‘Firebrand’ Review: Karim Aïnouz’s Paints A Dull Version Of History In Handsome Period Drama [Cannes]

It would be nice to think that desires are nothing more than preferences, springing organically from a fixed identity and unaffected by outside circumstances such as personal history and societal norms. The reality is, of course, much thornier, and trying to disentangle the many different factors influencing our tastes and longings can quickly cause a lot of suffering.

Chinese author Yu Hua is no stranger to Cannes. The famed postmodernist writer’s work first graced the silver screens of the Palais back in 1994 with director Zhang Yimou’s masterclass adaptation of his seminal novel, “To Live.” A searing portrait of a single family’s struggle through China’s mid-century upheaval and the Cultural Revolution, “To Live” would go on to win the festival’s coveted Grand Prix award, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, and the Best Actor Award.

The official synopsis for Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days” is one of those rare occasions when a tightly-described premise encapsulates the immensity of a film: a janitor in Japan drives between jobs listening to rock music. In this case, the janitor is Hirayama (Koji Yakusho), an older man whose job is cleaning Tokyo’s elegantly designed public toilets.

In 2008, Kléber Mendonça Filho released “Crítico,” a documentary building upon his years of experience as a film critic to weave a rich chronicling of cinephilia that gathered over 70 critics and filmmakers to discuss cinema in all of its joys and contradictions. Fifteen years later and following great acclaim as a fiction feature director, Filho returns to documentary to investigate some of the themes he first prodded upon in his debut with “Pictures of Ghosts.” READ MORE: 2023 Cannes Film Festival: 21 Must-See Movies To Watch  As with Godard and Paris, Fellini and Rome, Scorsese, and New York, Filho is a filmmaker whose craft is deeply intertwined with his love of a city, in this case, the Pernambuco capital of Recife, in the north-east of Brazil.

Having previously won the Palme d’Or in 2001 for “The Son’s Room” and premiered the majority of his films in competition, Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti has been a mainstay at the Cannes Film Festival for several decades.

It’s widely know that Henry VIII, the Tudor king, had a particularly grim batting average when it came to matrimony.

Cannes Film Festival comes to a close on Saturday and you can feel it. Things are starting to slow down, standing ovations aren’t as long and those on the Croisette are starting to get tired. Beloved filmmaker Wes Anderson debuted his latest feature, “Asteroid City,” on Wednesday and the reaction was more muted than the reception to “Killers of the Flower Moon” or even the more mixed “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” TheWrap’s Steve Pond emphasized the whole did not live up to the sum of its parts, despite pristine craft as always.

Fresh off the debut of “Firebrand,” it appears that acclaimed filmmaker Karim Aïnouz has already lined up his next film, “Rosebushpruning.” And as you might expect, he’s already landed an incredible cast to lead the feature. According to The Match Factory and MUBI, Karim Aïnouz’s next film will be titled “Rosebushpruning,” and it will be a remake of the classic Italian film, “Fists in the Pocket.” Exact details about the plot are unknown, but if it follows ‘Fists,’ which was directed by Marco Bellocchio, the film will tell the story of a family dealing with various medical conditions and the effect it has on their relationships.

Kristen Stewart, Josh O’Connor and Elle Fanning are to lead The Match Factory and Mubi’s Rosebushpruning from Firebrand director Karim Aïnouz.

The show is still days away from arriving on HBO, but the months leading up to the release have made “The Idol” a hot-button topic to discuss. And most of the discourse surrounds the behind-the-scenes drama that plagued the production.

Cults and eating disorders warp the mind much in the same way: they convince the individual that their behavior is special and vital, that everyone else can’t see themselves or the world clearly, and that any external opposition only proves the effectiveness and power of their behavior. In her grueling new film “Club Zero,” Austria’s most fearless button-pusher Jessica Hausner fuses the two into a trajectory of slow-moving, inexorable body horror as primly buttoned-up as the lemon-lime polo shirt uniforms selected by her costume-designer sister Tanja.

Jude Law and Alicia Vikander step out for the photo call in support of their new movie Firebrand during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Jude Law and Alicia Vikander step out for the photo call in support of their new movie Firebrand during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Firebrand,” a historical drama that follows the marriage of the king and Queen Catherine Parr, his sixth and final wife — played by Alicia Vikander.In order to get into the role, the actor had a repulsive perfume blended from “blood, fecal matter and sweat” specially made to wear while shooting the movie.“I read several interesting accounts that you could smell Henry three rooms away. His leg was rotting so badly.

Brent Lang Executive Editor When his agent first suggested that Karim Aïnouz direct an adaptation of Elizabeth Fremantle’s “Queen’s Gambit,” a historical novel about Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII, he thought she was joking. The Brazilian director of “The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão” wasn’t a natural choice to bring 16th century England to life on screen. For one thing, Aïnouz didn’t really know anything about the oft-married monarch. “I could barely identify who Henry VIII was, and I’m not into the monarchy,” he says on the eve of the Cannes premiere of “Firebrand,” the movie he made from Fremantle’s book. “I’m not into British history. I was very puzzled.”

CANNES – Henry VIII was a bad, bad, bad man. The 16th Century King of England notoriously beheaded two of his six wives, divorced another two, and saw another die during childbirth.

Jude Law wore a horrifying concoction of scents, a pungent blend of “blood, fecal matter and sweat,” to play Henry VIII in “Firebrand,” a historical drama about the final days of the king and his sixth and last wife Katherine Parr. “I read several interesting accounts that you could smell Henry three rooms away. His leg was rotting so badly. He hid it with rose oil,” Law said at Monday’s Cannes Film Festival press conference for “Firebrand,” which debuted at the Palais a day prior. “I thought it would have a great impact if I smelt awful.” So, he went to perfume specialist to create a custom, revolting blend of smells. “She makes wonderful scents, and she also makes awful scents. She somehow came up with this extraordinary variety of blood, fecal matter and sweat.”

So, Jude Law, when do you really think of the British monarchy after playing one of the worst kings in history, the wife slaying, Henry VIII, in Firebrand?

Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender looked all loved up on the red carpet for the premiere of her new movie, Firebrand.

Jude Law and Alicia Vikander led stars on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival ahead of the premiere of their new film Firebrand. The historical drama, based on Elizabeth Fremantle’s 2013 novel Queen’s Gambit, explores the life of Catherine Parr – the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII. Law stars as the notorious King of England while Oscar-winning actress Vikander plays Parr in the film which is the English-language debut for its director, Brazilian filmmaker Karim Ainouz.