Share

Jarmusch, Gomez, Murray talk modern horrors at Cannes

Share

CANNES, France (AP) — The Jim Jarmusch zombie movie “The Dead Don’t Die” includes masses of flesh-eating zombies and an Earth thrown off its axis by “polar fracking.”

But the teeming Cannes Film Festival, where “The Dead Don’t Die” premiered Tuesday as the opening-night film, has hordes and horrors of its own. When asked what horror films he finds frightening, its lead star, Bill Murray, didn’t hesitate.

“I find Cannes frightening,” said Murray on Wednesday. When it was suggested that, at least, there hadn’t been any zombies on the Croisette, the festival’s main drag, so far, Murray replied, “Says you.”

“The Dead Don’t Die” did, in fact, bring zombies to Cannes. Staggering actors in full zombie makeup lined the entryway to the film’s after-party late Tuesday night shortly after Jarmusch’s latest — his ninth film in competition at Cannes — made its anticipated debut.

The film, which Focus Features will release in U.S. theaters on June 14, is Jarmusch’s George Romero-inspired take on the genre, both playfully postmodern (some characters are aware they’re in a movie) and pointedly political.

Trending:
Federal Judge Has Bad News for Hunter Biden, Says There's Zero Evidence His Charges Are Politically Motivated

Murray plays the sheriff of a small town named Centerville where Adam Driver and Chloe Sevigny also play police officers. When the planet stops rotating, night never comes and the dead begin roaming Centerville’s streets while still clinging to their old habits (seeking Wi-Fi, chardonnay and coffee). Townspeople include Tilda Swinton as a funeral parlor director, Tom Waits as a local hermit and Steve Buscemi as a farmer with a MAGA-like hat reading “Keep America White Again” and a dog named Rumsfeld.

Addressing reporters Wednesday, Jarmusch downplayed the movie’s political overtones. Ecological disaster, he said, isn’t a political issue.

“Defining this as a political issue is very confusing and perplexing to me. It’s not about politics. So politics is essentially not of interest to me,” said Jarmusch. “I don’t understand how it can even be considered as such. Politics doesn’t seem to save anything. Politics is a kind of distraction. And now the politics is controlled on the planet by its corporate politics so this for me is the problem.”

Critics responded to “The Dead Don’t Die” with mixed reviews. Variety called it “a disappointing trifle.” The Los Angeles Times said it’s a “bleak, bone-dry shrug of a horror-comedy.”

But it did bring one of the starriest premieres set to hit Cannes this year, including co-star Selena Gomez, who plays a teenager visiting Centerville. Jarmusch was drawn to her by her performance in Harmony Korine’s 2013 “Spring Breakers.” Jarmusch spoke highly of the 26-year-old pop star on Wednesday, calling her “incredibly admirable” for “encouraging young people to have their own will.”

While the ills of social media play only a minor role in “The Dead Don’t Die,” Gomez went further on Wednesday, saying Instagram, where she has more than 150 million followers, is “pretty impossible” to make safe at this point.

“I would say for my generation specifically social media has really been terrible,” Gomez said. “It does scare me when you see how exposed these young boys and young girls are. They are not aware of the news. I think it’s dangerous for sure. I don’t think people are getting the right information sometimes.”

“The Dead Don’t Die” is aimed squarely at satirizing crass materialism along with inaction and disinformation in the face of climate change. But Jarmusch said his film was already being interpreted beyond his intentions.

“The zombies as metaphor is so laden,” said Jarmusch. “Some of the things I read this morning about our film were things that honestly hadn’t occurred to me. I think the metaphor is stronger than I was analyzing or aware of.”

Related:
Former MSNBC Host Chuck Todd Furious After Network Hires Former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel

___

Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
Share
The Associated Press is an independent, not-for-profit news cooperative headquartered in New York City. Their teams in over 100 countries tell the world’s stories, from breaking news to investigative reporting. They provide content and services to help engage audiences worldwide, working with companies of all types, from broadcasters to brands. Photo credit: @AP on Twitter
The Associated Press was the first private sector organization in the U.S. to operate on a national scale. Over the past 170 years, they have been first to inform the world of many of history's most important moments, from the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the bombing of Pearl Harbor to the fall of the Shah of Iran and the death of Pope John Paul.

Today, they operate in 263 locations in more than 100 countries relaying breaking news, covering war and conflict and producing enterprise reports that tell the world's stories.
Location
New York City




Conversation