“Vainiteux”, “pretentious” … these are the qualifiers that an actor who has decided to try to realize the realization. If cinema has always counted former actors and actresses among its greatest artists (Orson Welles, Charlie Chaplin, John Cassavetes, etc.), going to the other side of the camera for the first time is always a risky business. Having a new form of creation, for a star of the big screen is already attracting a lot of jealousy. They are beautiful, rich, famous and now, they would also like to make films?!
It is also to put into play a hard -built image and reputation, take the risk of ridicule and see its legitimacy inevitably questioned. Have they only managed to make their films thanks to their connections or their fortune? Does he really want to be directors, or is it a rich fad that is bored?
For actresses, it can also be a pragmatic choice, allowing them to develop their careers when the interesting roles are drying up after a certain age. Maggie Gyllenhaal, declared too old at 37 to embody the romantic interest of a 55 -year -old man, notably turned to series and production in 2017, with The Deuce by David Simon. In 2021, she delivered a first feature film of an impressive insurance, The Lost Daughterselected at the Venice Mostra.
The (possible) Critical Caudine forks
In Cannes, a high temple of cinema, but also of judgment and hoots, presenting his first film to the international press may seem even more intimidating. Ryan Gosling could undoubtedly confirm this. In 2014, the Canadian actor came to the Croisette to project his first achievement, Lost River. The film, selected in the Un certain Regard section, evokes the universes of David Lynch and Nicolas Winding Refn, a collaborator of Ryan Gosling, and immerses us in a dark, violent and dreamlike version of the city of Detroit.
The feature film is hué by the public and qualified by certain journalists as “Pretentious dung” Who “Do not refuse anything”. Seeing this first impressive effort (in our opinion, in any case), one cannot help wondering if the actor handsome kid was not unjustly expected at the turn. Since then, in any case, the actor of Drive And Barbie did not realize anything.
This year, the Cannes Film Festival has made a place of choice to the actors who chose to go behind the camera: Kristen Stewart (The Chronology of Waterin the a certain look), Harris Dickinson (UrchinA certain look), Scarlett Johansson (Eleanor The GreatA certain look), Joséphine Japy (That shines in combatspecial sessions) or Raphaël Quenard (I love peruClassics Cannes). If the actor’s transition to director is relatively common, it is rare that as many films carried by famous actors and actresses find themselves on the poster of the largest film festival in the world. And for the moment, they are pretty well received.
Of the first unequal attempts
We admit that it was only half seduced by Urchinthe feature film of the young British Harris Dickinson (28 years old), rising star seen in Filterless (Palme d’Or in 2022) and Babygirl (2024). The film tells the story of a London homeless person who tries to get out of his addiction after spending several months in prison. Despite a very good performance by the English actor Frank Dillane and a pleasantly surprising end, the film is no exception to the most common faults of a first realization: a surplus of ideas and references, which end up scattering the story.
Conversely, The Chronology of Water Immediately imposes Kristen Stewart as a singular artist, on the creative universe already fully formed. The film, adapted from the eponymous memories of the American writer Lidia Yuknavitch (published in France in 2014 under the name Fluid mechanics), traces the personal and artistic journey of a young woman tormented by her father’s abuses.
Superbly filmed in film, structured by a subliminal assembly and an excellent soundtrack, The Chronology of Water Also has some faults … which you easily forgive your technical insurance. The young American director (35), whose film was rather well received in Cannes, says she has “Archi haste” to achieve again. And we too can’t wait to see what she has in store for us.
Of course, it is difficult to say for the moment what will become of their career as filmmakers. After all, it is rare that actors or actresses operate a total conversion to the realization, especially when they are very famous: Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Jodie Foster or Denzel Washington remain above all known for their roles in front of the camera.
But for the most talented and determined, the route can be very beautiful. After going through criticism (You deserve a love in 2019) and a certain look (Good mother In 2021), Hafsia Herzi, revealed as an actress at Abdellatif Kechiche (The seed and the mule2007), has come into competition this year, with the very nice drama The little last.
