Festival Diary: MVFF44
A tentative return to in-person film festivals, and some words on CYRANO, PETITE MAMAN, and PASSING
Hello and Happy Halloween! I realized too late that a horror-specific edition of this newsletter would have been better suited for September (since I always post so very late in the month), but we’ll just say that I’m following the example of many retail establishments by looking to the next holiday season before our jack-o-lanterns have even been extinguished.
A few weeks ago, I dipped a toe back into the waters of the in-person film festival experience and saw three movies at the 44th Mill Valley Film Festival. I’ve already been back to movie theaters plenty of times since they’ve reopened, and I’m a fan of the accessibility and audience reach that virtual festivals have allowed for, but it is fun to see an upcoming release a little early, in a theater, sometimes with the filmmaker there to talk to you about it, and I have missed that. So, here is a mini report on a few films that were at the MVFF this year.
Cyrano
The conception of Joe Wright’s Cyrano – adapted from Erica Schmidt’s stage musical based on the play Cyrano de Bergerac, with songs written by The National – was quite the family affair. After seeing Haley Bennett, his partner, star alongside Peter Dinklage, Schmidt’s partner, in the stage production, Wright approached Schmidt (with Bennett’s blessing) about bringing it to the big screen. They shot in Sicily around this time last year, and despite the pandemic and other difficulties, such as having to outrun an active volcano and then reconceptualize a portion of the film in the aftermath, Cyrano will be in theaters on December 31, 2021.
More than anything, Cyrano is a showcase for Dinklage, who has the kind of beautifully devastating face I live for on a leading man. I’d go so far as to say that his charisma is disproportionately developed in comparison to both Bennett’s Roxanne, and Kelvin Harrison Jr.’s Christian, both of whom are lovely enough, but a little light on the substance. The two of them sure can sing, though, whereas the absence of Dinklage’s singing in the film’s trailer feels a little pointed after seeing the movie. But he’s just so good in every other way, from the Yearning™, to wiping the floor with anyone who would dare to engage him in a fight, using scrappy resourcefulness and pure skill that is a blast to watch.
Petite Maman
2019’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire was my introduction to Céline Sciamma, and how do you not jump on the next movie of a filmmaker like that? Petite Maman is quite a different venture, but with the same emotional deftness and affection for detail. The film follows Nelly, a young girl who has just lost her grandmother. While she and her father clear out her grandmother’s house, and her mother leaves to mourn on her own, Nelly meets Marion, a strangely familiar girl building a strangely familiar treehouse in the woods. Through their brief friendship, Nelly is able to connect to her mother and grandmother in ways she had not been able to do before.
Petite Maman reaches through time and doesn’t dwell on how, giving all its space to human connection and understanding. The magnitude of the opportunity Nelly and Marion find themselves experiencing doesn’t stop them from completing their treehouse, or dressing up and putting on plays, or playing with their food and giggling about it. There’s comfort in the impossible familiarity rather than fear, and both girls are able to give the other the support they need in that moment of their respective lives. Short, sweet, and smart, this is a film I would keep in a locket close to my heart if such a thing were possible.
Passing
Passing was my greatest motivator to get to an in-person screening during this festival. Despite its upcoming Netflix release (November 10), I simply could not pass up the opportunity to be in the same theater with an absolute favorite actress of mine, Rebecca Hall, who made her directorial debut with this adaptation of Nella Larsen’s novel. The story follows Irene (Tessa Thompson) and Clare (Ruth Negga), childhood acquaintances who took very different paths in life. Irene is active in her community in Harlem, and her one attempt at “passing” is a nervous trip to a store out of town in search of a toy for her son. Clare is living her life passing as a white woman, and is married to a bigoted white man. The reunion of the two women shines a light on the ways each are free, and each are “passing,” so to speak.
Hall was given the novel many years ago, at a time when she was learning more about her own family, namely that her grandfather was African-American and possibly Sioux, and passed as white. The book resonated with her, and she could see a film of it unfold in her mind immediately. She wrote the script, and spent years being told “no.” Producer Nina Yang Bongiovi, who was awarded one of MVFF’s Mind the Gap awards for her achievements in producing (personally, I’ve had her name in my mental rolodex since she produced Sorry to Bother You), was also told to say no to a lot of choices Hall was standing firmly by, such as the 4:3 aspect ratio and shooting in black and white. Bongiovi met with Hall, heard her out, and saw no reason to say no to her vision. So she didn’t. That’s so exciting to me, and I think it’s a really illustrative case of why when we talk about diversifying entertainment, it has to be at every level.
On that note, if you’re in need of a movie to close out your Halloween weekend, Women’s Weekend Film Challenge has been posting lists of horror movies directed by women on their Instagram. One film in particular they’re highlighting is Darlin’, in memory of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was tragically killed on the set of Rust earlier this month. Darlin’ is available on Tubi and Vudu, and you can find where to watch the rest of Hutchins’ films in the comments of WWFC’s memorial post.
And if you were really hoping for something more festive from me this October, please consider checking out my post on the Fear Street trilogy from earlier this year. 👻