A double tribute for the opening of Cannes Classics

An Italian and an American. The former made his first film at the age of fifteen; the latter learned the ropes in fashion photography. Tonight, Cannes Classics will honour Bernardo Bertolucci, recipient of an honorary Palme d’Or, and Jerry Schatzberg, recipient of a Grand Prix du Jury in 1973 for Scarecrow and the creator of the Festival poster.

Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist (Il Conformista) will be screened as the opening film in Cannes Classics. A young school boy in the 1930s, Marcello is haunted by the murder of a homosexual, for which he believes he is guilty. To escape from his morbid thoughts, he tries to be like everyone else: a Fascist. He is led into complicity in the murder of Quadri, an opponent of Mussolini who has found refuge in Paris, who is none other than the boy’s former philosophy teacher. The Conformist, which was adapted from the novel of the same name by Alberto Moravia, takes a critical look at Fascism. It was released in 1970.

Jerry Schatzberg’s film Puzzle of a Downfall Child, also released in 1970, will be screened with the director and his leading lady, Faye Dunaway, in attendance. She plays the role of Lou Andreas Sand, a forgotten fashion muse. Through this character, the director and former fashion photographer pays tribute to his favourite model for many years, Anne Saint Marie. Depressed and lonely, Lou Andreas Sand lives in a house on the seaside. She is visited by her photographer friend, Aaron Reinhardt, who has become a film director. To make a film on the former top model, he records a number of interviews. Lou’s memories of glory and decline surface, some of them real, others her fantasies.

Jerry Schatzberg’s first film, Puzzle of a Downfall Child, had become impossible to view on a large screen. Today it will be screened in a restored version that will be released in cinemas in the autumn.

T.K.

The Conformist (Il Conformista) will be screened at 5 p.m., Salle Buñuel

Puzzle of a Downfall Child will be screened at 8 p.m., Salle du Soixantième