For my last day in Telluride, Colorado, it was a focus on the Cannes titles and a surprise screening of Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein. Here are my thoughts on each.
Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value presents an incredibly profound perspective on familial relations, undisclosed trauma, and how individuals can adapt to move past these past issues to create something meaningful in their lives. Eskil and Joachim’s script is incredible; its story structure, subtext, and dialogue all feel incredibly genuine and down-to-earth. Each character and their dynamic add something important to what is being conveyed on the screen. It is immaculate from start to finish in this regard.
The ensemble is also remarkable, with Skarsgård and Reinsve truly bringing their characters to life in such a compelling way. Lilleaas and Fanning are strong in their supporting roles as well, adding so much depth to two individuals who aren’t as crucial to the overarching narrative as the two main characters are. An ode to filmmaking and an ode to putting the problematic past behind oneself, Trier’s film is the best of the year so far and the best of the festival.
9/10
Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident is a tense thriller that starts off small and quickly envelops into a psychological drama that pushes the characters to their very limits. The absence of a score or a sense of “cinematic presentation” akin to Asher Farhadi’s filmmaking means one can’t help but truly get invested in what is occurring.
It loses some of its edge as the film’s narrative meanders, but the final act(and sequence at the end) will stick with the viewer, and it leaves a strong impression. A film that won the Palme d’Or for its importance, but is still subversive and well-made in its own right. The tribute highlighted the significance of this amount to Panahi’s vision.
8/10
For the secret screening of the fest, it was quite an experience to witness Del Toro’s Frankenstein. Here are my thoughts.
Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein is a film that knows exactly what it wants to be, and succeeds when it stays within its wheelhouse as an adaptation of the novel it is based on. Though it is overlong and attempts to bite off more than it can chew, a lot of what Del Toro puts together ultimately works, and it succeeds much more than it doesn’t.
Oscar Issac is committed to his leading role, as is Jacob Elordi, with a solid supporting cast alongside them. It’s all to suit Del Toro’s vision, and as typical as it might be in execution, it didn’t need to be anything else.
8/10
Overall, the 52nd Telluride Film Festival was another significant bellwether in awards season contenders, with world premieres (such as Hamnet and Deliver Me From Nowhere) and North American Premieres (Sentimental Value and Frankenstein) really defining what was shown over the course of this Labor Day weekend.
I hoped you enjoyed my coverage, though I hope to go more in-depth in the coming days.
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