still, He had the reputation of never accepting to be part of the juries. This time, Alejandro González Iñarritu, 55 years old, has been replaced and is a successor to Cate Blanchett at the head of the 72nd edition of the Cannes film festival. Maybe because the Mexican will be packed to the Oscars looks at the Croisette as «the heart» of world cinema. Exemplary, the jury over which he presides, composed of Elle Fanning, Enki Bilal, Yorgos Lanthimos and Pawel Pawlikowski complies with the strict parity. Portrait in seven points in a filmmaker’s atypical.
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● A Mexican on the Croisette
A first in the history of cannes, the choice of a personality mexican responds to a desire clearly enunciated by Thierry Frémaux, the general delegate: «Through the presence of the author of Babel (Alejandro González Iñarritu, editor’s note) , it is the mexican cinema that the Festival will celebrate.» A opening all the more happy with his fellow friends and filmmakers Guillermo del Toro ( The Shape of water , oscar of the best film in 2017) or Alfonso Cuaron ( Roma , which aired on Netflix, and winner of the Golden Lion 2018), by Alejandro González Iñarritu has formed a gang ready to reap all the rewards.
● In Cannes as his home.
eighteen years before presiding over the destiny of her brothers, Alejandro González Iñarritu has presented in Cannes her first feature film, Love bitches . A story of parallel lives, and foreign – a model, a thug, and an old revolutionary – that eventually intersect. The film takes home the Grand prize of the Critics ‘ Week. In 2006, the director unveils the Babel , with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, which earned him the prix de la mise-en-scene and that of the ecumenical jury.
Alejandro González Iñarritu (right) with his friend the film director Guillermo del Toro (left) at the 90th academy awards ceremony in 2018. ANGELA WEISS/AFP
● a Filmmaker at the peak
In 2017, Alejandro González Iñarritu has filmed and then screened at the Cannes film Carne y Arena («Flesh and Sand») . An event for the festival, because, for the first time, a film of virtual reality is projected in cinemas. Immersion allows you to exceed the 20% of vision used in the classic cinema and is intended to put the viewer in the shoes of a migrant mexican crossing the border – a theme that is particularly close to the heart of Alejandro González Iñarritu. Thierry Frémaux, in charge of the cannes selection, compare this experience to The Arrival of the train at la Ciotat of the Lumière brothers.
● as strong as Mankiewicz
never seen since Joseph L. Mankiewicz in 1949 and 1950. For Birdman and The Revenant , respectively in 2015 and 2016, Alejandro González Iñarritu has been crowned the Oscar for best director two years in a row. In the passage, the first of the two also received trophies for best film, best original screenplay and best cinematography. The Revenant , to him, is returned with the statuette for best actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) and best photography.
● He loves rock’n’roll
In 1984, Alejandro González Iñarritu was not from movies, but he had a radio of rock in Mexico city. Animator, producer and DJ, he crosses the road of Elton John and Carlos Santana. The young man then became a producer for Televisia, the largest media company in Latin America. Between 1987 and 1989, a true jack-of-all, it makes up for the soundtracks of six films, signed by Hernando Name, and Víctor Manuel Castro.
● Leonardo DiCaprio, liver of bison and statuette
Leonardo DiCaprio would get an Oscar. In 2016, Alejandro González Iñarritu helped him. But the price of the more difficult experience of the career of the actor. Temperatures of about -30°, two hours of natural light per day to film, sleep in the carcass of a horse… The filmmaker has not spared the hunk of Wolf of Wall Street . Up to force him to take a bite of a liver of the bison raw. «The most repulsive, it is the membrane», will explain, later.
● Michael Keaton in his underwear kangaroo
On the filming of Birdman , Alejandro González Iñarritu requires the american actor Michael Keaton as he goes through Time Square in his underwear. The scenario is clear: Riggan, the main character, finds himself accidentally stuck to the outside of the theatre where it needs to go on the stage. But, not rich enough to block the intersection, or recreate it in the studio, the director has no other solution than to let go of his actor in the street, to the great surprise of passers-by. And this despite the fanfare hired to capture their attention.
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The jury, chaired last year by Cate Blanchett was awarded the Palme d’or at A family affair of the Japanese Hirokazu Kore-Eda. The choice of this new raw 2019 is expected to announce less conventional. The Verdict on may 25, because, as the sang Luis Mariano, «an adventure in mexico, it barely lasts a week…»
