Festival De Cannes 2006

[Chris Knipp]

CANNES 2006 FESTIVAL HOME PAGE (http://www.festival-cannes.fr/index.php?langue=6002#competition)

President of the Jury: Wong Kar Wai
With Monica Bellucci, Helena Bonham Carter, Lucretia Martel, Zhang Ziyi, Samuel L. Jackson, Patrice LeConte, Tim Roth and Elia Suleiman.

THE OFFICIAL SELECTION

Opening film :
Ron HOWARD THE DA VINCI CODE Out of Competition 2h32

Competition

Pedro ALMODÓVAR VOLVER 2h01
Andrea ARNOLD RED ROAD 1st Film 1h53
Lucas BELVAUX LA RAISON DU PLUS FAIBLE 1h56
Rachid BOUCHAREB INDIGÈNES 2h05
Israel Adrian CAETANO CRÓNICA DE UNA FUGA 1h42
Nuri Bilge CEYLAN IKLIMLER 1h37
Sofia COPPOLA MARIE ANTOINETTE 2h03
Pedro COSTA JUVENTUDE EM MARCHA 2h35
Guillermo DEL TORO EL LABERINTO DEL FAUNO (Pan's Labyrinth) 1h54
Bruno DUMONT FLANDRES 1h31
Nicole GARCIA SELON CHARLIE 2h10
Xavier GIANNOLI QUAND J'ÉTAIS CHANTEUR 1h52
Alejandro González IÑÁRRITU BABEL 2h22
Aki KAURISMÄKI LAITAKAUPUNGIN VALOT 1h20
Richard KELLY SOUTHLAND TALES 2h40
Richard LINKLATER FAST FOOD NATION 1h56
Ken LOACH THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY 2h04
LOU Ye SUMMER PALACE 2h20
Nanni MORETTI IL CAIMANO 1h52
Paolo SORRENTINO L'AMICO DI FAMIGLIA 1h50

Closing Film :
Tony GATLIF TRANSYLVANIA Out of Competition 1h43

UN CERTAIN REGARD

Opening Film :
PARIS, JE T'AIME 2h00

Rabah AMEUR-ZAÏMECHE BLED NUMBER ONE 1h40
Marco BELLOCCHIO IL REGISTA DI MATRIMONI 1h40
Israel Adrian CAETANO CRÓNICA DE UNA FUGA 1h55
Rolf DE HEER TEN CANOES 1h30
Denis DERCOURT LA TOURNEUSE DE PAGES 1h25
Paz ENCINA HAMACA PARAGUAYA 1st Film 1h18
Stefan FALDBAKKEN URO 1st Film 1h38
Jacques FIESCHI LA CALIFORNIE 1st Film 1h47
Paul GOLDMAN SUBURBAN MAYHEM 1h35
Patrick GRANDPERRET MEURTRIÈRES 1h40
Slawomir FABICKI Z ODZYSKU 1st Film 1h40
Manuel HUERGA SALVADOR 2h13
Nikolay KHOMERIKI 977 1st Film 1h27
Richard LINKLATER A SCANNER DARKLY 1h50
Catalin MITULESCU CUM MI-AM PETRECUT SFARSITUL LUMII (The Way I Spent The End Of The World) 1st Film 1h45
Garin NUGROHO SERAMBI 1h10
György PÁLFI TAXIDERMIE 1h30
Murali K. THALLURI TWO THIRTY 7 1h36
Djamshed USMONOV BIHISHT FAQAT BAROI MURDAGON (To Get To Heaven First You Have To Die) 1h45
Francisco VARGAS EL VIOLIN (The Violin) 1st Film 1h38
Kristijonas VILDZIUNAS YOU AM I 1h30
WANG Chao LUXURY CAR 1h30
YOON Jong-bin THE UNFORGIVEN 1st Film 2h06

Closing Film :
Oxide PANG, Danny PANG GWAI WIK (Re-cycle) 1h45

[Johann]

Good stuff Chris.


Finally, Paris je 'taime arrives.
A release date soon..yes!

