Palme d'or to Julia Ducournau's Titane!

Titane is a brilliant film of epic and cathartic realms. Ducournau said at the press conference for the film that David Cronenberg is a favorite and also responded to questions about the use of violence in the film. It has extraordinary editing, acting and cinematography.

Titane is overwhelmingly  engaging from beginning to end. You could start at any point of the film and find a compelling thread of the narrative to follow about a young girl in a car accident with a titanium implant in her head. Alexia develops an affinity to cars when she grows up as a crash victim caused by a careless father which explains her extreme violence and destruction of her past.

The film is bold and some parts are difficult to get through such as cyborg sex and birth but subsequent scenes pull you back in. Ducournau is a magnetic director and her film is gender bending with stellar performances by Agathe Rousselle as Alexia and "son" to the Fire Marshall (Vincent Lindon) her "father".

Julia Ducournau’s cinematic style is accomplished. The cadence of shot, sound and montage conveys a skilled technique and craftmanship in the representation of gender. There is a refreshing lack of incessant dialogue in the screenplay by Ducournau evident in many films today. This is a film that shows, not tells. Ducournau “shows” how women feel. She shows their bodies in intimate detail and their emotions in facial expressions and corporeal reactions. They are above all “doers”. She shows their empowerment, and their vulnerability and strengths even as they are assaulted and bullied.

©Moira Jean Sullivan Filmfestivals.com

FIPRESCI, GALECA

©Photo Festival de Cannes