Postcard from Cannes #2: He came, he saw, he conquered - and received an honorary Palme d’Or

There is perhaps only one film star on earth who can not only pilot his own fighter jets for stunts, but can persuade the French government to tee up a flyover by the Patrouille de France, usually reserved for Bastille Day! You know who I mean don’t you? Yup, it’s Tom Cruise.

Tom Cruise, center, poses with the Greg Tarzan Davis, from left, Keleigh Sperry, Linda Bruckheimer, Jennifer Connelly, festival director Thierry Fremaux, and Jon Hamm after French Alpha Jets Patrouille de France fly over the red carpet at the premiere of the film 'Top Gun: Maverick' at the 75th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 18, 2022. AP - Petros Giannakouris

At nearly 60 years of age, the enigma remains intact. How can Tom Cruise possibly have the same handsome, chiseled face he had when he first starred in Top Gun 36 years ago?

It’s an understatement to say he received a warm welcome back to the Croisette. It was the moment of the Cannes week to date.

The last time Tom had the world’s cameras trained on him was in 1992 as he walked up the red carpet for the projection of Ron Howard’s "Far and Away".

Cruise has been back to France many times since then for various film shoots, but not to the Cannes festival itself.

“This is such a beautiful moment, a privilege to see your faces here in a cinema, thank you,” he told participants at his masterclass earlier in the day.

Everlasting popularity

RFI spoke to dozens of people who had gathered in the streets of Cannes, some spending more than two hours in a queue just to access the strip of road where stars step out of their cars in the evening.

There were nothing but positive comments about Cruise. Handsome, a good actor, charismatic, an idol to some. This from men and women of different ages and nationalities.

There they were, standing on the footpath of the main avenue in front of the red carpet for at least two hours, elbow to elbow with the crowds, hanging on to a metal barrier, listening to the MC and the booming music.

I was, like my fellow spotters, waiting for the famous names to be called out:   astronaut Thomas Pesquet ! Omar Sy! John Hamm! Jennifer Connelly!

But let's be honest, we were all just hankering to get a glimpse of the man in the flesh - and see that face, recognisable anywhere.

30 ans après sa dernière venue à Cannes, Tom Cruise est de retour sur les Marches du Festival de Cannes, pour présenter #TopGunMaverick !
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30 years after his last trip to Cannes, @TomCruise is back on the #RedSteps ! #Cannes2022 pic.twitter.com/RcNi9AjDw4

— Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) May 18, 2022

Start your engines!

Finally, after about 15 minutes saluting the paparazzi at the bottom of the stairs, signing autographs and chatting with those lucky enough to get front row spots, Tom began to climb. And just as he got to the top of the stairs, on cue, the skies rumbled with the flyover (twice).

Il a inspiré une génération de pilotes. La @PAFofficial a rencontré Tom Cruise à la veille de la première mondiale de #TopGunMaverick à Cannes @TopGunMovie @Paramountfr ©️ Serge Arnal / Paramount. pic.twitter.com/EI8nt5am2O

— Patrouille de France (@PAFofficiel) May 18, 2022

OK, the film can start now! Was it worth it? Hell yeah!

Everybody wants a hero

Tom Cruise has been making essentially the same movie for years, adored by fans from Japan to Australia and Europe, especially France. Why? Quite possibly because he has hit on a recipe that people love. It’s all about the entertainment. Action, stunts, a romance or two and a hero who saves the day. Everyone loves a hero right?

At his press conference, Tom was asked why wait 36 years to make a sequel?

"I wasn't ready," he says. "I needed to grow as an artist. I need to understand what cinema is. I'm still learning. Sequels means having a dialogue with the audience, and an investment in the characters.

"I don't want to disapppoint the audience, it's gotta work. It takes time and I care about it".

In this day and age,  probably more than ever right now, people are looking for heroes. They want to believe things are going to be OK. And Tom Cruise’s films say that, despite all the obstacles, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Even though Top Gun Maverick is not in competition, it has already won over hearts and minds.

It certainly brought out the big guns in terms of festival hype: we could easily conclude that he came, he saw, he conquered. And he even walked away with a surprise honorary Palme d’Or!

"Top Gun Maverick", directed by Joseph Kosinski, and produced by Tom Cruise, is released in France on 25 May and 27 May in the US.

American actor Tom Cruise plays pilot Pete Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, 18 May, 2022. © 2022 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved/ festival de cannes/press