Any movie with a character stating, “This is so dull,” runs the danger of everyone in the audience using it as a meta description for what they’re viewing. Especially if it’s in the opening film of a major film festival, such as Cannes, which had a comparable opening film in 2019 (Jim Jarmusch’s ‘The Dead Don’t Die’).

With many more of these zingers, Michel Hazanavicius’ version of the hilarious Japanese zom com ‘One Cut Of The Dead’ (2017), ‘Coupez!’ (Final Cut), risks being labelled an afterthought. However, it scrapes through its dreadful opening 30 minutes by turning back on itself and displaying its actual shambolic colours. However, and this is the issue, getting there takes a long time.

The trouble about zombie comedy is that there’s only so much you can do with them. With his material pre-made and no need to hunt about for the correct tone (‘One Cut Of The Dead’ was rapid, violent, and viciously humorous), Hazanavicius, who won an Academy Award for Best Director for ‘The Artist,’ shouldn’t have taken so long to find his stride.

A group of headless chickens — a hysterical director yelling at an actor having trouble delivering the right emotion, a Krav Maga expert (Hazanavicius regular Berenice Bejo) who doubles as a make-up artist, and others running around in circles — are filming a low-budget film while being attacked by zombies.

Cinema, that most popular art form that has withstood so many storms, leapt through so many conflicts, and emerged even more profound, is the most powerful connection of people. This is why films are still being created and film festivals are still significant. We need a new Chaplin,’ Zelensky, a former actor, remarked, referring to the filmmaker and his renowned anti-war masterpiece, ‘The Great Dictator.’ Of course, we need greater diversity, inclusivity, and uniqueness, as actor and director Rebecca Hall pointed out during the jury press conference.

And now, appropriately, I’m headed to see ‘Tchaikovsky’s Wife,’ directed by Kirrill Serebenikov, an outspoken Russian dissident, and screening in the Competition section. (State-sponsored Russian delegations are prohibited from attending the festival.)

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