‘The French Dispatch’ given nine-minute standing ovation at Cannes premiere

Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch was given a nine-minute standing ovation following its premiere in Cannes.

The film, described as a love letter to journalists, premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival yesterday (July 12) ahead of its public release later this year.

Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Timothée Chalamet, Tilda Swinton, Elisabeth Moss and more star in the film, which follows an anthology format to tell several stories set in 19th century France.

All the film’s stars were in attendance for the premiere, alongside director Anderson, and footage shared from the premiere shows an intense and elongated period of applause following the film’s screening.

As Variety report, Anderson addressed the crowd after the premiere, saying: “I hope we come back with another one soon. Thank you.”

Look at what Tilda Swinton did to Timothee Chalamet during ‘The French Dispatch’ standing ovation. #Cannes2021 pic.twitter.com/MNmkzdUktA

— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) July 12, 2021

After the premiere, critics have been giving their first opinions on The French Dispatch. Many critics praised the film’s visual style, with Variety‘s Peter Debruge saying “every costume, prop and casting choice has been made with such a reverential sense of absurdity” and IndieWire‘s Eric Kohn calling the film “an endearing and liberated explosion of Andersonian aesthetics”.

The Telegraph praised the film’s story, calling it “a hymn to human curiosity and compulsions” and praising the script as “a relentless hoot”.

Meanwhile, Owen Wilson recently described the film as “so original and unique” and praised the storyline featuring Benicio Del Toro and Léa Seydoux as his favourite.

The actor also stars in the film, alongside Frances McDormand, Saoirse Ronan and others.

One main star of the film who didn’t make it to the Cannes premiere was Lea Seydoux, who is quarantining in Paris after testing positive for COVID-19. It comes after Cannes were reporting an average of three COVID-19 cases per day, though general secretary Francois Desrousseaux has denied rumours of a “cluster” of cases.

The French Dispatch is due to be released in US cinemas on October 2022. A UK release date is yet to be confirmed.

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