The Cannes Film Festival, a grand spectacle of cinema, has once again kicked off with a film that has left many scratching their heads. The opening night selection, 'The Electric Kiss', is a period-piece romantic triangle set in 1920s Paris, directed by Pierre Salvadori. While the festival is known for its meticulous planning and high-quality films, the choice of 'The Electric Kiss' as the opener has raised eyebrows. This film, with its convoluted plot and stultifying pace, seems to be a far cry from the magic and allure that the festival is renowned for.
Personally, I think the choice of 'The Electric Kiss' as the opening night film is a missed opportunity. The film, inspired by the works of Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, and Blake Edwards, fails to capture the spirit of these masters. Salvadori, an ardent devotee of these iconic directors, seems to have lost the essence of their magic in his attempt to create a 'light' period-piece. The film starts as a farce of illusion, but quickly becomes a leaden, overcalculated affair.
The story follows Suzanne, a desperate carnival performer who is mistaken for a spiritualist. She agrees to do a séance with Antoine Balestro, a famous artist grieving the loss of his wife, Irène. Suzanne, in an attempt to buy her way out of her circus servitude, pretends to summon the spirit of Irène, but the plot quickly becomes stodgy and uninteresting. The film is like a carny-barker version of 'Cyrano de Bergerac', with Antoine as a gullible human lox. The concept, while intriguing, is deflating and never takes wing.
The cinematography, with its overly lush filter of rosé, only adds to the flatness of the film. The real interest lies in the layered relationships between the two women and Antoine, but the film fails to do anything arresting with this seminal period in art. Instead, it becomes exhausting to watch as the film struggles to balance its romp and deadly serious tone.
In my opinion, 'The Electric Kiss' is a film that will satisfy virtually no one. It is overcalculated, stuffy, and labored, with a plot that is both convoluted and stultifying. The film seems to be a design to make the audience feel that the quality is only going to go up from here, but it fails to deliver. The Cannes Film Festival, known for its high-quality films, has opened with a film that is a semi-washout, leaving many wondering what the rest of the festival has in store.
