A World War I drama from Belgian director Lukas Dhont received one of the strongest responses of this year's Cannes Film Festival competition, earning a 13-minute standing ovation after its world premiere screening on Thursday.
The film, titled Coward, is Dhont's second feature in the Cannes main competition, following Close in 2022. His debut film, Girl, won an award in the festival's Un Certain Regard section in 2018. According to Deadline, the ovation was one of the biggest reactions to any film in this year's competition lineup.
Coward centers on Pierre, a soldier newly arrived at the front during World War I who is eager to prove himself. Behind the lines, he meets Francis, who decides to lift the spirits of his fellow soldiers by staging a theatre show. The two men try to find ways to escape the brutality of war, even briefly, as the violence continues around them. The film stars Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne.
Mubi acquired the film before the festival for several international territories, including the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand.
After the screening, Dhont addressed the crowd at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, saying all should share "love, not war."
Dhont told Deadline earlier in the festival that the inspiration for the film came from a single photograph. "It's based on a black-and-white photograph I found four years ago of a young man right behind the frontlines dressed up in a sandbag skirt performing for the other soldiers," he said. "And I thought that it was something so modern in that picture, even though it was black and white, but seeing this young man cross-dressed, smiling in front of all these other men really inspired me to create something."
He spoke at length about the film's central themes, including the nature of heroism and what it means to be brave. "Bit by bit, while we were writing, one thing that became incredibly important was this idea of heroism and the things that we have described as heroic acts. Young men throughout centuries, and now also young women, are sent to fight, and in a way, I think many have feared the label of cowardice," he said. "We named this film Coward because that fear is a topic, but I think also the film questions, what does it actually mean to be brave, not only in relationship to another, but also in relationship to ourselves, in choosing the truest parts of ourselves; in choosing to express ourselves, even when the world around us expects us to behave or to act in a certain way."
Deadline reviewer Pete Hammond called the film "a classic movie love story for the ages, in this case a queer romance that in cinematic terms feels as universal, and as impossible, as Casablanca, Brief Encounter, and The Way We Were."
Cannes jury deliberations continue as the competition runs through the end of the festival.