But strangely Godard's segment is not listed on the imdb.

You got Olivier Assayas, Gerard Depardieu, Tom Tykwer, Alexander Payne, The Coens and even Wes Craven but no Godard? And what happened to Johnny Depp's?

I'm happy to hear that Natalie Portman, Fanny Ardant & Willem Dafoe are appearing in the segments. Should be an amazing series of short films.

It's good to see names like Kaurismaki, Almodovar, Inarritu, Loach & Linklater (x2!) on the program.



Great jury, huh?

[Chris Knipp]

Paris, je t'aime.... Those segments are going to be pretty short with 20 in 120 minutes. What about Da Vinci Code being the opener? Well, I guess there's something for everyone, and I'm learning about how festivals work. I'm a bit festival-ed out right now. . . But Cannes is the beginning of them all for the year, it seems. Lots of brand new stuff. And as a die-hard Wong Kar-wai fan, I am not displeased to see he has gotten the recognition of presidency here. I also like seeing Elia Suleiman, that ironic Palestinian, on the jury.

[Chris Knipp]

A breakdown of the Palme d'Or ("Official Selection") contestants by countries with the titles translated:

FRANCE: FLANDRES/FLANDERS (Bruno Dumont). SELON CHARLIE/ACCORDING TO CHARLIE (Nicole Garcia), QUAND J'ETAIS CHANTEUR/WHEN I WAS A SINGER (Xavier Giannoli)

U.S.A.: MARIE ANTOINETTE (Sophia Coppola), SOUTHLAND TALES (Richard Kelly), FAST FOOD NATION (Richard Linklater)

ITALY: IL CAÏMANO/THE ALLIGATOR(Nanni Moretti), L'AMICO DI FAMIGLIA/THE FRIEND OF THE FAMILY(Paolo Sorrentino)

ENGLAND: RED ROAD (ANDREA ARNOLD), THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY (KEN LOACH)

MEXICO: EL LABERINTO DEL FAUNO/PAN'S LABYRINTH (GUILLERMO DEL TORO), BABEL (ALEJANDRO GONZALES IÑÁRITU)

SPAIN: VOLVER/COMING HOME (PEDRO ALMODÓVAR)

BELGIUM: LA RAISON DU PLUS FAIBLE/THE WEAKEST IS ALWAYS RIGHT (LUCAS BELVAUX)

PORTUGAL: JUVENTUDE EM MARCHA/YOUTH ON THE MARCH (PEDRO COSTA)

FINLAND: LAITAKAUPUNGIN VALUT/LIGHTS AT THE EDGE OF THE CITY (AKI KAURISMÄKI)

ALGERIA: INDIGÈNES/NATIVES (RACHID BOUCHAREB)

TURKEY: IKLIMLER/CLIMATES (NURI BILGE CEYLAN)

CHINA: SUMMER PALACE (LOU YE)

CLOSING FILM: Tony GATLIF TRANSYLVANIA Out of Competition 1h43

FESTIVAL WEBSITE IN ENGLISH:

http://www.festival-cannes.fr/index.php?langue=6002

[Chris Knipp]

UN CERTAIN REGARD ENTRIES:

