Cannes 2023: ABOUT HUMANITY and INHUMANITY

Fallen Leaves, Aki Kaurismäki

Aki Kaurismäki always plays with sacral Finnish sole. From time to time it looks as it's him, who invented this phenomenon. And he knows how to make funny films.

«Fallen Leaves» is a comedy and cinephile piece of cinema art. Emotions and contemporary politics. The story of two lonely people and their melancholic struggle for love, clouded by alcoholism and at the same time colored by fantasies provoked by wine vapors. Obstacles and beautiful music. Shadows of happiness – with Chaplin tenderness. Depression – radio news on the sufferings in Ukraine. Hopes…Absurdity. Amazing film language and amazing humanity. JURY PRIZE.

Zone of interest, Jonathan Glaser

It's probably the most provocative film in the Cannes competition; it's based on the novel by Martin Amis. The director explores the unbearable plasticity of the ethical framework that can expand to the horizon. The film is about the daily life of a German family, whose house is located near Auschwitz. Not a house - a real Eden, created by the efforts of the wife of the Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss. A wonderful family, five kids of different ages, an admirable garden. Cute neighbors gather for home holidays. True, it is a bit noisy: screams, barking dogs, single shots are heard from behind the fence, and the crematorium chimney periodically hums and howls, covering the sky with black and gray ink. But the inhabitants of their Eden quickly get used to the noise. Bucolic picnics. Games with colors on the screen. Unconditional hopelessness of horror. The film, which is terribly necessary to its time. GRAND PRIX.