Jeanne Dubarry, director. Maiwenn – at the box office from 20 July
A peppy costume drama about Jeanne Vaubernier (Maiwenne), a young, lower-class woman who successfully climbs the social ladder. She meets King Louis XV (Johnny Depp) and unexpectedly becomes her favorite for the entire court. As the closeness of the monarch and the commoner is disliked by Louis’ circle, dangerous intrigues begin to be woven against him.
The film opened the 76th Cannes Film Festival and was marked by Johnny Depp’s return to major cinema after his scandalous trial with Amber Heard – but only European so far.
Anatomy of a Fall, director. Justine Triet – at the box office from 14 September
Winner of the 76th Cannes Film Festival, filmed in the judicial genre. According to the plot, the husband of the main character Sandra (Sandra Hüller) is found dead near their home – either an accident or someone’s bad intentions or suicide. Sandra insists on her innocence in the tragedy, but turns out to be among the main suspects: both the material evidence and the fact that she had a recent argument with the deceased are against her.
Anatomy of a Fallout, with its detective element and forensic drama rigor, keeps the audience snooping for a long time, but at some point, all the masks fall and it turns into Bergman’s Scenes from a Married Life. This is a tense, well-played and thoughtfully filmed tale of the fall and split of a family that is not what it initially seems.
“The cage is looking for a bird”, dir. Malika Musaeva – at the box office from October 12
The directorial debut of Malika Musaeva, a student of Alexander Sokurov, and the only photograph from Russia presented at the 73rd Berlinale. “The cage is looking for a bird” partly inherits the themes of Musaeva’s classmates Kantemir Balagov and Kira Kovalenko and explores the theme of the lack of freedom of a person in general and a woman in a strict patriarchal system in particular. The tape tells the story of a 17-year-old girl who has lost her father: there is almost no opposite sex in her life, her close circle consists of a worried mother, older sister and close friend. Over time, the main character realizes the tightness of the world around him and desperately seeks freedom.
Khadija Batayeva, the lead actress, won the Best Acting category at the Sounds Festival.
Fairy Tale, director. Alexander Sokurov – release date unknown
Four people meet in the hereafter: Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini and Churchill. The area the characters roam includes Dante’s gloomy forest, the ruins of Rome, and even the famous podium of the Soviet leader. On the eve of divine judgment, the heroes are caught up in the memories of their own life and the power they possessed and that they were not ready to part with even after death.
Alexander Sokurov again made a silent revolution in cinema, creating a work like no other in the world at the moment. “Fairy Tale” consists of a real historical chronicle reassembled in a certain way and framed in a movie analogy. In the spirit of “Conversations in the Netherworld” it turned out to be a film that was both terrible and fascinating – reflections on the past and the present, the living and the dead, the triumph of the human will and the triumph of man. system on it.
“Happiness”, director. Ilya Povolotsky – release date unknown
The only participant of the Cannes Film Festival – 2023 is from Russia. Bliss is a concise and unhurried road movie about a father and daughter traveling across the country, from Kabardino-Balkaria to Murmansk, to see the sea. But in fact, they are moving from nowhere to nowhere. Their journey has been going on for 15 years, and in their modest suitcases, besides personal belongings, there is a movie projector and a vase that the girl did not dare to throw her mother’s ashes in the trash.
“Which” is documentary filmmaker Ilya Povolotsky’s debut feature. In this parable of road dust and fog, you can sense the professional background of the director, accustomed to not directing screen reality but allowing it to manifest as he pleases. The film features Nikolai Zheludovich’s great camera work and unforgettable acting by high-class newcomer Maria Lukyanova.