CANNES – At the end of a relatively quiet Cannes Film Festival, competition jury president Cate Blanchett admitted her disappointment with the lack of female-driven narratives. But that shouldn’t take away from the fact diverse voices took much of the spotlight this year. The festival had more Asian films in competition than in many years, Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman” was a rare African-American centered tale up for the Palme d’Or and, oh yeah, it was probably the gayest Cannes ever. And, before you start assuming that last observation was some sort of exaggeration, take a moment and breathe: facts are facts, America.
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For a festival that has awarded “Blue is the Warmest Color” it’s top prize and screened films such as “Carol,” “Stranger by the Lake” and “BPM,” in either competition or Un Certain Regard this decade it might seem slightly hyperbolic to tag the 71st Festival de Cannes with such a declaration, but boy was it. There were two decidedly gay films in competition (“Sorry Angel,” “Fever + Heart”), five LGBTQ including trans themed in Un Certain Regard (“Rafiki,” “Euphoria,” “The Angel,” “The Harvesteurs,” “Girl”), one in Director’s Fortnight (“Carmen and Lola”), two in Critic’s Week (“Sauvage,” “Shéhérazade”) and a slew of others that featured gay characters (“Climax“) or, in one doc’s case, bisexual revelations (looks like those rumors about “Whitney” were true). Moreover, as someone who has attended every Sundance and Toronto Film Festival for the past 13 years, it’s impossible to remember the last festival that had so many queer stories up on the screen. And it should be noted that those two festivals often have over 100 and 300 films each year, respectively, far less than what plays on la Croisette.
This current gay/queer film renaissance saw a spark of life in 2015’s “Carol” and came into full bloom with “Moonlight” the following year is now in full effect. There’s been “Call Me By Your Name,” “A Fantastic Woman,” “Love Simon,” “Disobedience,” “God’s Own Country,” and “Beach Rats” (and significant gay characters in “Shape of Water” and “Battle of the Sexes,” too). This year still has “Boy Erased,” “Can You Forgive Me?,” Sundance winner “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” and “Alex Strangelove,” among others, on deck for release. Oh, and there’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” too, but we’re gonna just keep our fingers crossed Freddie Mercury‘s gay identity isn’t washed away in that biopic until it actually screens for the public (let’s not panic yet people). Discouragingly, the wide release opener is still few and far between (hard to believe “In & Out” and “The Birdcage” were over 20 years ago), but along with a plethora of LGBTQ characters in television and streaming content it does feel like a “moment.” And kudos to all the programmers involved with Cannes for taking that into account (now, the lack of female filmmakers and Latin American films is another story).
You’ve probably already heard about Gaspar Noé‘s “Climax” or read my review of “Sauvage” (hint), but let’s rundown some of the other standouts (and not so standouts) that truly made Cannes the life of the queer party this year.
“Girl”
First off, with his feature debut 27-year-old Belgian director Lukas Dhont proves without a doubt he is a massive cinematic talent. He wrote and directed this tale of a teenage transgender girl who, with the support from her single parent father, dreams of becoming a ballerina. It’s a captivating story about a young person struggling with a body that won’t do what they want it to, until one of the finale scenes in the film takes that frustration to a slightly problematic turn. But, wait, there’s more. The film’s lead is played by a 15-year-old cisgender boy, Victor Polster, who absolutely gives a stunning performance. Does that justify his casting though? After “Tangerine” and “A Fantastic Woman,” both films with trans actors who contributed to the screenplay and storylines, is that enough? If there is an argument that Jared Leto’s performance in “Dallas Buyers Club” won’t pass muster in 2018 should “Girl”? The film got a pass from the European press and won the Queer Palm and the Camera d’Or (the latter no small feat). In North America, however, it’s likely a think piece and (potentially) social media firestorm waiting to happen (get ready queer twitter). Then again Dhont and Polster are extremely good looking men so maybe the mainstream media will look the other way (it’s happened before). Certainly, something to watch as Netflix likely pushes it as Belgium’s Foreign Language Film entry in the fall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apA__J_SRNQ
