LOS ANGELES, USA – Indiana Jones, Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, Pedro Pascal, and Martin Scorsese are definitely coming to the Cannes Film Festival this May. And who else are headed to the Croisette?

Let’s start with Indiana Jones. Our favorite adventurer and archaeology professor and his trademark fedora hat will arrive at Festival de Cannes on May 18 when director James Mangold presents Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Fifteen years ago, Steven Spielberg premiered Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in Cannes. This time, James presents his first Indiana Jones movie after the first four were directed by Steven.

The plot has not been revealed but the supposedly final installment in the franchise is, based on the exciting trailer, set during World War II and the late 1960s. Steven and the series’ creator, George Lucas, are among the producers of the saga which also stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Antonio Banderas, and Toby Jones.

James, Phoebe, and Mads recently participated in a panel on their coming Indy Jones film at the Star Wars Celebration Europe in London. I got additional bits of information on Indiana Jones 5 in the transcript of the panel moderated by writer-actor Anthony Carboni.

When Anthony said to James, “So, you’re sort of taking over directors duties from Steven Spielberg. No pressure. No big deal,” James replied, “Yeah, no big deal…. Steven’s work is something…I mean, these movies are something I grew up with. I saw the first Indiana Jones in upstate New York when I was 17 years old and it changed my life.”

“Also, Steven’s work and George’s work have been a part of my life ever since I had a Super 8 camera in my hand in my teens. So that, in some ways, I felt like, yes, it’s a big job taking over for Steven.”

“But in other ways, his style is something I’ve been studying and admiring all my life. And it’s been a huge influence on my work, even before I stepped into a movie like this.”

“So, I tried to just stay inside my own voice. But also, as I think people will see when they see the film, the first 25 minutes or so is me doing my very best to channel Steven, 100%.”

Asked by Anthony about his character, Mads, who is glimpsed in a Nazi officer uniform in the preview, can only answer, “I play Jürgen Voller. I’m German from the ’30s, if that rings a bell. I’m also a scientist. I think that’s all I’m allowed to say.”

For her part, Phoebe can only share: “I play Helena who is Indy’s long-lost goddaughter who comes back and gives him a bit of a fright later on in her life.”

On whose daughter is Helena, the Fleabag TV series and Solo: A Star Wars Story actress answered, “I absolutely can’t answer. I’m sorry. No, you’re going to have to wait and see but it’s a wonderful revelation.”

Mads Mikkelsen teased, “I can give you a hunch.”

On the eras in the film, Mads was cryptic: “I guess this is your time. It is not Indy’s time. It’s not my time. I think both Indy and Jürgen Voller are kind of lost in the past.”

“Just look at the way they dress but they also have dreams that have nothing to do with the present – ’69 is just a phase. You have to get over it. Something better is out there. That’s how my character sees it.”

“It’s a great point,” James remarked. “The ’60s are a kind of huge period of change. It’s the arrival of modernism, cynicism, realpolitik, triangulation, and wars. We’re not even sure who we’re rooting for anymore, and the Cold War, nuclear power, and moon landings.”

“And so, one way or another, we were going to have to make a movie that took place in this period. So the movie is really interesting as it opens and you find Indy…. It’s no longer fashionable, that kind of hero.”

“And he kind of proves his worth again in the course of the movie. But the time period has a really interesting effect on the story, of course.”

On the film’s locations, Phoebe said, “We went to Sicily, Morocco, and Glasgow was extraordinary. Whoo, Glasgow.”

James agreed: “We love Glasgow.”

“Glasgow’s energy is off-the-wall,” Phoebe added. “It’s incredible. They (locations) all were actually. We were really blessed with these different incredible places.”

“I loved Morocco. It was just such an immersive experience. And all the action sequences we did there were just…it really added to it, the fact that we were there.”

Mads chimed in, “Morocco rocked. Yeah. No, I was a big fan of Sicily. There’s something very Indiana Jones about Sicily. It was the roughness of the island. It was just very much down the alley of what this film is all about and the beauty at the same time.”

