December 1 - SICARIO by Denis Villeneuve (USA) @ Kino Svetozor (Prague, Czech Republic), 15:30
I don't usually "follow my heart" when it comes to watching films at film festivals, and don't attend screenings of films that I know will most likely be getting some type of widespread distribution throughout the year. One of the films that I skipped earlier this year in CANNES was the latest by DENIS VILLENEUVE, who really I only became aware of last year after watching ENEMY, which I was very impressed by. So, I made it a case in point to watch SICARIO this week, after missing it last week, and attended an early afternoon screening of the film, which admittedly was not at all well attended - and the attendance seemed even worse in the bigger of the two screening rooms of KINO SVETOZOR.
The opening sequence had me hooked. This involves FBI agents stumbling upon corpses hidden in the walls of a house inhabited by members of a drug cartel as well as a sudden and violent explosion. Sinister, intense and suspenseful. I also admired the driving sequence that would follow, a scene in which nothing much really happens except that it works also due to the punctuation provided by a minimalistic music score full of really low bass sounds that was like JOHN CARPENTER accidentally stumbled upon the editing room.
For some reason, a good chunk of the film flew right over me. Perhaps it was because I started thinking that this film was very familiar, and despite of the different subjects that it deals with, reminded me in narrative structure of ZERO DARK THIRTY, a theory that was strengthened by the film's gripping finale. It's always good to see a female leading the cast in what up to a few decades ago would have been regarded as a male dominated genre, as it opens up a world of new sensibilities to the stories of this film, as well as other films like it, and works wonders for SICARIO.
Later on in the week I also found out that VILLENEUVE would be directing the sequel to BLADE RUNNER, much to the disappointment of RIDLEY SCOTT who opted instead to carry on in his ALIEN franchise. Not sure how I feel about it, but at least MICHEAL BAY is not involved in the predicament, and that is a good enough reason to be relieved.