OPENING FILM: PARIS JE T'AIME

Rabah AMEUR-ZAÏMECHE BLED NUMBER ONE 1h40
Marco BELLOCCHIO IL REGISTA DI MATRIMONI 1h40
Israel Adrian CAETANO CRÓNICA DE UNA FUGA 1h55
Rolf DE HEER TEN CANOES 1h30
Denis DERCOURT LA TOURNEUSE DE PAGES 1h25
Paz ENCINA HAMACA PARAGUAYA 1st Film 1h18
Stefan FALDBAKKEN URO 1st Film 1h38
Jacques FIESCHI LA CALIFORNIE 1st Film 1h47
Paul GOLDMAN SUBURBAN MAYHEM 1h35
Patrick GRANDPERRET MEURTRIÈRES 1h40
Slawomir FABICKI Z ODZYSKU 1st Film 1h40
Manuel HUERGA SALVADOR 2h13
Nikolay KHOMERIKI 977 1st Film 1h27
Richard LINKLATER A SCANNER DARKLY 1h50
Catalin MITULESCU CUM MI-AM PETRECUT SFARSITUL LUMII (The Way I Spent The End Of The World) 1st Film 1h45
Garin NUGROHO SERAMBI 1h10
György PÁLFI TAXIDERMIE 1h30
Murali K. THALLURI TWO THIRTY 7 1h36
Djamshed USMONOV BIHISHT FAQAT BAROI MURDAGON (To Get To Heaven First You Have To Die) 1h45
Francisco VARGAS EL VIOLIN (The Violin) 1st Film 1h38
Kristijonas VILDZIUNAS YOU AM I 1h30
WANG Chao LUXURY CAR 1h30
YOON Jong-bin THE UNFORGIVEN 1st Film 2h06

CLOSING FILM: Oxide PANG, Danny PANG GWAI WIK (Re-cycle) 1h45

(Note Linklater has two entries, one in each category.)

[HorseradishTree]

As with any Linklater film, I'm excited to see Fast Food Nation. While I don't think Linklater has been this topical in the past, I'm interested to see how he executes it.

[pmw]

Wow, that's a pretty heady jury. Is it always that rigorous? Wong Kar Wai and Lucretia Martel! Zhang Ziyi, hmmm... Should be interesting. Thanks for that chris.
P

[Chris Knipp]

Let's hope the Festival de Cannes can come out from under the Da Vinci Code hype and get on with its real business....

[oscar jubis]

^Americans will NOT have a chance to watch Sunday's awards ceremony this year. IFC and Bravo cable channels have dropped their coverage of the event. I will miss it. Annette Insdorf and Roger Ebert had done an excellent job of providing translation and commentary over several years of live coverage from Cannes.

Favorites to win major awards, according to Ebert and Derek Malcolm, include:
1) Almodovar's Volver, which is being compared to Fellini's Amacord and features Ms. Penelope Cruz playing a character inspired by the director's mother.
2) Gonzalez Inarritu's Babel, characterized by the director's signature interlocking stories (Amores Perros, 21 Grams). Starring Adriana Barraza.
3) Tachid Bouchareb's Days of Glory, which sounds like the French equivalent of... Glory.

Cruz, Barraza, and Kirsten Dunst (Marie Antoinette) are reportedly being mentioned as possible Best Actress winners.

There's a buzz around Gerard Depardieu's performance in Quad J'Etais Chanteur in which the veteran actor actually sings.

As far as "following" the festival, the most fun has been the changing reaction to Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. My understanding is that a few well-placed "Gallic" boos resulted in what Ebert calls "exaggerated reports". The film has actually already opened in Paris to generally favorable reviews and good box office receipts. The fact that the film concentrates on the "early years" and ends before her beheading has been criticized. But it's been called "visually splendid", with excellent production values (I've seen the trailer and it looks fantastic). The film reputation has been restored (within a week) to the extent that it's expected to win "something", although certainly not the Golden Palm.

Who knows. Perhaps NONE of the films mentioned will win anything. Shame we won't get to watch it live. Juve Rant: IFC, You SUCK!

[Chris Knipp]

I won't go into detail because you can get it or could get it from the NYTimes last week and other sources, such as the Village Voice, but I find some American entries quite interesting this year--Southland Tales, A Scanner Darkly, Fast Food Nation, An Inconvenient Truth. It might be possible to watch the Cannes awards in French on the Internet, too bad about the banishment of Ebert though, didn't know he was good at French :-) -- well, they have excellent interpreters). You can possibly go to http://www.festival-cannes.fr/video/index and see what they've got for each day.

I think there's a lot more interesting stuff than these ones that may win prizes. I'll try to make up a list, but of course it's all sight-unseen on my part; I'm in California. A few:

Il caimano/Crocodile (Moretti)
Flanders (Dumont)
Transylvania (Gatlif)
Paris je t'aime (multiple directors)
and others in the Un Certain Regard group which I won't try to decode right now.

