A WEEK AT CANNES + RRR (2022) REVIEW
A guest write-up from Andrew Kim, who is currently attending the Cannes Film Festival! Plus a review and recommendation of Telugu film RRR
The 75th CANNES FILM FESTIVAL by Andrew Kim
This week we have an extra special GUEST SECTION from Andrew Kim. He’s an economics and film studies major from the University of Pennsylvania with experience working at several film studios and dreams of working in the industry post-grad. He’s currently at the 75TH CANNES FILM FESTIVAL, the most prestigious film festival in the world. Below are his thoughts:
Cannes is a venerable name in the film industry. It’s seen by many as a standard-setter for the industry, as some of cinema’s most groundbreaking work debuts every year here. It’s also a glitzy, glamorous event, featuring the world’s biggest movie stars and celebrities. So much so that we’ve actually been turned away from some showings for lacking appropriate attire (as if shorts and a tank aren’t Cannes material). Here are some of my thoughts and takeaways from the festival so far:
It’s all about the movies. A lot of movies. Over the past 9 days, I’ve already watched 28 films, and this is just a small sampling of what’s available. On any given day, there are 30+ different movies from all over the world showing across the 9 theaters.
It’s not all artistic, avant-garde cinema either. Cannes is about a love for movies in general. Yes, there were some that were a little out there. For example, I watched a film called The Dam (2022), which follows a Sudanese bricklayer as he builds a monument in the desert. Although it was billed as a drama, an hour and a half of the movie was literally mud drying in the sun.
But Cannes featured a lot of more ‘commercial’ filmmaking as well. Some of the festival’s biggest names this year include action movies like Lee Jung-jae’s HUNT (which I loved) and upcoming blockbusters like Top Gun: Maverick and Baz Luhrmann’s ELVIS.
Finally, as someone who dreams of making films, this was an exceptional experience. Now in its 75th year, Cannes is cemented in film history. These are hallowed grounds. Attending the festival, meeting other filmmakers, and seeing it all first hand has been unforgettable. With just a few days to go, I can’t wait to see what’s left, especially which film walks away with the coveted Palme d’Or. Special thanks to the Penn Summer Abroad Cannes program and the Department of Cinema Studies for making this trip possible.
RRR (2022) Review + Streaming Recommendation
Dir. S. S. Rajamouli, available on Netflix (Hindi dubbed)
A few weeks ago, I wrote about my personal journey with Bollywood. I wrote that it took me a long time to realize that Western cinema isn’t a blueprint for good filmmaking. It’s easy to joke about Indian cinema being cringe, with often silly action scenes, musical sequences, and over-the-top acting. However, I’ve grown to appreciate these as valuable elements of a unique style of filmmaking.
Nowhere is this more true than in RRR (2022), a Telugu movie directed by S. S. Rajamouli (who also directed the Baahubali movies). The film depicts two legendary revolutionaries and their fight against the British for their country in the 1920s. This movie includes every trope you could imagine in Indian cinema, but executed extraordinarily well. It’s big, exhilarating, and electrifying beyond comparison.
What distinguishes RRR from some of India’s more run-of-the-mill action movies? RRR does not sacrifice storytelling at the expense of its action. While the action is certainly breathtaking, it’s all enabled by incredible characters and a profound story of friendship and patriotism. This makes the movie fly by, despite its 3 hour runtime (not a second of which is wasted).
RRR got me thinking about how the idea of spectacle has changed in Hollywood. All it takes to get American audiences to cheer is a celebrity cameo, an IP crossover, a screenshot-able epic ‘moment’ made for internet virality. But moments alone are not truly epic. It’s the entire experience that sparks real emotion. RRR does this all in one movie, and it never takes its foot off the pedal.
I implore you to check this out. The Netflix version is unfortunately dubbed in Hindi over the original Telugu. Luckily, the original Telugu-version will be showing in theaters across the US on June 1st. This is a movie meant for the theater experience, so do not pass this opportunity up.
That’s all for today! See you all again next week. Until then, please get in touch if you have any thoughts or suggestions you’d like to share. If you want to keep up with what I’m watching, follow me on Letterboxd @atharv_gupta.
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