Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: THE BELOVED [Cannes Film Festival - Cannes, France]

Some films about the industry ring true but others try too hard to be something inventive without a true connection. “Sentimental Value” last year tried but in many ways it still did fall short mostly because Elle Fanning perhaps was miscast in a way and the love and guilt of Stellan Sarsgaard was not as pronounced and intense as it could be. Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as sisters in that film were exceptional especially in one scene but it required the audience to buy in to what has happened with their father, which in this reviewer's estimation, it never really did. “The Beloved” [Competition] is much more effective in its intent, even from the opening salvo by a brilliant Javier Bardeen but also an equally understated Vicky Fuego as his daughter. Bardem plays her father who is now a bigger director casting her in a Spanish epic after not speaking wit her for 13 years. At first it seems so sort of a trite set up considering "Sentimental" last year but it becomes much more psychological in how the scenes deal with this disconnect (whereas "Sentimental" just showed the aftermath). Add to the fact that the background of the shoot is the Canary Islands which is captured beautifully both as a location and behind the scenes as a rugged landscape of the soul. Bardem always plays intense but doesn’t mind playing unlikable if it suits the scene. Fuego sees the daughter in a very specific but practical way in terms of defining or not defining their relationship. This walks tight rope correctly and the intent while simmering wonderfully.

Bardem as Esteban is wrong in many ways in terms of the way he deals with life but he is also the one in charge even when things aren’t quite up to snuff for him and nightmarish for everyone else. One specific shoot of a lunch scene is wonderfully orchestrated and acted culminating in the most emotional part of the film but the duality in the moment is that it also shows showcases the best acting in the film. However, this is also the director Esteban is. He gets what he wants but he loses track of what it took to get there unfortunately. The film succeeds but he damages by exactly what he is doing...and yet he keeps doing it. Before in terms of the character history, this was because of alcohol but underlying that is what his personality dictated. As the shooting continues on and a certain reluctance sets in, what is interesting is the silence that the two actors are given and allowed to play. In a sandstorm, Fuego asks to sit with her father and it is silence..he offers no apologies...but then he offers part of a sandwich, which she refuses, and then takes. It is a simple scene and yet it works. There is only a sadness that is pretty consuming and again Bardem can do this but often not in Hollywood. He does it when he can work elsewhere. "The Dancer Upstairs" did this but that was a different film. Like another similar film at the festival, just answering the question even if it is not fully formed is better than nothing at all. The last shot here also shows that even in a business build on artifice it is the moments between, especially for those making the films. that count the most than the actual final product. Here,. this idea works better than "Value" because it understands that the chaos is not performative...but it is created. B+

By Tim Wassberg