In Anatomy of a fall, Justine Triet imagines the trial of her heroine. At the time of receiving the palme d’or of the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, the director made another lawsuit: that of the French government and the pension reform of Emmanuel Macron.
The one to whom we owe Victoria And Sibyl began by thanking all its teams and the jury this Saturday evening, before launching into a committed speech. “The country has been crossed by an extremely powerful and unanimous historical protest of the pension reform”, she said before regretting that the movement was “shockingly denied”. Justine Triet thus denounced the repressions against the mobilization.
The third director to receive the prize in the history of the festival (at 44 she succeeds Jane Campion for the piano lesson in 1993 and to Julia Ducournau for Titanium in 2021) also pointed to the “commodification of culture that the neoliberal government defends“and who is in the process”to break the cultural exception without which [elle] wouldn’t be here today“. “This pattern of dominating power, increasingly uninhibited, is breaking out in several areas,” remarked the filmmaker. First socially – “that’s where it’s most shocking“, she says, but also in”all other spheres of society, and cinema is no exception.»
Justine Triet’s committed speech was widely welcomed by the left. “Thanks to Justine Triet for her courage in addition to her talent. Cannes returns to its tradition. It is the resistant left that created this festival“, reacted the leader of LFI Jean-Luc Mélenchon on Twitter.
“Six months that all of France disputes. Six months that we submit to the will of one. Thank you madam for keeping a stiff neck“, also supported the number one of the PS Olivier Faure, while Marine Tondelier, boss of EELV, was ironic about these “news of Macron’s 100 days to appease, live from the Cannes Film Festival“.
“Commodification of bodies, Commodification of culture, Congratulations to Justine Triet for her Palme d’or and her speech that hits so right“, added the national secretary of the PCF Fabien Roussel.
The “flabbergasted” minister
Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak said to herself “flabbergasted» by the speechunfairfrom the Frenchwoman.
“Happy to see the palme d’or awarded to Justine Triet, the tenth for France! But flabbergasted by his speech so unjust. This film could not have seen the light of day without our French film financing model, which allows for a diversity that is unique in the world. Let’s not forget that,” she wrote on Twitter.
This reaction made people jump to the left. Olivier Faure claimed to be “flabbergasted to see a Minister of Culture who thinks that when you finance a film, you buy the conscience of its authors“. “Think no more, take your grants and silence in the ranks“Launched the PCF.
Figures from the presidential camp entered the debate, provoking a few skirmishes on Twitter. “Anatomy of the ingratitude of a profession that we help so much… and of an art that we love so much“, tackled Roland Lescure, Minister Delegate for Industry, in reference to the award-winning film. “Maybe it’s time to stop handing out so much aid to those who have no awareness of what it’s costing taxpayers“, threatened the chairman of the Economic Affairs Committee of the Assembly, Guillaume Kasbarian (Renaissance).
Environmentalist Benjamin Lucas saw it as a call “to censorship, by blackmail to subsidies“: “It’s Le Pen in the text“, according to him.
In Anatomy of a fall, Justine Triet imagines the trial of a woman (Sandra Hüller) accused of the homicide of her husband, in a fascinating and clear film which had won the palm of the critics of Release. His feature film is expected in French theaters on August 23.
Updated Sunday, May 28 at 10:21 a.m. with the political reactions