It feels like it at least. Standing on your feet or walking and holding a glass is the required posture for all non-movie going hours spent at Festival de Cannes I have discovered.
But the angry complaints my toes have been filing with my central nervous system disappeared tonight after I attended a premiere of Carancho from Argentinian director Pablo Trapero, who also co-wrote the script and directed his wife, Martina Gusman in the lead role. The film charts the story of an ambulance chasing lawyer, ("carancho" is Spanish slang for birds of prey and refers to such lawyers), who falls for a drug-addicted doctor while trying to manage various scams and avoid the mob. This doesn't do justice to the visceral power of the story especially as car accidents are the chief cause of death to those under 35 in Argentina. You don't need to understand Spanish to get caught up in the film, or even the trailer:
It blew me away through dead true performances and astonishing single take scenes that started with a conversation, became a full blown fight--how they got the blood to bleed later in the shot as it would in real life is beyond me--culminating in a driver's side view of a horrific car accident. Impossible to duplicate. What if you need to do take 2? Audacious film making that reminded me what cinema can be in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing.
I'm humbled and inspired.
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