Canadian Premiere
Updating Denis Johnson’s Nicaragua-set novel from the Revolution to the present-day and working in English and Spanish, French auteur Claire Denis is venturing into Graham Greene territory here—espionage and dirty deeds in the tropics. It’s worth remembering that she herself grew up in French colonial West Africa; westerners getting hot and bothered in foreign climes pop up in Beau Travail, White Material, L’intrus, and her first film, Chocolat.
The focus here is on a young American, Trish (Margaret Qualley), a freelance journalist who has gotten in over her head and whose passport has been seized after she embarrassed the authorities. Marooned indefinitely in an unnamed Managua, Trish is forced to trade sex for protection and rum money. She tries to put on a tough and cynical front, but secretly she’s desperate. Then she meets Daniel (Joe Alwyn), a dashing English businessman. At first, she thinks he could be her ticket out of here. Gradually she realizes he’s in worse trouble than she is.
Too languid and languorous to be described as a thriller, but more plot-driven than most Denis films, Stars at Noon is a moody, almost malevolent romance, a tropical neo-noir; love and disillusion in the time of COVID.
Grand Prix (tied), Cannes 2022
Supported by
Claire Denis
Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Danny Ramirez, Benny Safdie, Nick Romano, Stephan Proaño, Monica Bartholomew, Carlos Bennett
France
2022
In English and Spanish with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Other Side of Hope
Khaled, a Syrian (Sherwan Haji), washes up on Finland's glum shores and becomes an unlikely friend to a middle-aged Finnish shirt salesman (Sakari Kuosmanen) in the midst of remaking his life. Compassionate and wryly funny by turns.
Silent Friend
In this entrancing reverie from On Body and Soul director Ildikó Enyedi, we are invited to contemplate several human specimens from the vantage point of a mighty Ginkgo biloba tree on the grounds of a German university.
The Art of Adventure
The unbelievable adventure story of how painter Robert Bateman and ecologist Bristol Foster drove a Land Rover from Africa to Australia in 1957, developing a love of nature to last a lifetime. An inspirational love letter to the adventure of life itself.
Miles Davis 100! Elevator to the Gallows + Julian Borkowski
24-year-old Louis Malle came out of the gate with this cool noir about a perfect murder that goes horribly wrong. A man (Maurice Ronet) kills his boss in his office, only to get stuck in the lift... Meanwhile his lover (Jeanne Moreau) is going frantic.
Credits
Executive Producer
Christine De Jekel, Olivier Gauriat, Pituka Ortega Heilbron, Marcela Heilbron
Producer
Olivier Delbosc
Screenwriter
Claire Denis, Léa Mysius, Andrew Litvack
Cinematography
Eric Gautier
Editor
Guy Lecorne
Production Design
Arnaud De Moléron
Original Music
tindersticks