Replying to Anthony’s question on how working on Solo: A Star Wars Story perhaps already prepared her for the scale of Dial of Destiny, another Lucasfilm production, Phoebe said, “It’s such an extraordinary thing working on movies that have this scale. It’s such a gift to be able to experience that.”

“And I thought that I might be sort of a bit more prepared having done Solo and seen something on that scale but I wasn’t. The marvel of it is extraordinary every single time.”

“And you really feel like you are living the adventures. So, there is something so beautiful about being able to feel like you’re really in that world when you’re on that set.”

“Because sometimes they’re 360 (degree) sets and you just look around. You’re actually in a tomb and you just can believe it. I feel like all that stuff really actually happened to me.”

James clarified to Anthony that they did not shoot using The Volume, a technology in which LED panels are used as a backdrop for a set. “We never directed on The Volume,” the filmmaker stressed. “No. We did real shit.”

“I don’t even know what Volume is,” Mads commented.

James explained, “It’s a miraculous LCD screen that creates a background behind you and they don’t have to build it (set). We built it or we went there (on location).

Anthony asked Mads and Phoebe if they have spotted fans costumed as their respective characters in the convention held at London’s ExCeL Centre. Mads replied, “This is the first room I’m in so if anyone is (costumed in) my character, raise their hand.”

James quipped about a fan cosplaying as a Nazi: “A Jürgen Voller cosplayer would scare me.”

“I think they should be careful,” Phoebe remarked.

James added, “I’m not sure we want to find him.”

“No, no. Apparently not. No, not today,” Mads said. He asked, “Any Helenas?”

Phoebe answered, “Not yet, no. Have you?”

James shared, “I’ve seen something of you. Yes. Yes. Little midriff tied, the mid-picture look.”

“Oh, I can’t wait,” Phoebe replied. “Reveal yourselves.”

In closing, James said to the fans assembled in the United Kingdom’s largest auditorium, “We hope you love it. We loved making it. It’s not complicated.”

“It was a real thrill, not just the scale of the movie but to work with a legend like Harrison, producers like Kathy Kennedy, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and to have the miraculous John Williams at 91 years old writing a kick-ass score. Two hours of music by that man. So fasten your seatbelts. We can’t wait for you to see it.”

May 18 marks the return of James to the world’s most prestigious festival. Heavy, his feature directing debut, starring Liv Tyler, Pruitt Taylor Vince, and Shelley Winters, screened in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight in 1995.

Using understatement to describe Dial of Destiny, which reportedly cost almost $300 million, James was quoted by the Cannes festival as saying: “Twenty-eight years later, I am proud to return with a slightly larger spectacle.”

Cannes will also give a tribute to Harrison Ford to coincide with the premiere of Dial of Destiny, which will screen out of competition.

Killers of the Flower Moon

In the case of Martin Scorsese, it’s hard to believe that Killers of the Flower Moon is the revered filmmaker’s first Cannes submission in four decades.

Now 80 years old, Martin reunited his two muses, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, in his film adaptation of respected journalist David Grann’s nonfiction book, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.

Martin also tapped Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, and John Lithgow in bringing to the screen David’s account of Osage tribe members in Oklahoma who were murdered under mysterious circumstances in the 1920s. The killing of these indigenous people who owned oil-rich land was investigated by the FBI, leading to the conviction of a cattleman, William Hale (Robert De Niro).

Jeanne du Barry

Johnny Depp’s French historical drama, Jeanne du Barry, will open the 76^th edition of the film festival on the Croisette. Johnny will play King Louis XV opposite the titular courtesan character of Maiwenn, who also directs.

The festival shared the plot of the film: “Jeanne Vaubernier, a young working-class woman hungry for culture and pleasure, uses her intelligence and allure to climb the rungs of the social ladder one by one. She becomes the favorite of King Louis XV who, unaware of her status as a courtesan, regains through her his appetite for life.”

“They fall madly in love. Against all propriety and etiquette, Jeanne moves to Versailles, where her arrival scandalizes the court…”

The period drama is being described as Johnny’s comeback since he won a bitter and widely reported defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard.

