Back in 2012, “The Artist” was the darling of the awards season. Picking up tons of accolades, including five Oscars, the French film turned filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius into one of the most recognizable filmmakers on the planet. That’s what made 2014’s “The Search” such a disappointment. After the highest of highs in 2012, Hazanavicius came back down to Earth in 2014 to tons of harsh criticism. Much of that criticism stemmed from the film’s premiere at Cannes.
In a recent interview with IndieWire, Hazanavicius talks about all the controversy surrounding the film festival, including the changes to press screenings, the debate about Netflix, and inviting Lars von Trier back. Needless to say, the French filmmaker (and current Cannes board member) has plenty to discuss.
When it comes to the recent announcement that Cannes has lifted its ban of filmmaker Lars von Trier (for comments that were deemed sympathetic to Hitler and the Nazis), and invited him to premiere “The House That Jack Built” at this year’s festival, Hazanavicius wants everyone to remember that you must separate the art from the artist.
“In the case of Lars von Trier, he was joking. It was a bad joke, but he’s not a Nazi. It was a provocative thing. I was raised in the ’70s and ’80s. Back then, a provocation was like rock ’n’ roll, it was something cool. Now things have changed,” said Hazanavicius. “It’s very difficult for people to accept the idea that you can be a jerk in your personal life and a great artist.”
However, the discussion surrounding the recent Netflix vs. Cannes situation isn’t as black and white to the filmmaker. As Netflix isn’t willing to run a film theatrically in France (which is a Cannes rule), the streaming service has opted out of showing any of their productions at this year’s festival. Hazanavicius sees both sides of the argument but agrees that times are changing.
In fact, he’s on the side of just getting films produced. “I try to see things from the movies’ point of view — by which I mean the producers and directors — and, from that point of view, if Netflix is the only way to finance your movie because the market otherwise can’t, I’d go to Netflix,” he continued. “We all agree that the best situation would be to finance your movie, and go into theaters, but that’s the ideal situation. The reality is changing.”
One topic that Hazanavicius has direct experience with is the criticism that can come from premiering at Cannes. While in previous years the press had access to film screenings before the public, this year’s festival changed that. Now, the press and the public get the chance to see a film at the same time, which is a huge benefit for filmmakers but not for film critics.
“I’ve been there with a movie that critics didn’t like, ‘The Search.’ In fact, they hated it, they killed it in the morning. When I went to the evening screening, I felt like I’d been condemned to death. It wasn’t a red carpet; it was a death corridor. You go there and think, ‘There’s 2,000 people, they’re going to hate my movie, they’re going to boo me, it’s going to be the worst evening of my entire life.’ So you go and it’s a nightmare,” Hazanavicius explains.
He continues, “Then we had this huge ovation after the screening, longer than we had for ‘The Artist.’ So it was really strange. It wouldn’t have changed anything if the morning screening hadn’t happened, but I would’ve felt better, and that’s important. When you want to bring directors to your festival, you have to take care of them, so I think it’s a good move.”
We’ll have to see how all this drama plays out when the Cannes Film Festival begins May 8.
