17/05/2025

LYFE SATURDAY | MAY 17, 2025

24

One final mission impossible at Cannes T OM CRUISE’S Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning powered into the Cannes film festival for its premiere last Wednesday on a steamroller of hype. o A-lister brings star power to film festival Cannes. The festival’s highly political opening day began with accusations that Hollywood was ignoring the genocide in Gaza – on top of that, the conviction of French screen legend Gerard Depardieu for sexual assault in a Paris court on day one also dampened the mood.

Even Cruise’s iron-clad optimism has come under stress with the industry shaken by US President Donald Trump’s threat to stick tariffs on movies “produced in foreign lands”. With Mission: Impossible among Hollywood’s most globalised franchises, shot on a dizzying roster of exotic locations from the Arctic to Venice and Shanghai, Cruise shut down questions about the issue at a promotional event in South Korea last week. Asked about tariffs and the franchise’s globetrotting shoots, Cruise said: “We would rather answer questions about the movie. Thank you.” In one glimmer of hope, Trump has said he will make an exception for the James Bond movies, which are mostly shot in the U, because the late Sean Connery once helped him get planning permission for his

With some fans fretting that the US$400 million film (RM1.7 billion), the eighth in the high-octane franchise, could be the last, Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie have been teasing up the tension by dropping contradictory clues about its future. Cruise, 62, has also been sharing heart-stopping footage of the stunts he did for the movie on social media, including discussing a freefall jump from a helicopter at 10,000 ft. He is seen jumping from the chopper high over a South African mountain range and putting himself into a high-speed spin with a camera strapped to his stomach. The blockbuster is set to ramp up adrenaline levels and promises to somewhat lighten the tone at

Cruise arrives for the screening of the film Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in southern France. – PICS FROM AFP

Scottish golf course. Cruise’s franchise also leans heavily on London studios. Highly-charged Yet it was all smiles when the star bounded up the red carpet at Cannes for the premiere. Fans will find out if this really is the end of the road for secret agent Ethan Hunt when The Final Reckoning is released in Europe and the Middle East from May 21, with the US and several other countries having to wait two or three days longer. However, Indian, Australian and Korean cinemagoers will be able to see it starting today. Director McQuarrie, who wrote the 1993 classic The Usual Suspects , will also be giving a masterclass at the world’s biggest film festival.

Veteran US star Robert De Niro talked about his long, illustrious career after being awarded a lifetime achievement at often highly-charged opening ceremony. The outspoken Trump critic took the chance to blast the US leader as “America’s philistine president”. He slammed Trump’s film tariff proposal, which few experts think can be carried through without creating havoc, as he picked up an honorary Palme d’Or from his friend and sometime co-star Leonardo DiCaprio. “You cannot put a price on creativity. But apparently, you can put a tariff on it,” De Niro said in a fiery speech in which he urged everyone who cares about liberty to organise and to protest. “Of course, all these attacks are unacceptable. This is not just an

Last 10 Eurovision winners: 2024: Switzerland – Nemo, The Code 2023: Sweden – Loreen, Tattoo 2022: Ukraine – Kalush Orchestra, Stefania 2021: Italy – Maneskin, Zitti E Buoni 2019: Netherlands – Duncan Laurence, Arcade 2018: Israel – Netta, TOY 2017: Portugal – Salvador Sobral, Amar Pelos Dois 2016: Ukraine – Jamala, 1944 2015: Sweden – Mans Zelmerlow, Heroes 2014: Austria – Conchita Wurst, Rise Like a Phoenix Wins per country: Ireland, Sweden (7) Britain, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands (5) Israel (4) Denmark, Norway, Italy, Switzerland, Ukraine (3) Austria, Germany, Spain (2) Azerbaijan, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Monaco, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Yugoslavia (1). American problem, it is a global one.” “In my country we are fighting like hell for democracy,” he said. He added that art embraces diversity. “That is why art is a threat. That is why we are a threat to autocrats and fascists.” Jury head Juliette Binoche made an emotional tribute to the slain Gaza photographer Fatima Hassouna. The 25-year-old was killed in an Israeli air strike last month along with her family, a day after a documentary about her was selected to premiere at Cannes. Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk , by exiled Iranian director Sepideh Farsi, was shown on Thursday. “She should have been here tonight with us,” the French actor said. – AFP

Cruise has been vague on whethe r this Mission: Impossible instalmentwill be the final film in the franchise.

Eurovision favourites, past winners HERE are the favourites to win this year’s Eurovision Song Contest hosted by the Swiss city of Basel, the last 10 winners and the total number of wins per country, ahead of the 69th

crescendo that flows into techno sounds, all on the theme of unrequited love. 0 Louane, Maman (France) Singer and actress Louane, 28, whose real name is Anne Peichert, leads the chasing pack with a ballad addressed to her mother who died of cancer in 2014. 0 Claude, C’est la vie (Netherlands) Claude Kiambe, 21, a child refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, performs a song in English and French, with lyrics evoking his mother and the resilience of his family. 0 Yuval Raphael, New Day Will Rise (Israel) A survivor of Hamas’s Oct 7, 2023 deadly attack on Israel, Raphael’s power ballad, with lyrics in English, Hebrew and French, deals with survival after tragedy. – AFP

edition of the event. Top five favourites These five contenders are among the favourites to triumph at the St Jakobshalle indoor arena: 0 KAJ, Bara bada bastu (Sweden) Dour-looking comedy trio Kevin, Axel and Jakob are the odds-on favourites with Just Have a Sauna , featuring a catchy chorus in an accordion accompanied ode to the joy of saunas. 0 JJ, Wasted Love (Austria) Second-favourite JJ, Austrian-Filipino countertenor Johannes Pietsch, fuses pop and lyrical elements in a

French singer Louane. – AFPPIC