Tom Cruise, Robert De Niro, Quentin Tarantino, and... Marisol, united by the Cannes Film Festival

Special Envoy to CannesCannes's power to attract Hollywood stars was once again evident when this Wednesday's festival lineup featured Robert De Niro, Quentin Tarantino, and Tom Cruise, all of whom are leading figures for various reasons. The most veteran, De Niro, who received the honorary Palme d'Or on Tuesday at the festival's opening, offered a talk led by French photographer JR, a curious choice that became clearer when JR explained that he's been working with De Niro for years on a documentary about the actor's relationship with his father, the painter Robert De Niro, who died in 1976 and whose studio his son has kept intact all these years. "I'm doing it for myself and especially for my children. I want them to know who their grandfather was," the actor explained.

During the talk, a small preview of the documentary was shown, which is in progress and has no completion date. There are scenes with De Niro and one of his sons painting in his grandfather's studio, De Niro carrying a giant mural of his father through a forest, and curled up over a giant photograph. JR even brings De Niro and Martin Scorsese together on a scaffolding from which he's hung a mural with a photograph of the actor and his father. "Maybe it's a stupid question, but why are you doing this now, Bob?" the director asks. "It's not stupid," De Niro replies. "Well, it's like a dream, it's surreal. We're doing it to see where we go."

It's surprising that the actor, always jealous of his private life, opens the doors of his intimacy. But in Wednesday's talk, the De Niro of few words returned: JR encountered the actor's reluctance to vent, responding with short sentences to the elaborate questions of an increasingly desperate JR. So much so that, half an hour later and some uncomfortable laughter from the audience at the situation, the photographer opened the floor to questions from the audience, and a more motivated De Niro spoke about the need to take a political position or about his way of approaching a character. "Sometimes the first impulse about a character is the best," he assured. "I like a phrase that Joe Pesci says to The Irishman: "When in doubt, don't doubt." It's that simple, follow your instinct."

Regarding the actors who made him love cinema, De Niro singled out James Dean, Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando. "But we all admired them, not just me," he added. "And the first films that had an impact on me had to be The law of silence (1954) or Splendor in the grass (1961)". And there was a funny moment when, unable to remember who had directed Desert Centaurs (1956), many voices in the audience began to shout: "John Ford!" This is Cannes, after all. And De Niro also wanted to qualify the moment in the documentary when he states that he isn't worried about death: "Yes, I'm afraid of death, but there's no other option, so it's better to face it."

Tarantino vindicates George Sherman

Quentin Tarantino's presence at Cannes was due to his role as an enthusiastic cinephile. The director of Pulp fiction has gone to the festival to present a double session of films by George Sherman, a director specializing in westerns whom Tarantino has claimed, with his usual vehemence, as "the best action film director of the 50s", although it is worth remembering that he also frequented other genres: in 1964, when the western was beginning to go out of fashion in the United States, Sherman directed two musicals in Spain in the service of Marisol, The new Cinderella and Find me that girl (with Marisol and the Dynamic Duo).

For the session he presented, Tarantino has chosen, however, the westerns Red Canyon and Comanche territory"I've admired George Sherman for a long time, but I always lumped him in with other directors like Vincent Sherman or George Marshall, until one day I saw one of his films, and then another, and another, and another..." explained the director, who praised Sherman's ability to direct action. "And when I say action, I don't mean to make you think of a George Miller car chase; it's not that," he specified. "It's the best orchestration you'll ever see of the teamwork with stuntmen, horses, and the rest of the crew. It's just too much."

The third star of the day in Cannes was, of course, Tom Cruise, who presented the new installment of the saga in a gala session – with no access for the press. Mission: Impossible. After a guerrilla of French fighter jets flew over the festival in 2022 on the occasion of the premiere of Top Gun: Maverick or the little act Cruise did a few days ago climbing onto the roof of a cinema in London, anything was expected of the actor, but he just appeared with the film's crew, smiling and charming. The only special effect was the orchestra that played the theme song on the red carpet. Mission: Impossible and, perhaps, Cruise's insultingly youthful appearance, which, at 62, is starting to become disturbing.