In keeping with tradition, the 2023 edition of Cannes Classics promises to be a feast for cineastes with tributes to global masters and restored versions of all-time classics.
Cannes Classics’ Memories of Jean-Luc Godard strand pays homage to the master who died in 2022 by screening a restored version of “Contempt” (1963); “Godard by Godard,” a self-portrait of the auteur; and the world premiere of “Phony Wars,” a trailer for a film that will never get made, described by the festival as a venture where the filmmaker “transformed his synopses into aesthetic programs.”
Liv Ullman will be present at the strand with “Liv Ullmann – A Road Less Travelled,” a documentary directed by Dheeraj Akolkar.
Japanese master Ozu Yasujiro will be paid tribute to with screenings of “Record of a Tenement Gentleman” (1947) and “The Munekata Sisters” (1950) off restored prints. “Return to Reason” – where four films of painter, photographer and director Man Ray have been restored and Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan, from the group Sqürl, have brought them together into a single artistic object and composed the soundtrack – will be screened in the presence of Jarmusch and Logan.
There will also be several world premieres of restored classics. These include Alfred Hitchcock‘s “Spellbound” (1945), Claude Sautet’s “Danger Ahead” (1960), Frounze Dovlatian’s “Hello, It’s Me” (1965), Paul Carpita’s “Le Rendez-vous des quais” (1955), Pietro Germi’s “Il ferroviere” (1956), Bertrand Tavernier and Robert Parrish’s “Mississippi Blues” (1983), Ulrich Schamoni’s “Es” (1966), Leopold Lindtberg’s “The Village” (1953), Pierre Colombier’s “Ces Messieurs de la santé” (1934) and Judit Elek’s “The Lady from Constantinople” (1969).
The restored classics also include Rogelio A. González’s “Skeleton of Mrs. Morales” (1959), René Mugica’s “Man on Pink Corner” (1962), Jacques Rivette’s “L’amour fou” (1969), “Caligula – The Ultimate Cut” (1979) and Aribam Syam Sharma’s “Ishanou” (1990).
documentaries include “100 Years of Warner Bros.” from Leslie Iwerks, “Nelson Pereira dos Santos – A Life of Cinema” by Aida Marques and Ivelise Ferreira, “Viva Varda! by Pierre-Henri Gibert, “Anita” by Svetlana Zill and Alexis Bloom, “The Family” by Michel Denisot and Florent Maillet and “Room 999” by Lubna Playoust.
As part of the festival’s honorary Palme d’Or for Michael Douglas, the documentary “Michael Douglas, The Prodigal Son” by Amine Mestari will be screened.
The festival’s Cinema on the Beach section will feature screenings of “Underground” by Emir Kusturica, “Thelma & Louise” by Ridley Scott, “One Deadly Summer” by Jean Becker, “The Sense of Celebration” by Éric Tolédano and Olivier Nakache, the world premiere of “Flo” by Géraldine Danon, for the 50th anniversary of Bruce lee’s death “The Way of the Dragon” by Lee, “Carmen” by Carlos Saura, the world premiere of “Mars Express” by Jérémie Périn and an homage to the late producer Edward Pressman in the shape of Terrence Malick’s “Badlands,” produced by Pressman.
Also shown on the beach will be “L’Eté en pente douce” by Gérard Krawczyk, “Sarafina!” by Darrell Roodt, “Alberto Express” by Arthur Joffé and the world premiere of “Robot Dreams” by Pablo Berger.
