Cannes Film Festival 2023.. 10 must-see films

American actor Johnny Depp received some joy as he climbed the stairs to the
festival palace in Cannes, as the star of the opening film "Jeanne du Barry,"
a romantic drama in which he plays King Louis XV. But the biggest joy came
from his return after years of absence.

Depp is not alone, as the Cannes International Film Festival management, which
opened on Tuesday and runs from May 16 to May 27, has gathered film industry
stars and icons, including Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Leonardo DiCaprio,
Robert De Niro, Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman, Harrison Ford, Phoebe
Waller-Bridge, Sean Penn, Taika Waititi, and Mike Tyson.

With the festival's opening, film screenings that are both bewildering and
exciting begin, and despite the presence of Hollywood giants with their films,
10 films can be identified that carry the marks of the greats, and they
explore serious issues in a unique way.

1.
Anatomy of a Fall

From the official competition, the film by French director and writer Justine
Triet stands out, as she delves into the analysis of marriage through a tough
model that combines present difficulties and future anxieties.

The film's story begins when Samuel Meta is found dead in the snow outside the
isolated chalet where he lived with his German writer wife Sandra and their
11-year-old son Daniel, who was suffering from visual impairment.

The investigation leads to a result that it is a "suspicious death," and it is
impossible to know whether the victim committed suicide or was murdered.

The film follows the wife's trial and the breakdown of the marital
relationship, while the son is lost in the harsh experience and his
relationship with his mother.

2. Banel & Adama

"Banel & Adama" is the only film in competition from the French-Senegalese
director Ramata Toulaye Siby, who previously participated as a screenwriter in
films such as "Our Lady Of The Nile," which premiered at the 2020 Berlin
Festival, and the film "Sibel," which premiered at the Locarno Festival in
Switzerland in 2018.

The film takes place in a remote village in northern Senegal and follows two
young couples who challenge their families' expectations, amidst a major crime
in the village.

3. La Chimera

Italian director Alice Rohrwacher returns to Cannes with the international
co-production "La Chimera," starring Josh O'Connor and Isabella Rossellini.
Alice is known for her films "Happy as Lazzaro" (2018), "The Wonders" (2014),
and "Heavenly Body" (2011).

"La Chimera" takes place in the 1980s and follows the story of a young English
archaeologist trapped in a world of grave robbers and the illegal trade of
ancient discoveries.

4. Club Zero

The sixth film by Austrian director Jessica Hausner and her second in English,
"Club Zero" is a psychological drama unfolding in an elite boarding school,
where a teacher forms a strong bond with five students. However, their
relationship takes a dangerous turn. The film stars Egyptian actor Amr Waked.

5. May December

The first film by director Todd Haynes since the documentary "The Velvet
Underground," which was screened out of competition two years ago. This is his
fourth film to compete for the Palme d'Or after "Wonderstruck" in 2017,
"Carol" in 2015, and "Velvet Goldmine" in 1998.

"May December" approaches the institution of marriage differently, and its
story takes place 20 years after a relationship between two spouses has become
a symbol of romance in the society they live in. The couple faces pressure
when an actress arrives to conduct research on their past, revealing the
truth.

6. Killers Of The Flower Moon

The film brings together old and new Hollywood legends, with Robert De Niro, a
star of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, passing the
stardom baton to Leonardo DiCaprio, who took off in 1997 with the film
"Titanic" and still soars in the sky of stardom.

The film's director, Martin Scorsese, won the Palme d'Or in 1976 for "Taxi
Driver" and returns in 2023 with a crime drama based on David Gran's 2017 book
"Killers Of The Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI."

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, and Robert De
Niro.

7. Along Came Love

French writer and director Katell Quillévéré made her mark at Cannes in 2010
with the film "Love Like Poison" and has since participated in most editions
of the festival. Her new film, "Along Came Love," which is screened out of
competition, revolves around Madeline, a hotel waitress and mother of a young
child, who meets wealthy student François. They develop a strong bond, but
over time, François tries to escape the relationship due to Madeline's
commitment to her child.

8. The Delinquents

The latest film by Argentine director Rodrigo Moreno, who made "A Mysterious
World" which screened at the Berlin Film Festival in 2011. "The Delinquents"
was shot in Buenos Aires and Cordoba and tells the story of Mora and Roman,
who are both searching for freedom and adventure. One of them commits a
robbery and discovers a substitute for his mundane life, while the other hides
money that doesn't belong to them. As their actions separate them, fate will
bring them together as criminals.

9. The New Boy

Australian Indigenous director Warwick Thornton returns to Cannes with "The
New Boy" after winning the Palme d'Or for Best Cinematography in 2009. The
film revolves around the Indigenous community, which appears in many of
Thornton's works, including his award-winning film at the Venice and Toronto
Film Festivals in 2017. The film was screened in Australia and takes place in
the 1940s, where Kate Blanchett plays a nun who takes in nine orphaned
Indigenous children to raise them.

10. Only The River Flows

Chinese director Wei Shujun is selected for the third time to participate in
the festival, having appeared in the 2020 edition with "Striding Into The
Wind" and "Ripples Of Life," adapted from Yu Hua's short story "A Mistake in
the River" about a police investigation into a series of murders in a rural
town on the riverbanks in the 1990s. The new film revolves around a Chinese
town that witnesses a series of crimes, and the police chief investigates and
arbitrarily arrests many people, but the evidence leads him to delve deeper
into the hidden behavior of the local population.