Cannes 2019: Loach, Almodóvar, Elton John, and Refn Dominate First Week

The 72nd Cannes Film Festival, running from May 14 to 25, 2019, has proven to be a vibrant edition with a mix of auteur cinema and crowd-pleasing fare. The first week featured premieres of Ken Loach's 'Sorry We Missed You,' Pedro Almodóvar's 'Dolor y Gloria,' Nicolas Winding Refn's series 'Too Old to Die Young,' and the Elton John biopic 'Rocketman' starring Taron Egerton. Loach's film, a two-time Palme d'Or winner, explores self-exploitation and modern slavery in the gig economy, set in Newcastle. Almodóvar's semi-autobiographical work stars Antonio Banderas as his alter ego, with Banderas noting their collaborative evolution. 'Rocketman,' presented out of competition, was a commercial hit at Cannes, with Egerton's performance praised by Elton John himself. Refn's 13-hour series, shown in episodes 4 and 5, is a neo-noir crime drama set in a hellish Los Angeles. Terrence Malick's 'A Hidden Life,' about Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter who refused to swear loyalty to Hitler, is hailed as his best film in years and a potential Palme d'Or winner. The festival continues with upcoming films by Quentin Tarantino, the Dardenne brothers, Xavier Dolan, and Marco Bellocchio.