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The Cannes Film Festival has a dubious history of opening films, as evidenced by all those who caught the famous 2014 feature of Grace Of Monaco. But The Dead Do not Die, a zombie-star by famed author Jim Jarmusch, is a more satisfying opening platter than most others, even if it does not deliver the full-blown brains you've been hoping for.
Despite genre appearances built on a respectful pedestal for George A. Romero's zombie classics and a host of unwanted darlings (among them: Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Chloë Sevigny, Tilda Swinton, Selena Gomez, Steve Buscemi, RZA and Iggy Pop), The Dead Don & # 39; t Die is as busy, sinuous and brave as anything in Jarmusch's work, for better or for worse. Murray, Driver and Sevigny play three local police in the small town of Centerville, a "real nice place" populated by 738 people. Through reports, we learn that polar fracturing has overturned the Earth, causing all sorts of chaos. in the natural order of things. The sun goes down at odd hours, the technology stops working and, oh yes, the dead begin to come out of the ground and wander the earth.
Perhaps unsurprisingly for Jim Jarmusch's zombie movie, The Dead Do not Die takes an inordinate amount of time before even a single reanimated corpse appears. During the first 30 minutes, we discovered a colorful ensemble and gently resumed the sleepy pace of life in the middle of nowhere-city, America. Jarmusch is in his element here, and although he possesses neither the warmth nor the poetry of his latest film – Paterson's 2016, also featuring Driver, there is a fascinating charm in the series of offbeat conversations that are happening in town, most of which have no real purpose, or relevance, for the zompocalypse about to unfold.
All-Star Cast
Image Credit: Focus Features
(Image: © Universal)
When the dead rise (possibly), Jarmusch can not resist the familiar sight of the inverted bowels and doors barricaded by 2×4, which are de rigueur for the genre. Rather than a constant onslaught of the undead, however, the disconcerting, usually non-threatening nature of the traveling cadavers (which do not run) here means that the majority of The Dead Do not Die is left to unfold with a constant number twisted and witty exchanges. The result is a film that, although always funny, is never funny, whereas a clever trail of conscious meta-humor itself pushes the film into a sufficient film, a little too satisfied with itself by this third act somewhat desperate.
The movie's attempts by the satirical social commentary are not much better. Jibes at Trump's America (Buscemi's "asshole" wearing a familiar red baseball cap adorned with the phrase "Make America White Again") feel shy and underdeveloped, while the idea that Zombies are motivated by their deadly materialistic desires, wandering the earth moaning while workers are eviscerated at a local restaurant, or "wi-fi" while they hang on to their cell phones, is a idea at least as old as Romero's, Dawn Of The Dead. This comes to a head with a lecture by Tom Waits 'hermit bob', a stranger who sees and knows everything, and who condemns zombies as a manifesto of capitalist culture. It's a strange choice; Jarmusch, after all, is fully aware of the fact that he follows Romero's footsteps. But by not adding anything new to the debate, we just have the impression that he is 40 years behind the party.
Image Credit: Focus Features
(Image: © Universal)
There are silver liners. Bill Murray and Adam Driver perform a double act very watchable and entertaining. Driver is a good value, which proves the comic talent that he has deployed in Logan Lucky was not unique. He attacks zombie killings with disturbing ease, but he also has a deliciously healthy sequence – calmly exclaiming "ah bah!" After beheading a drunk man with a machete. But Tilda Swinton is the extraordinary stealer of scenes from the movie as Zelda, a Scottish samurai / bodywork entrepreneur, a typically surrealist creation who likes to call people by his full name and ships the undead with only one slice of his sword. It is a treat, but too many characters are lost in the whole, including Selena Gomez, a hipster in the big city that rocks without real effect in the city, and three teenagers in juvie whose sub-plot freezes as soon as when they are introduced.
This is a great example of a film that seems to have been a real riot, but not as fun to watch. And if it scares you, the best is to move on – there is no fear here. To post Shaun of the dead, and even Zombieland (in which Murray appeared with a hilarious effect), he can not compete with even the best undead movies of recent years, let alone the greatest ones. In other words, it's a zombie movie that lacks spice.
For more information on the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, why not read this interview with John Carpenter, fresh from the croisette.
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