PROFILES

Joel and Ethan Coen are heading the jury of the 68th Cannes Film Festival. The American brothers are Croisette regulars who have won two Palmes d'Or, and the public's appreciation.

Brothers seem to do well at the Cannes Festival. Whether Belgian, as in Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, or American, as in Ethan and Joel Coen, two brains might almost seem to double the chances in competition, since both pairs are among the privileged filmmakers who have won two Palmes d'Or – there have been seven in the festival's 67-year history, among them Coppola, Kusturica and Haneke – and their efforts are generally assured of making it into Cannes's official selection. So the Croisette is a home-from-home for the Coens, but this year Ethan (60) and Joel (57) will be on the other side, sitting at the jury top table. "Cannes is a festival that has been important to us since the very beginning of our career. Presiding over the jury is a special honour, since we have never heretofore been president of anything!" was how the two reacted to their appointment.

The Coen label
Losers, dark humour, sense of the absurd, blood galore and surrealistic declamations are among the recurrent ingredients of the brothers' cinema. For the first 20 years of their career they split the credits: Joel for directing, Ethan for producing; since The Ladykillers (2004) they have shared the directing credits. They have always written and edited their films together, often under the alias Roderick Jaynes. So who does what exactly? It hardly matters when the result bears that inimitable Coen stamp! The brothers have never departed from the rule of making very personal cinema jointly and retaining total control of their projects. There's a family feel to their film shoots, with loyal technical teams and a band of devoted actors including Frances McDormand (Joel Coen's wife), Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Jeff Bridges, John Goodman and George Clooney. Recently on the web our George has been seen sporting a cute little skirt for the requirements of the pair's upcoming comedy titled Hail Caesar!, in which he doesn't, however, play a gladiator but rather a Hollywood agent tussling with Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Josh Brolin and even Christophe Lambert. Loved by critics and festivals, Ethan and Joel Coen are equally appreciated by cinema audiences. And of course Steven Spielberg, who asked them to help Matt Charman write the screenplay for his new film, Bridge of Spies, a thriller starring Tom Hanks, due in French cinemas on 28 October 2015. A Coennection indeed!

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AU PALMARÈS DES COEN...

In 1987 Raising Arizona was shown out of competition and adored by festival-goers. Out of the Coens' score of films, nine have been shown at Cannes and five have won prizes here: Barton Fink, Palme d'Or and Best Director (1991), Fargo, Best Director (1996), The Man Who Wasn't There, Best Director (2001), and Inside Llewyn Davis, Grand Prix (2013). The brothers have also won an Oscar for Fargo (1997) and three for No Country for Old Men (2008).

Par Mireille Sartore

Joel et Ethan Coen sur le tournage d'Inside Llewyn Davis, Grand Prix du Jury Cannes 2013.