CANNES, France, May 9, (Agencies): Hollywood blockbusters that take aim at greed provide the razzmatazz at Cannes this year as the French Riviera braces for its annual film frenzy mixing megastars with more obscure arthouse movies.
Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood,” starring Russell Crowe as the medieval English archer who robs the rich to help the poor, and fellow Australian Cate Blanchett as his love interest Maid Marian, opens the festival on Wednesday.
Later in the week Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” sees Michael Douglas reprise his 1987 role as rogue stockbroker Gordon Gekko now getting out of jail and warning Wall Street of impending financial doom.
Gekko was the man who coined the phrase “Greed is good” back in the avaricious 1980s, but he has now seen the error of his ways.
Denouncing greed is a theme that runs through the notoriously extravagant festival this year, with the documentary “Inside Job” probing the financial crisis of 2008 that brought the world to the brink of economic collapse.
“Cleveland vs. Wall Street” meanwhile stages a mock trial in which small-town victims of the subprime crisis fight it out with bankers and mortgage brokers.
Douglas, Crowe and Blanchett will be among the A-list celebrities sashaying up Cannes’ fabled red carpet, along with stars like Sean Penn, Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts and Javier Bardem.
They will be on La Croisette to attend gala premieres of films by Mexico’s Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Japan’s Takeshi Kitano, veteran US director Woody Allen and New Wave icon Jean-Luc Godard.
Fears of a real-life drama rippled along the Riviera last week when a freak storm hit Cannes, sending giant waves crashing over cafes and festival installations on the beachfront La Croisette, causing millions of euros’ (dollars’) worth of damage.
But organisers say the show will go on.
The show that first began in 1946 this year sees “Alice in Wonderland” director Tim Burton preside over a jury that will present the coveted Palme d’Or top award to one of the 18 films in the main competition.
This year’s crop is marked by austerity and a distinct lack of frivolity.
It includes works from the likes of Iran’s Abbas Kiarostami, who makes his first foray into European cinema with “The Certified Copy,” starring French actress Juliette Binoche.
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s “The Screaming Man” brings Chad for the first time to the Palme competition, whose results will be announced on May 23, while Ukraine also makes a debut in the main category with Sergei Loznitsa’s “My Joy.”
Asia has a strong showing, with two entries for the Palme from South Korea — “Poetry” by Lee Chang-dong and Im Sang-soo’s “The Housemaid” — and China, Japan and Thailand also represented.
France has three films in the main race that last year was won by Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon.”
The United States has just one.
Discredit
“Fair Game,” by “The Bourne Identity” director Doug Liman, looks at the bid by former US president George W. Bush’s administration to discredit CIA agent Valerie Plame.
The prestigious Directors’ Fortnight competition, taking place in parallel to the race for the Palme d’Or, promises some lively fare, with documentaries on disabled Congolese street musicians and ageing rockers The Rolling Stones.
But Cannes would not be Cannes without a controversy and this year a row has already started over a film about France’s colonial past in Algeria, “Outside Of The Law” by Rachid Bouchareb.
Far-right groups said they will protest outside the film’s screening and a French member of parliament condemned it as a “negationist” rewriting of history.
Around 10,000 movie industry types, 4,000 press and thousands of film lovers and celebrity watchers are due to attend the 12-day gig whose heady cocktail of commerce, glamour and high art makes it the top film event of the year.
“In Cannes you have both a major film from a (Hollywood) studio for the opening, and a totally unknown Ukrainian filmmaker with an experimental film in the competition,” said festival director Thierry Fremaux, summing up the event’s diversity.
Meanwhile, Megastars and movie directors kept a worried eye on a volcanic ash cloud wafting across Europe Sunday against the rich and powerful.
A freak storm lashed the chic French Riviera resort last week and now an Icelandic volcano is threatening to prevent A-list Hollywood stars from sashaying up the fabled red carpet.
A score of flights were cancelled Sunday to and from Nice, the nearest airport to Cannes, because of the ash cloud, and festival organisers were praying that traffic will be back to normal by the gala opening on Wednesday.
“Everyone wants to get an invitation to Cannes, even the ash cloud,” joked Cannes deputy mayor David Lisnard.
Burton will head the following jury at the 63rd edition of the Cannes film festival.
