Fjord, the seventh feature from Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu to debut at the Cannes Film Festival, may just have broken open the Palme d’Or race.
Throughout the gripping family drama, starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as evangelical religious figures and parents of five who get caught in a nightmare with Norwegian Child Services, the rapt audience in the Grand Théâtre Lumière barely made a sound. (Although, during the press screening two hours earlier, journalists could be heard gasping and chuckling in disbelief as each new roll of bureaucratic tape threatened to bury the couple.)
Then, as the last frame rolled, the crowd exploded in applause and rose to their feet for a near 10 minute standing ovation, the most enthusiastic reception any competition film has received so far this Cannes.
The standing ovation was filled with cheers of “Bravo,” as an overwhelmed Stan, in particular, vacillated between shaking his head in disbelief and fighting back tears. The applause likely would have gone on much longer; twice, when festival director Thierry Frémaux handed Mungiu the microphone, the crowd applauded and cheered even louder, as if daring the festival to make the stop.
And when Frémaux gently ushered him and the cast toward the door because Nicolas Winding Refn’s premiere of Her Perfect Hell needed to begin, the crowd shouted out cheers of “Bravo!” again (as well as “Free Palestine!”).
“I want to thank you because this is the moment of truth for every film,” said Mungiu, switching to English for Stan’s benefit after giving a speech in French. “It’s when we’ll know in 20 years that the film is good.”
Together with director and cast, the gala audience included Sharon Stone, Carla Bruni, Cannes jury member Demi Moore, Jordan Firstman (fresh of the $17 million sale of his debut feature Club Kid to A24) and Stellan Skarsgard, there to cheer on Reinsve, who’d played his daughter in last year’s Cannes Grand Prix winner (and international Oscar champ) Sentimental Value.
The gala premiere had been one of the hottest tickets so far. Students with Three Days in Cannes badges given out for the second half of the festival had been lining up outside in the last-minute line in their gowns and tuxes since 10 a.m., huddling under new friends’ umbrellas in the first rainstorm of the festival.
Mungiu won the Palme d’Or back in 2007 with his debut feature, the Communist-era abortion drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, and he’s back in Cannes competition with three other films, winning best screenplay in 2012 for Beyond the Hills and best director for Graduation in 2016. With Fjord, he’ll be liking his chances of joining the two-time Palme d’Or club when the trophies are handed out on Saturday.
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