Rami Malek was moved to tears as he soaked up the love throughout the Cannes Film Festival for his deeply emotional performance in Ira Sachs’ The Man, I Love, which earned an eight-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. The film is particularly notable as it is one of only two American films competing for the Palme d’Or at this year’s festival (the other being James Gray’s Paper Tiger, starring Adam Driver, Miles Teller, and Scarlett Johansson).
“This is a film about what we can bring to each other through art, love, pain and memory,” said director Sachs after the screening. “And I hope we can share some memories about the festival and our love of movies tonight.”
Directed by Sachs, who co-wrote the screenplay with frequent co-star Mauricio Zacharias, The Man I Love is set in late 1980s New York and follows theater icon Jimmy (Malek) as he comes to terms with his own mortality after being diagnosed with AIDS. The synopsis reads, “In the face of death that awaits him, his desire to live, create, and love one last time is stronger than anything else.” The film has been described as a “musical fantasy about a persecuted city”.
The film also stars Tom Sturridge, Rebecca Hall, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach alongside Malek. “The Man I Love” marks Ira Sachs’ first return to Cannes competition since the 2019 drama “Frankie,” starring Isabelle Huppert. The filmmaker has deep ties to Sundance, with many of his recent features, including “The Passage” and “Peter Huger’s Day,” premiering at Sundance.
For Malek, who won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, Sachs’ drama will be his first leading role in a Cannes competition film. Malek appeared in two films last year, “Nuremberg” and “The Amateur,” and had a bit role in 2023’s “Oppenheimer.”