Here is a list of the other jury members:
Kate Beckinsale (Britain), actress
Giovanna Mezzogiorno (Italy), actress
Alberto Barbera (Italy), head of Italy’s national film museum
Emmanuel Carrere (France), writer, director
Benicio Del Toro (Puerto Rico), actor
Victor Erice (Spain), director
Shekhar Kapur (India), director, actor, producer
Alexandre Desplat (France), composer
“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” in which Michael Douglas reprises his role as ruthless corporate raider Gordon Gekko, will be among the most topical at the 2010 festival, focusing on corruption and greed at the world’s biggest banks.
But, like Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood and Woody Allen’s latest offering “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger,” it is not one of 18 films in competition which are eligible for prizes decided by a jury headed by director Tim Burton.
Underlining the pulling power of Cannes, Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones is expected to be in town for documentary “Stones in Exile” about the recording of the band’s seminal album “Exile on Main Street” which is due for re-release this month.
Critics are generally impressed with the 2010 lineup, although several wonder if it can live up to the buzz generated by last year’s edition, including the widely praised The White Ribbon, “A Prophet” and “Up,” and Lars Von Trier’s controversial and ultra-violent “Antichrist.”
The world’s leading international news agencies, including Reuters, have lifted a threat to boycott the event over media rights after reaching an agreement with the festival.
Movies
Following is a list of the films contending for the award, along with out-of-competition festival screenings and the parallel section “Un Certain Regard,” which showcases new talent.
English titles are given where cited by festival organisers.
Main competition:
n “Tournee” (On Tour), Mathieu Amalric (France)
n “Des Hommes et des Dieux” (Of Gods and Men), Xavier Beauvois (France)
n “Hors-la-loi” (Outside of the Law), Rachid Bouchareb (Algeria)
n “Biutiful”, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Mexico)
n “Un Homme Qui Crie” (A Screaming Man), Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Chad)
n “The Housemaid”, Im Sang-soo (South Korea)
n “Copie Conforme” (Certified Copy), Abbas Kiarostami (Iran)
n “Outrage”, Takeshi Kitano (Japan)
n “Poetry”, Lee Chang-dong (South Korea)
n “Another Year”, Mike Leigh (Britain)
n “Fair Game”, Doug Liman (United States)
n “Schastye Moe” (My Joy), Sergei Loznitsa (Ukraine)
n “La Nostra Vita” (Our Life), Daniele Luchetti (Italy)
n “Utomlyonnye solntsem 2: Predstoyanie” (Burnt by the Sun 2 : Exodus), Nikita Mikhalkov (Russia)
n “Szelid Teremtes” (Tender Son — The Frankenstein Project), Kornel Mundruczo (Hungary)
n “La Princesse de Montpensier (The Princess of Montpensier), Bertrand Tavernier (France)
n “Rizhao Chongqing” (Chongqing Blues), Wang Xiaoshuao (China)
n “Long Boonmee Raluek Chat” (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall his Past Lives), Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand)
Out-of competition screenings:
Opening film: “Robin Hood”, Ridley Scott (United States, Britain)
Closing Film: “The Tree”, Julie Bertuccelli (France, Australia)
n “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger”, Woody Allen (United States)
n “Carlos”, Olivier Assayas (France)
n “Tamara Drewe”, Stephen Frears (Britain)
n “Wall Street - Money Never Sleeps”, Oliver Stone (United States)
n “The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu”, Andrei Ujica (Romania)
n “Kaboom”, Gregg Araki (Etats-Unis)
n “L’Autre Monde” (Black Heaven), Gilles Marchand (France)
n “Inside Job”, Charles Ferguson (United States)
n “Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow”, Sophie Fiennes (Britain)
n “Nostalgia de la Luz”, (Nostalgia for the Light), Patricio Guzman (Chile)
n “Draquila - l’Italia Che Trema”, Sabina Guzzanti (Italy)
n “Chantrapas”, Otar Iosseliani (Georgia)
n “Abel”, Diego Luna (Mexico)
n “Countdown to Zero”, Lucy Walker (United States)
n “5 x Favela Por Nos Mesmos”, Manaira Carneiro and others (Brazil)
“Un Certain Regard” newcomers’ competition:
n “Blue Valentine”, Derek Cianfrance (United States)
n “Angelica”, Manoel de Oliveira (Portugal)
n “Heartbeats”, Xavier Dolan (Canada)
n “Los Labios”, Ivan Fund, Santiago Loza (Argentina)
n “Simon Werner a Disparu” (Lights Out), Fabrice Gobert (France)
n “Film Socialisme”, Jean-Luc Godard (France)
n “Unter Dir Die Stadt” (The City Below), Christoph Hochhausler (Germany)
n “Ha Ha Ha”, Hong Sangsoo (South Korea)
n “Shang Hai Zhuan Qi” (I Wish I Knew), Jia Zhang-ke (China)
n “Rebecca H” (Return to the Dogs), Lodge Kerrigan (United States)
n “Pal Adrienn”, Agnes Kocsis (Hungary)
n “Udaan”, Vikramaditya Motwane (India)
n “Marti, Ddupa Craciun” (Tuesday, After Christmas), Radu Muntean (Romania)
n “Chatroom”, Hideo Nakata (Japan)
n “Aurora”, Cristi Puiu (Romania)
n “Life Above All”, Olivier Schmitz (South Africa)
n “Carancho”, Pablo Trapero (Argentina)
n “Octubre” (October), Daniel Vega, Diego Vega (Peru)
n “R U There”, David Verbeek (Netherlands)
Selections
Here is a list of the 25 feature films selected for the prestigious Directors’ Fortnight, from May 13 to 23, and the seven in Critics’ Week, May 13 to 21, running alongside the main Cannes Film Festival.
