Cannes 2024 Short Take: Laurent Bouzereau's Faye Reflects on The Star's Tragedies and Triumphs

One of my most indelible memories of the Cannes Film Festival includes Faye Dunaway – the iconic actor comes to the festival often just to soak in cinema. This must have been 15 or 16 years ago. The entire Bachchan family had come to the festival. They were joined by their friend – the late Amar Singh. At the opening ceremony, a few seats ahead of where I was, I saw the polarising politician sitting next to Faye Dunaway. It was a perfect ‘Only in Cannes’ moment.

Faye, an HBO documentary about Dunaway, premiered in Cannes Classics. The film directed by Laurent Bouzereau, has the Oscar winning actor reflecting on her tragedies and triumphs. Her son Liam Dunaway O'Neill plays a key role. Mother and son sit on a couch and as he picks out photographs from a scrapbook, she reminisces about those specific moments and movies. Dunaway’s artistry, her beauty and her talent have altered the course of cinema – even if you just consider two films – Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Chinatown (1974). She speaks of those, but also confronts her reputation for being difficult, her struggle with bipolar disorder, the controversies, ambitions and desires – the love of her life was Marcello Mastroianni, who was already married and the relationship eventually dissipated. The documentary doesn’t break new form and sticks to the template of talking heads, archival footage and of course Faye. But it’s startling to see an actor confront the fissures in her life with honesty. I would love to see more of that, especially in our part of the world.