Another year in Cannes – Always more movies to watch and discuss
by Alex Billington
May 27, 2025
THE Art of attending a film festival As a film critic is a strange company. We walk from room to room every day, spending hours in darkness to watch the light dance on a screen. We look at old and news stories, represented for us in a luminating majesty, handcrafted (and also digitally manufactured) by craftsmen of magic and intrigue. We bicker and discuss and discuss what matters and what does not, wondering if any of this counts. What attracts these stories to us? What stories make us speak loudly? Does this ceremonial procession through the big rooms of cinema has meaning beyond our own selfish desires to be the one Attending each story, feeling the feeling of emotions, but still before the rest of the world, has a chance to join these celebrations. We spend weeks living in rented apartments and hotel rooms dedicated to our profession – to sit down quietly, patiently, to participate in the glory of cinema and the art of debate and the fascination of narration. Are these stories count, but is our place in these stories important? Only if we have something to add to it, only if we can join the conversation with one or two valid opinions.
Who are we to think that we are counting? We are only cinema criticism … who must we think that we are important? We are ordinary people too … Ready with our notepads and our pens, ready with our laptops and mini-recorders and mobile phones and mailbox accounts, ready to demolish the film and everyone. Ready to be honest, and Tell him as if it wereAnd speak without being told what to say or what to praise or what to ignore. Ready in Rave – but only if necessary. Which, during a film festival occurs most often. And here is the thing – we are film geeksAlso. We are all moviegoers who stole from all over the world to be there. We are fans of unconditional films who throw money just to sit in the same room as all celebrities and / or with all the other geeks / film critics that came to town. It is not necessary to hate us, no need to upset us with us, no need to be disturbed by us, just because we are paid to say that this film is badAnd this is GOOD. Each of us spends time, money and efforts and energy to be there, to participate in this annual rite of passage. A trip to cinema. We love all the films as much as anyone, and we want to meet stories that we have never seen before, the cinema that challenges us and we have what we know, what we have seen before.
Film festivals are funny when you stop and think about it. No other festival or event in the world lasts fifteen days. The Brazil carnival only lasts 5 days. Most concert festivals last 3 or 4 days. Comic-Con lasts only 5 days. Film festivals are the only major cultural events that take place for two full weeks (or even more like New York or Seattle film festivals), from Tuesday (or Wednesday or Thursday depending on the festival) and ending the weekend following Saturday or Sunday. Cinema critics and cinema enthusiasts, more than any other, submit to the exhaustion of living in the city of the festival for two weeks and to attend endless projections day after day – more Five or six films per day. Imagine to go to a concert that lasted two weeks in a row. And every day, there were 4 or 5 groups that you were going to watch live. It’s a bit like the way it is to be at a film festival. Of course, there is also glamor and glory, and the south of France is a beautiful place to be (most of the festival cities are beautiful). Many cinema criticisms survive with growing and coffee diets, as well as one or two Kebab and any other food they can take in the grocery store between projections. I think it’s an excellent endurance feat to succeed as a film amateur in a film festival for two weeks.
Whenever I am in Cannes, I am always inspired by Roger Ebert And his emblematic book by Cannes “Two weeks in the midday sun: a cane notebook“(of which I gave copies of rods a few years ago). Although the newspaper I write in my mind every year in Cannes is called”Two weeks under the Mediterranean sun“Instead, especially because I try not to have been burned while waiting for the next screening to start. Please let us enter, Mr. Usher! It is too hot. After 15 years in Cannes, I want to go home every two weeks. I know each street, every corner, each shop, each bakery, every market, each secret entrance; all my favorites in the city, I always know myself, excited”Alex! It will be?!“Cannes is a place where cinema prosperous, but arguments, conversations, discussions and more. Croissant flakes fly and sell while criticisms debate if this film is really so bad, or if they were too tired to appreciate it. Perhaps a little of both? Maybe not … at least we were all there to experience it. Debussy roomA thousand of us meet in darkness to sit with fascinations while the film is revealed for the first time on the screen in front of a ravaged audience. We will love it? Are we going to hate him? Will we be indifferent? Discover about ~ 2 hours. Although it’s Cannes, so let’s be honest, most The films have almost 3 hours.
The favorite past of each criticism is arguing on the films. To be frank, it is inevitable, an inevitable aspect of the formation of an opinion. It is rare that two criticisms agree – although this happens. Endless arguments and discussions represent the very idea of film criticism – The subjective opinion of a person is something that he learns to express as a career and must therefore defend when he is confronted with a different subjective opinion. This is the path. It would not be a real profession if it was not like that. More importantly, it would not be an honest profession if it was not like that. I am proud to admit that I do not agree with many cinema criticisms who also happen to be my friends. I also disagree with many cinema reviews that are definitely not My friends. But I appreciate them all anyway. I have the greatest respect for anyone who comes to Cannes Just to watch movies. Not for Gawk to celebrities, not to network with industry, but to spend time in cinemas and watch Watch Watch. Why is a film festival if if not to engage with cinema? What had I doing in recent weeks? Watch movies. Tons of them – more 40 films More than 14 days. And I can’t wait to arrive in Cannes again next May and start again. There is nowhere else that I prefer to be, this festival has my heart (just like French croissants). Even if we do not agree on films, cinema is what unites us. Always look.
The best moment of cinema at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival for me? When we are all emerged from the premiere of the press evening of Joachim Trier night Sentimental value And you could see the huge smiles radiating on everyone’s faces. FinallyWe have all stuck with joy, finally we are witnessing THE Best film of the festival, and finally, almost all agreed to exclaim – it’s a brilliant film. Let’s celebrate it! Celebrate the cinema now and forever. Cannes can only last two weeks each year in May, but it continues to be the elegant festival where filmmakers and films shine. And they shine in other theaters from around the world the rest of the year, dazzling the public from all countries. Stories that must be shared. I can’t wait to celebrate all these films and so many others – just make sure to take the time to appreciate them when they come to you. But for the moment, it is time to conclude my # Cannes2025 coverage and obtain an essential rest and relaxation. For the next major film festival (Venice) is still waiting for just at the corner of the street …
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