Directors’ Fortnight
“A Alegria” (The Joy), Felipe Braganca, Marina Meliande (Brazil)
“All Good Children”, Alicia Duffy (Britain)
“Alting Bliver Godt Igen” (Everything Will Be Fine), Christoffer Boe (Denmark)
“Ano Bisiesto”, Michael Rowe (Mexico)
“Benda Bilili”, Renaud Barret and Florent de la Tullaye (France)
“La Casa Muda” (The Silent House), Gustavo Hernandez (Uruguay)
“Cleveland Versus Wall Street”, Jean-Stephane Bron (Switzerland)
“Des Filles en Noir” (Young Girls In Black), Jean Paul Civeyrac (France)
“Ha’Meshotet” (The Wanderer), Avishai Sivan (Israel)
“Illegal”, Olivier Masset-Depasse (Belgium)
“The Light Thief”, Aktan Arym Kubat (Kyrgyzstan)
“Little Baby Jesus of Flandr”, Gust Vandenberghe (Belgium)
“La Mirada Invisible” (The Invisible Eye), Diego Lerman (Argentina)
“Picco”, Philip Koch (Germany)
“Pieds Nus Sur Les Limaces” (Lily Sometimes), Fabienne Berthaud (France)
“Le Quattro Volte”, Michelangelo Frammartino (Italy)
“Shit Year”, Cam Archer (United States)
“Somos Lo Que Hay” (We Are What We Are), Jorge Michel Grau (Mexico)
“The Tiger Factory”, Ming jin Woo (Malaysia, Japan)
“Todos Vos Sodes Capitans”, Oliver Laxe (Spain)
“Two Gates of Sleep”, Alistair Banks Griffin (United States)
“Un Poison Violent”, Katell Quillevere (France)
Directors’ Fortnight — special screenings
“Boxing Gym”, Frederick Wiseman (United States)
“Stones In Exile”, Stephen Kijak (Britain)
Carrosse d’Or special award
“Lions Love (... And Lies)”, Agnes Varda (France)
Critics’ Week — feature films:
“Armadillo”, Janus Metz (Denmark)
“Bedevilled”, Jang Cheol So (South Korea)
“Bell Epine”, Rebecca Zlotowski (France)
“Bi, Dung So!”, Phan Dang Di (Vietnam)
“The Myth of the American Sleepover”, David Robert Mitchell (United States)
“Sandcastle”, Boo Junfeng (Singapore)
“Sound of Noise”, Ola Simonsson and Johannes Stjarne Nilsson (Sweden)
Past winners
Here is a list of past winners of its top prize for best film.
Once known as the Grand Prix, from 1975 the top award has been the “Palme d’Or” or Golden Palm.
1939: No prize as the festival was halted after 48 hours by Hitler’s invasion of Poland.