Jeanne du Barry is Maiwenn’s third Cannes official selection in competition. She won the jury prize for Polisse in 2011 and in 2015, her Mon Roi (My King) won for Emmanuelle Bercot the best actress honors.

Strange Way of Life

Cannes recently added Pedro Almodovar to the list of acclaimed filmmakers coming to its cinematic feast next month. The Spanish maestro will premiere his short – only his second English language film – Strange Way of Life, starring Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke.

In an announcement released by Cannes, Pedro described his new film’s story: “A man rides a horse across the desert that separates him from Bitter Creek. He comes to visit Sheriff Jake (Ethan). Twenty-five years earlier, both the sheriff and Silva (Pedro), the rancher who rides out to meet him, work together as hired gunmen.”

“Silva visits him with the excuse of reuniting with his friend from his youth, and they do indeed celebrate their meeting, but the next morning Sheriff Jake tells him that the reason for his trip is not to go down the memory lane of their old friendship…”

“I must say no more so as not to give away all the surprises of the script.”

But in previous interviews, Pedro revealed more and declared to IndieWire that Strange Way of Life is “like my answer to Brokeback Mountain.”

In that IndieWire interview, the openly gay director said, “This is a queer Western in the sense that there are two men, and they love each other, and they behave in that situation in an opposite way.”

The short also stars Manu Rios, Jason Fernandez, Pedro Casablanc, and Jose Condessa.

Ruben Ostlund

After winning the Palme d’Or last year for Triangle of Sadness and introducing Dolly de Leon to the world, Ruben Ostlund returns to the Croisette as president of the jury, no less.

Ruben, who has directed only six features but already won the Palme d’Or twice (his first was for The Square in 2017) and the Un Certain Regard jury prize for Force Majeure (originally Turist) in 2014, said in a statement released by Cannes: “I am happy, proud, and humbled to be trusted with the honor of Jury president for this year’s Competition at the Festival de Cannes.”

“Nowhere in the film world is the anticipation as strong as when the curtain rises on the films in Competition at the festival. It is a privilege to be part of it, together with the Cannes audience of connoisseurs. I am sincere when I say that cinema culture is in its most important period ever.”

“The cinema has a unique aspect – there, we watch together, and it demands more on what is shown and increases the intensity of the experience. It makes us reflect in a different way than when we dopamine scroll in front of the individual screens.”

Who else could be coming?

Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City tops my wish list of official selections. The complete list will be announced by Cannes on April 13.

I can watch Wes’ films again and again. I love his quirky, idiosyncratic, whimsical cinema.

Asteroid City’s story is teased briefly: “The itinerary of a Junior Stargazer convention is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.” Well, apparently these spectacular events are triggered by an alien invasion.

The 1950s-set comedy romance is Wes’ first try at sci-fi so let’s see how it goes. The trailer satisfies the Wes Anderson geek in me.

The cast is a dream, dominated by the filmmaker’s regulars: Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, plus Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hans, Jeffrey Wright, Bryan Cranston, Hong Chau, Liev Schreiber, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Hope Davis, Steve Park, and Margot Robbie.

No official word about the Filipino presence in Cannes 2023 so far. I heard that a Pinoy filmmaker submitted an entry. And that two Filipino short films – “one experimental and the other straightforward narrative” – are on the shortlist.

Other potential selections include Hayao Miyazaki’s How Do You Live, Ken Loach’s The Old Oak, Tran Anh Hung’s The Pot-Au-Feu, Daniel Espinosa’s Mama Luna, Matteo Garrone’s Io Capitano, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster, Todd Haynes’ May December, Lisandro Alonso’s Eureka, Michel Franco’s Memory, and Nanni Moretti’s Il Sol Dell’ Avvenire.

Also on my wish list: Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, Abderrahmane Sissako’s Perfumed Hill, Bertrand Bonello’s The Beast, Warwick Thornton’s The New Boy, Qiu Yang’s Some Rain Must Fall, Bruno Dumont’s The Empire, and Michel Gondry’s The Book of Solutions. – Rappler.com