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There were so many movie stars at the premiere of Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” on Monday night at the Cannes Film Festival, it was almost like a pre-pandemic time.
The streets near the Palace were closed. The crowd was screaming. And Timothée Chalamet, in a silver suit, made it through the July heat to sign autographs and take selfies with fans, as he playfully stuck out his tongue.
Two hours later, “The French Dispatch” won one of the biggest ovations so far at the 74th Cannes edition. The applause continued for nine minutes for Anderson and his cast in attendance, which included Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Stephen Park, Benicio Del Toro and Chalamet.
But an actor could not make the trip. Léa Seydoux was absent from the first, because she is in quarantine in Paris after a positive COVID-19 test.
Searchlight’s release follows a weekly magazine that covers world politics, culture, art, and food in a special interest section of a, uh, Kansas daily. Murray plays the role of a dedicated editor for a bunch of expatriate writers who must wrap their final collection of stories. Through reporting, comics, and imagery, Anderson weaves several vignettes and story lines.
At the start of the evening, there were signs that this was not going to be a regular Cannes premiere. Instead of a black car, the actors – along with composer Alexandre Desplat – arrived together in a giant gold party bus, escorted by French motorcycle police. Murray took off his mask (which had a print of a chin on it), basking in the flashing lights.
Anderson stopped his ensemble at the bottom of the mat to take a group photo. Many actors also appeared to be doing their own camera work. Wilson filmed the crowds at the bottom of the carpet and Brody had Chalamet come for a selfie at the top of the stairs (in violation of the festival’s no-selfie rule, although none of the ushers raised his phone – as they do it with regular participants who try the same). Swinton, who has five films showing at Cannes, wore a pink dress with sleeves covered in shimmering gold sequins. Chalamet rested his head on his shoulder.
Once Anderson entered the theater, the Cannes crowd greeted him with an enthusiastic standing ovation. Chalamet and Swinton held hands as they walked down the aisle, and he said, “Queens baby!” To the cameras as he clapped.
The film is a love letter to journalism, although ironically Anderson refused to hold a press conference with his cast (as is the tradition for films in competition) or to conduct interviews with journalists at Cannes. The end credits are dedicated to a list of editors and writers who inspired the film, including Harold Ross, William Shawn, Lillian Ross and Janet Flanner of The New Yorker; James Baldwin; Ved Mehta and more.
After the lights came back on, Murray walked from seat to seat, hugging everyone in the cast. And the Chalamet-Swinton show continued – he held up the piece of paper with his name on it (which had been strapped to his seat). She took him and stuck him on his back.
Watch what Tilda Swinton did to Timothée Chalamet during the standing ovation of “The French Dispatch”. # Cannes2021 pic.twitter.com/MNmkzdUktA
– Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) July 12, 2021
“Hope we come back with another soon,” Anderson said in brief remarks to the crowd. “Thank you.” As he tried to leave the theater, the audience inside the Palace continued to shower him with applause.
“The French Dispatch” was acquired by Searchlight in September 2019 and was slated to play at Cannes 2020 – which was dropped in the wake of the global pandemic. The release date has been pushed back to October 2020 to be delayed again. The film is now set to hit theaters in the United States on October 22.
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