transatlanticism

Smoking is gross, and terrible for you, but that was FUCKING HOT, ok? And I suspect it was a lot less spontaneous than it first seemed.

This is, of course, just speculation, pure and simple. The only folks to know if this was planned, really, are Leos Carax and Adam Driver himself. Well, and maybe the event organizers at Cannes, who I suspect might be in on the stunt.

The whole thing just has the feel of something talked about, idly, while at dinner the night before the premiere, after the 3rd or 4th glass of wine; wouldn't it be funny, if we did this thing that was a nod to Henry if we get a long ovation? Do you suppose they'd let us smoke in the theater? When looked at from that perspective, Adam's hasty fumbling for the cigarette and the lighter feels less like anxious desperation and more like a carpe diem moment, seizing the chance to play the gag while the camera was focused on him.

When the media began criticizing Adam and Leos for having the gall to light up INSIDE the theater (as if that hall had not had a billion cigarettes smoked in it over it's lifetime before smoking indoors was banned), the folks running the Cannes Film Festival were quick to point out that the gesture was a nod to something Henry McHenry does in "Annette," and that none of those present were offended in the slightest. It certainly set fandom's panties on fire in the best way, lol.

The fact that the organizers had a plausible defense at the ready so quickly suggests to me that they already knew the answer as to why Adam and Leos broke that rule. And that would make sense; even someone as disinclined to acquiesce to the requests of the establishment as Leos Carax would probably think twice about doing something as stupid as getting banned from his favorite film festival for lighting up inside the theater.

But either way, whether it was completely spontaneous or executed on the fly, that was well played, sir. WELL, played.

The reference for this one was an HD screencap from the clip. I don't know who took it, but thank you for sharing it with us, whoever you are!

About 5.5 hours of drawing time. I ended up having to re-do about 30 min of work at the very beginning because I had a Very Good Idea indeed. Je ne regrette nien, I ended up with exactly what I hoped for!