All posts tagged: Isabelle Huppert

Asghar Farhadi’s ‘Parallel Tales’ Premieres to Polite Ovation

Asghar Farhadi’s ‘Parallel Tales’ Premieres to Polite Ovation

Asghar Farhadi, the Iranian master whose films have twice won the best international feature Oscar (2011’s A Separation and 2016’s The Salesman) and twice won prizes at the Cannes Film Festival (The Salesman and 2021’s A Hero), premiered his latest work, Parallel Tales, at Cannes’ Grand Théâtre Lumière on Thursday night. The French-language drama, which is playing in competition at this year’s fest, was greeted with a five-minute standing ovation — which is, by Cannes standards, polite but not especially enthusiastic. Adapted by Farhadi and his brother, Saeed, from a chapter of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s 10-part project for Polish television, Dekalog (1989-1990), Parallel Tales is a study in voyeurism and the sometimes blurry line between fantasy and reality. It boasts an all-star French cast that includes Isabelle Huppert, Virginia Efira, Vincent Cassel and, in a small role, Catherine Deneuve, all of whom do fine work. But, as The Hollywood Reporter’s chief film critic David Rooney noted in his review, the film becomes a bit meandering and arduous over the course of its two-hour-twenty-minute runtime. And by the …

Chopard Names Godmother and Laureates for 2026 Cannes Gala

Chopard Names Godmother and Laureates for 2026 Cannes Gala

Chopard has confirmed a few key pieces of its Cannes activities. The luxury jewelry maison, which enjoys a high-profile during the Cannes Film Festival, will present its annual Trophée Chopard ceremony at Carlton Beach on May 15, with a starry lineup that includes Isabelle Huppert as godmother and Odessa A’zion and Connor Swindells as laureates. In attendance will be Cannes leaders Iris Knobloch and Thierry Frémaux who will co-host with Chopard’s co-president and artistic director Caroline Scheufele. As official partner of the fest since 1998, Chopard rolls out the red carpet to shine a light on the film industry’s next generation. Previous recipients of Trophée Chopard — created by Scheufele in 2001 — include Marion Cotillard, Léa Seydoux, Diane Kruger, Florence Pugh, Jessie Buckley, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Mike Faist, Joe Alwyn and Gael García Bernal. Huppert is a Cannes regular and two time best actress award winner for her work in Violette Nozière and The Piano Teacher. She’s back at the festival this year with Asghar Farhadi’s Parallel Tales. “Isabelle Huppert has been a longtime …

Isabelle Huppert in Vampire Camp

Isabelle Huppert in Vampire Camp

If you ever looked at the ageless face of Isabelle Huppert onscreen — the alabaster skin, the enigmatic smile, the eyes that seem to have a default setting of disdainful superiority — and thought all that was missing were a glistening pair of fangs and a tiny trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth, this is the movie for you. Likewise, if you ever wondered what kind of bizarro Mittel European mutant baby would result from the marriage of Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu and Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel. Perhaps it would look something like Ulrike Ottinger’s Viennese waltz of grotesquerie, The Blood Countess (Die Blutgräfin). A painter and photographer as well as a cult filmmaker, Ottinger understands the power of a striking image. She opens with a mesmerizing sequence in which a barge upholstered in plush vermillion velvet cruises ever so slowly through an underground cave system and grotto in Vienna. Standing with regal stillness on the front of the boat, like a carved figurehead on a prow, is Huppert as Countess …