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CINEMA – A long ovation and tears… The screening this Saturday, May 21 in Cannes of “More than ever”, the last film shot with Gaspard Ulliel, who died suddenly in January after a skiing accident, upset the festival, already tested by a film on the attacks of November 13, 2015.
The screening of the film, retained in the “Un Certain Regard” selection as the “Tirailleurs” in which Omar Sy plays, was greeted by long minutes of applause and the visible emotion of the film crew, including the actress Vicky Krieps and director Emily Atef.
Modest in the image of her film, the Franco-German director has repeatedly said she is “happy” to finally be able to show it. “A year ago, we were still in Norway to shoot it”, she said, without going back to the brutal death of the actor, who died in January in La Rosière, in Savoie.
“More than ever” looks at a close-knit couple put to the test by illness: condemned by a serious lung problem, Hélène (Vicky Krieps, companion in the city of Gaspard Ulliel at the time of his death) hesitates to treat himself before refusing the transplant which could be his way of salvation. On a whim, she goes alone to Norway, near a fjord, after having exchanged with a stranger who keeps a blog on which he talks about his illness, cancer.
The strength of the relationship to nature
An incomprehensible decision for Matthieu, played by Gaspard Ulliel, Hélène’s husband, who cannot get used to this idea of his departure, and even less to the idea of his death.
Can we choose our death? Do we owe anything to those who remain? By refusing treatment, does Hélène choose her destiny or does she give up on life? The film asks these difficult questions with great modesty, favoring the beauty of the landscapes, superb light and the sensuality emanating from its performers.
In this remote corner of Norway, where half of the film takes place, Hélène reconnects with nature and learns to accept the sequence of events.
“My hope is that what people take the most from the film is this feeling of nature, to feel that in nature it is the place where you find everything and you feel the most connected with everything. , that everything is one,” Vicky Krieps told AFP on Friday.
The Luxembourg actress, revealed in “Phantom Thread” alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, is in Cannes to also defend “Corsage”, presented out of competition, where she slips into the skin of Empress Sissi.
See also on the HuffPost: Seven cult roles in the career of Gaspard Ulliel, who tragically passed away in January