1946: 11 films shared the top prize, including:
“Open City” by Roberto Rossellini
“Maria Candelaria” by Emilio Fernandez
“Brief Encounter” by David Lean
“The Lost Weekend” by Billy Wilder
1947: Six prizes including:
“Les Maudits” by Rene Clement
“Ziegfeld Follies” by Vincente Minnelli
“Dumbo” by Walt Disney
1949: “The Third Man” by Carol Reed
1951: “Miracle In Milan” by Vittorio de Sica
“Miss Julie” by Alf Sjoberg
1952: “Othello” by Orson Welles
“Deux Sous d’Espoir” by Renato Castellani
1953: “The Wages of Fear” by Henri-Georges Clouzot
1954: “The Gate of Hell” (Jigokumon) by Teinosuke Kinugasa
1955: “Marty” by Delbert Mann
1956: “Le Monde du Silence” by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle
1957: “Friendly Persuasion” by William Wyler
1958: “The Cranes are Flying” by Mikhail Kalatoz
1959: “Black Orpheus” by Marcel Camus
1960: “La Dolce Vita” by Federico Fellini
1961: “Viridiana” by Luis Bunuel
“Une Aussi Longue Absence” by Henri Colpi
1962: “La Parole Donnee” by Anselmo Duarte
1963: “The Leopard” by Luchino Visconti
1964: “Les Parapluies de Cherbourg” by Jacques Demy
1965: “The Knack (...and How to Get It)” by Richard Lester
1966: “Un Homme et Une Femme” by Claude Lelouch
“Ces Messieurs Dames” (Signore e signori) by Pietro Germi
1967: “Blow-Up” by Michelangelo Antonioni
1969: “If” by Lindsay Anderson
1970: “M*A*S*H” by Robert Altman
1971: “The Go-Between” by Joseph Losey
1972: “The Working Class Goes to Heaven” by Elio Petri
“The Mattei Affair” by Francesco Rosi
1973: “Scarecrow” by Jerry Schatzberg
“The Hireling” by Alan Bridges
1974: “The Conversation” by Francis Ford Coppola
1975: “Chronique des Annees de Braise” by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina
1976: “Taxi Driver” by Martin Scorsese
1977: “Padre Padrone” by Paolo Taviani
1978: “The Tree of Wooden Clogs” by Ermanno Olmi
1979: “Apocalypse Now” by Francis Ford Coppola
“The Tin Drum” by Volker Schloendorff
1980: “Kagemusha” by Akira Kurosawa
“All That Jazz” by Bob Fosse
1981: “Man of Iron” by Andrzej Wajda
1982: “Missing” by Costa-Gavras
“Yol” by Yilmaz Guney
1983: “The Ballad of Narayama” by Shohei Imamura
1984: “Paris, Texas” by Wim Wenders
1985: “When Father Was Away on Business” by Emir Kusturica
1986: “The Mission” by Roland Joffe
1987: “Under the Sun of Satan” by Maurice Pialat
1988: “Pelle the Conqueror” by Bille August
1989: “Sex, Lies and Videotape” by Steven Soderbergh
1990: “Wild At Heart” by David Lynch
1991: “Barton Fink” by Joel and Ethan Coen
1992: “The Best Intentions” by Bille August
1993: “Farewell My Concubine” by Kaige Chen
“The Piano” by Jane Campion
1994: “Pulp Fiction” by Quentin Tarantino
1995: “Underground” by Emir Kusturica
1996: “Secrets & Lies” by Mike Leigh
1997: “The Eel” by Shohei Imamura
“Taste of Cherry” by Abbas Kiarostami
1998: “Eternity and a Day” by Theo Angelopoulos
1999: “Rosetta” by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
2000: “Dancer in the Dark” by Lars Von Trier
2001: “La Stanza del Figlio” by Nanni Moretti
2002: “The Pianist” by Roman Polanski
2003: “Elephant” by Gus Van Sant
2004: “Fahrenheit 9/11” by Michael Moore
2005: “L’Enfant” by Jean-Pierre Dardenne
2006: “The Wind That Shakes The Barley” by Ken Loach
2007: “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” by Cristian Mungui
2008: “The Class” by Laurent Cantet.
2009 “The White Ribbon” by Michael Haneke
Also:
ROME: Italy’s culture minister says he will boycott this month’s Cannes film festival to protest the showing of a movie that spoofs Premier Silvio Berlusconi and his relief efforts for earthquake survivors.
“Draquila” features popular satirist Sabina Guzzanti, a woman who impersonates Berlusconi in the film.
The government’s efforts to construct housing for thousands of quake homeless in the city of L’Aquila is a point of pride for Berlusconi.
Culture Minister Bondi said Saturday in a statement he won’t go because the film, which will be screened out of competition, offends the Italian people.
The Italian news agency Apcom quoted parliamentary culture commission member Flavia Perina as saying the boycott might give the film more publicity.