“May December”, by fellow American Todd Haynes, walks the red carpet with a pair of stars, Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, in a story related to the entertainment industry.
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At 80 years old, Scorsese returns to the Croisette, but this time out of competition. In 1976, he won the Palme d'Or with “Taxi Driver”, in 1986 he won the award for best director for “After Hours”, and was president of the festival's jury in 1998.
Robert de Niro, aged 79, stars in the film alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, aged 48. DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, a man in love with an indigenous woman (Lily Gladstone) who finds himself involved in a conspiracy by a powerful farmer, William Hale (Roberto De Niro), greedy for oil, to expropriate land from the Osage tribe. An FBI agent, played by Jesse Plemons, tries to solve the murders.
'This is civilization'
Scorsese presented the film a few weeks ago in his country and, at the time, declared that he wanted to show how some Americans “were capable of rationalizing violence – including against those they loved – by simply saying: 'This is civilization. One group enters and another leaves,” he explained.
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The film addresses “a forgotten part of our past,” said DiCaprio, who was initially going to play the FBI investigator, but chose to play the killer after spending time with the Osage indigenous people, who suffered violence. The story was shot in the actual location of the events. The script was revised until the last day of filming, according to Scorsese, who wanted to “do right” by the indigenous people.
At 3h30, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is part of a series of long-term films that have been one of the trends in this edition of the Cannes Festival.
Of the 21 productions competing for the Palme d'Or, others that exceed 2h30 are the Chinese “Youth (Spring)” (3h32), the Turkish “About Dry Grasses” (3h17) and the French “Anatomie d'une chute” (2h31 ).
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Todd Haynes is the author of an original filmography, in which he has alternated works of fiction (“Dark Waters”) with biopics (“I'm Not There”, about Bob Dylan, played by different actors) and documentaries, such as the one about the musical group “Velvet Underground”, which he presented at Cannes two years ago.
In 2015, she also caused a sensation at Cannes with “Carol”, a story about an impossible lesbian relationship, played by Cate Blanchett.
The young French-Senegalese Ramata-Toulaye Sy, 36, will add a note of freshness with “Banel & Adama”, a love story.
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