvious. The cutting spoils the composition with images that we would like more beautiful. Choosing a sound aesthetic more than visual is as disappointing as the lack of ambition evoked. Good time comes out with a trio of striking actors and a hard-hitting music but serving a little original. We remain hungry.
Trailer of Good time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LYlredWgew
VO trailer of Towards the Light:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1N_tZBfpjg
