Park Chan-wook’s The Electric Kiss chosen to open Cannes’ 79th festival

Cannes opened Tuesday, May 12, with a correction baked right into the story. Park Chan-wook did not direct the opening-night film. He is the jury president. The movie that launched the 79th festival was Pierre Salvadori’s French period comedy-drama “The Electric Kiss,” shown at the Grand Théâtre Lumière and listed by Cannes as the opening film, out of competition. ### So what actually opened Cannes? “The Electric Kiss” — in French, “La Vénus électrique.” Cannes put it in the official selection as the opening film, and the festival opened with its world premiere on May 12. Salvadori’s movie is set in 1928 Paris and follows a grieving painter pulled into the orbit of a fake medium and carnival life. ### Where does Park Chan-wook fit in? (festival-cannes.com) He’s presiding over the main competition jury, which means he and eight jurors decide the 2026 Palme d’Or winner on May 23. Cannes made a point of this being a first for Korean cinema. The rest of the jury includes Demi Moore, Chloé Zhao, Ruth Negga, Stellan Skarsgård, Isaach De Bankolé, Laura Wandel, Diego Céspedes, and Paul Laverty. ### Why was the mix-up easy to make? Because Cannes opening night always blends two separate things — the ceremonial opener and the competition machinery. One film gets the spotlight that night, but the jury president is a different headline entirely. This year those headlines collided: Salvadori supplied the movie, while Park supplied the prestige and the awards stakes. (festival-cannes.com) ### What is “The Electric Kiss” like? Basically, it sounds very French and very Cannes-friendly. The setup is grief, fakery, romance, and art in 1920s Paris. Cannes’ own festival material describes a fake medium, a grieving painter, an opportunistic gallery owner, and even a ghost moving through the story. Early reviews were mixed rather than ecstatic, which is not unusual for an opening-night slot that often prioritizes tone and ceremony over a sure-fire masterpiece. (festival-cannes.com) ### What else happened on opening night? Peter Jackson got the honorary Palme d’Or, presented during the opening ceremony on the same night. Elijah Wood was there for the tribute, which gave the evening its biggest overt nostalgia hit. That honor was announced in advance by Cannes, and it landed as one of the night’s clearest crowd-pleasing moments. (festival-cannes.com) ### Is this a big Hollywood Cannes? Not really — at least not by recent standards. Reuters’ opening-night read was that the atmosphere felt more subdued, with fewer major Hollywood celebrities dominating the carpet and less politics in the speeches than some recent editions. But subdued does not mean small. Cannes still remains a huge launchpad for sales, distribution, and awards momentum. (festival-cannes.com) ### What does this say about Cannes in 2026? It says Cannes is leaning hard into filmmaker prestige over pure celebrity spectacle. Park as jury president, 22 films in competition, and a Pierre Salvadori opener out of competition all point the same way — this year’s identity is auteur cinema first, glamour second. That does not kill the red carpet. It just means the festival wants the movies to set the tone. (anewz.tv) ### Bottom line? The important fix is simple: Park Chan-wook is running the jury, not opening Cannes with his own movie. The film that opened the 79th festival was Pierre Salvadori’s “The Electric Kiss” on May 12 — and that distinction is the whole story. (festival-cannes.com)