[oscar jubis]

Of course there are many interesting films that won't win awards or are not elegible to win them.
No, Ebert isn't good at French. It was "co-pilot" Annette Insdorf who used to translate the broadcast. Insdorf has written definitive books on Truffaut and Holocaust films. As far as I know, she's still teaching at Columbia.

[oscar jubis]

PALME D'OR: Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes the Barley

BEST DIRECTOR: Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu for Babel

BEST SCREENPLAY: Pedro Almodovar for Volver

GRAND PRIX (Second Place): Bruno Dumont's Flandres

JURY PRIZE (Third Place): Andrea Arnold's Red Road

ACTING AWARDS to:
The female cast of Volver (Carmen Maura, Penelope Cruz, etc.)
The male cast of Rachid Bouchareb's Days of Glory

[Howard Schumann]

Originally posted by oscar jubis
PALME D'OR: Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes the Barley

BEST DIRECTOR: Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu for Babel

BEST SCREENPLAY: Pedro Almodovar for Volver

GRAND PRIX (Second Place): Bruno Dumont's Flandres

JURY PRIZE (Third Place): Andrea Arnold's Red Road

ACTING AWARDS to:
The female cast of Volver (Carmen Maura, Penelope Cruz, etc.)
The male cast of Rachid Bouchareb's Days of Glory I'm a little surprised that the Almodovar didn't win but even more surprised that Flandres won the Grand Prix. The only reviews I saw of this work were mediocre or negative and I cannot recall anything positive said about it.

[Chris Knipp]

[Howard Schumann writes]The only reviews I saw of [Flandres] were mediocre or negative and I cannot recall anything positive said about it. Variety's Deborah Young ends her review:


The wonderfully directed performances of leads Boidin as the silent, brooding Andre and Leroux as the easy country girl are fresh and raw. Their lack of conversation, especially preceding and following their woodland amours, is laughable, but Dumont has proven over time he will always choose intensity over realism. In any case, when these simple country folk open the emotional floodgates in the end, the impact is exponentially greater.

Punctuated with intense close-ups, Yves Cape's sensitive cinematography has an elegant spareness even in dreariest barnyard coupling, then swings wide in dazzling desert panoramas and sweeping Flanders landscapes. So, there are some things positive said about it. But Dumont always polarizes audiences, and after Twentynine Palms I'd be doubtful myself. Kurt Honeycutt in Hollywood Reporter is more discouraging and speaks of "inexpressive characters," but ends on a positive note too:
The war scenes are well done on a small budget and do contain moments of highly realistic combat within the fog of war. Yves Cape's camera captures the dueling landscapes of green farms and desolate desert with crisp efficiency.
We'll get more of a critical consensus when the film opens in France the end of August.

[Chris Knipp]

Very roughly translated from Allociné blogger (one of seven) "Julien the Repugnant's" summing-up, in part:
We've really got to admit this year at Cannes we haven't seen a film as powerful as History of Violence, as touching as The Child, as brilliant as Match Point, as refreshing as [Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu's] To Paint or Make Love, as intense as Keane. Some images nonetheless stick in one's mind: Nanni Moretti looking into the camera at the end of Caïmon; Louis Garrel addressing the viewer in Dans Paris; the beautiful team climb in Indigènes, John Cameron Mitchell's emotion at 2 a.m. Saturday at the end of the press screening of Marie Antoinette; Asia Argento, astonishing a revolutionary chorus on bikes in Translyvania; the singer Christophe pensive in front of his theater glass in When I Was a Singer. You could have seen this same shot in Kristall, a disturbing short film shown at the beginning of the festival during the Semaine de la Critique -- it consisted of a collage of images dug up from the History of Cinema consisting of shots in which the actor (or more often actress) looks at her/himself in a mirror, examines her/himself with some concern, always with music that one might describe as …chilling. Vanity and reflection: that's a film well represented at the Festival de Cannes.

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