French director Leos Carax returned to the Cannes Film Festival in full force back in 2021 with “Annette” (and we’ll forgive the reader if it feels longer ago than that; COVID was a weird time). Carax’s film was Best Director on the 2021 Croisette, a slew of Césars (including another Best Director win), and made several annual top 10 lists by the time 2021 ended. So who cares if “Annette” was a little too much cerebral fantasia for a general American audience? If Carax returns to Cannes this year with his latest film, “It’s Not Me,” it’s cause for celebration.
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It’s still unclear if “It’s Not Me” will bow on the Croisette in May for its world premiere, but ex-Carax partner and actress Juliette Binoche had a juicy detail about the film in a new interview with AnOther: Adam Driver returns to act in it. And Driver could very well appear as his character from “Annette” in “It’s Not Me.” Carax’s next film is a kind of free-form self-portrait of a narrative feature, the director looking back on his four-decade filmography and the characters that populate it that examines his creative process and the political evolutions of France. Is it an essay film, an aesthetic autobiography, or something even looser than that? Carax fans will find out soon.
Carax regular Denis Lavant will be in “It’s Not Me,” but what about Binoche? When AnOther asked her if she’ll play herself in the film (she stars in Carax’s 1986 film “Mauvais Sang” with Lavant, his 1991 feature “Les Amants du Pont-Neuf,” as well as his 1997 short “San titre“), the actress replied, “All I know is that he has a new project with Adam Driver.” So does she know who will play her in the upcoming film, if she even shows up? “No,” said Binoche. Given the experimental nature of “It’s Not Me,” Binoche’s Anna from “Bad Blood” may not even show up in the film. But given Binoche’s prowess in French cinema, not to mention her one-time romantic involvement with Carax, it’s hard to imagine her not showing up somehow in “It’s Not Me.”
As for Binoche, the actress continues to work at a prolific rate, starring in Trần Anh Hùng‘s “The Taste Of Things,” in US theaters now, and the Apple TV+ fashion drama “The New Look,” premiering on the streamer now. “The New Look” already has a second season in development, but likely won’t reach audiences until next year. Meanwhile, Binoche is currently shooting “The Return,” an adaptation of Homer’s “The Odyssey” with Ralph Fiennes for Uberto Pasolini. It’s safe to expect that film won’t hit theaters until 2025 either.
Stay tuned if “It’s Not Me” gets a Cannes world premiere this spring. If not, a Venice bow isn’t out of the question either.