CANNES 2011 (11-22 May)

[Chris Knipp]

http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/4468/portraitjpeg20x15.jpg
64th Festival poster: photo of Faye Dunaway by Jerry Schatzberg taken in 1970

The Cannes film festival has announced its lineup and juries and people are commenting. You'll find their site for all that here. (http://www.festival-cannes.com/en.html)

[Chris Knipp]

http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/4091/tribecafilmfestivallogo.jpg

April 20-May 1, 2011.

Tribeca, now ten, is the big US film festivial that goes on at about the same time as the SFIFF and presents more new films. The NY Times has an introductory piece about this year's Tribeca here. (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/movies/tribeca-film-festival-turns-10.html?_r=1&nl=movies&emc=mua1)

Or you can go to Tribeca's own website. (http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/) You can scroll through their list there.

[Chris Knipp]

CANNES

I don't know much about Cannes yet, but MUBI has a page with many comments on the lineups. You'll find it here. (http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/3136?utm_source=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=digest19) Directors of note with entries this year include:

PEDRO ALMODÓVAR
NURI BILGE CEYLON
THE DARDENNE BROTHERS
AKI KAURISMÄKI
TERRENCE MALICK
TAKASHI MIIKE
NANNI MORETTI
LYNN RAMSEY (of RATCATHER AND MORVERN CALLER)
MARKUS SCHLEINZER (formerly MICHAEL HANEKE'S casting assistant)
PAOLO SORRENTINO (of IL DIVO)
LARS VON TRIER

In "UN CERTAIN RERARD" SERIES:

BRUNO DUMONT
ROBERT GUÉDIGUEGUIAN (of THE TOWN IS QUIET and ARMY OF CRIME)
HONG SANG-SOO
KIM KI-DUK
GERARDO NARANJO (of I'M GONNA EXPLODE)
GUS VAN SANT
JOACHIM TRIER (of REPRISE)


For many more details of these and other selections in and out of competition at Cannes, see the MUBI article. We'll be hearing about all these director's new films (and others I haven't listed that you'll learn about from MUBI) and I hope to see the best of them at the NYFF in the fall.

May 21: Still have not read any reports of the films at Cannes 2011 by:

Of the name directors I mentioned at the outset I still not seen reports on films by these:

NURI BILGE CEYLAN
MARKUS SCHLEINZER (formerly MICHAEL HANEKE'S casting assistant
PAOLO SORRENTINO (of IL DIVO)
ROBERT GUÉDIGUEGUIAN (of THE TOWN IS QUIET and ARMY OF CRIME)
HONG SANG-SOO
KIM KI-DUK
JOACHIM TRIER (of REPRISE)

[Chris Knipp]

TRIBECA

From the LA Times a roundu (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/awards/2011/04/tribeca-film-festival-winners-she-monkeys-de-niro.html)p of Tribeca, which has announced its prizes. The top prize went to SHE MONKEY (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3054-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2011&p=26035#post26035)S, the Swedish girls' coming of age picture, which I have reviewed in connection with the SFIFF. The top directing prize went to PARK JUNG-BUM, whose JOURNALS OF MUSAN (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3054-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2011&p=26052#post26052) I also have reviewed in the SFIFF. I'm a little surprised at SHE MONKEYS, which left me underwhelmed. PARK JUNG-BUM, however, is a strong choice and a deeply committed young director.


The Tribeca Film Festival has handed out its jury prizes, giving its top award, for narrative feature, to Lisa Aschan’s “She Monkeys.” The Swedish-language coming-of-age film centers on a complicated relationship between two teenage girls competing under intense pressure in the equestrian world.

The top male acting prize went to Shami Bizimana for his performance in Kivu Ruhorahoza's “Grey Matter,” a picture from Rwanda about a young filmmaker whose financing falls through but who watches his script come to life anyway. Dutch It-girl Carice van Houten took home the actress award for her performance as Ingrid Jonker, known as the South African Sylvia Plath, in Paula van der Oest's 1960s-set apartheid drama “Black Butterflies.”

The prize for new narrative director went to the South Korean filmmaker Park Jung-bum for “Journals of Musan,” his movie about a North Korean defector who has settled in South Korea. Screenplay honors, meanwhile, went to Norewigan Jannicke Systad Jacobsen for her offbeat sexual coming-of-age story “Turn Me On, Goddammit.”

On the documentary side, "Bombay Beach," Alma Har’el's stylized look at different personalities at the Salton Sea, won for documentary feature, and Pablo Croce won the award for new documentary director for "Like Water," his movie about UFC fighter Anderson Silva.

Tribeca juries are composed of a motley crew of film-world personalities, which this year included Rainn Wilson, David Gordon Green, Dianne Wiest and author Rula Jebreal.

The Tribeca Film Festival winds up this weekend, with audience prizes handed out on Sunday night. For a complete list of winners, see the Tribeca website.

[Chris Knipp]

CANNES is full-on now (May 12, 2011); it began yesterday with Woody Allen's new one, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, which opened simultaneously in Paris. I will see it and report on it, in Paris.

I recommend Mike d'Angelo's coverage of Cannes for Onion AV Club (http://www.avclub.com/features/cannes-film-festival/). I don't always agree with him, but no American wrier on this key festival is livelier or more committed. D'Angelo's journal comes day by day from Cannes.

MUBI has a range of coverage (http://mubi.com/festivals/cannes?utm_source=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=digest20) that tends to be quite informative.

[Chris Knipp]

Manohla Dargis of the NY Times has her beginning report on Cannes today, Friday the Thirteenth. You'll find it here (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/movies/cannes-film-festival-leads-with-midnight-in-paris.html?_r=1&nl=movies&emc=mua1).

Some time soon I promise to see Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, AKA Minuit à Paris, which was the Cannes opening night film and has been well received here. However, see Mike d'Angelo's less favorable report and bear in mind, they tend to love anything Woody does in France, and Americans have grown tired of him and panned many of his recent efforts. This one however sounds far more upbeat than his latter films have tended to be.

Metro Paris, the giveaway morning giveaway paper here, has a lead article about Ezra Miller, who plays the teenager killer Kevin in Lynne Ramsey's We Need to Talk About Kevin. Miller was in afterschool and City Island, and Ramsey made a reputation with Ratcatcher and Morven Caller. Cannes likes her, and I'd have to say I do too. Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly also star in Kevin, which sounds like it may be one of the interesting films of this year's Cannes.

I have a list of movies to see in Paris, but the beautiful weather and strolling and eating out and looking at art with friends have kept me out of the dark. I have seen Jerzy Skolimowski's Essential Killing starring Vincent Gallo and will see Céline (Water Lilies) Sciamma's Tomboy with a friend tonight.

[oscar jubis]

Chris, thanks for the links and comments. I have been writing furiously over the past couple of weeks to meet some deadlines and have not had a chance to watch new movies or follow what's going on in Cannes. That is about to change.

Enjoy your trip. Sounds like you are having a great time over there.

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks. I'm experiencing Cannes vicariously being in Paris as it goes on. Some Cannes films may come here while I'm still in town, and meanwhile it is in all the papers and magazines.

And a local newsstand has the new Cahiers du Cinema prominently displayed (below Premiere) in this snapshot I took yesterday.

http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/9846/img11752.jpg

And the Cannes poster is displayed -- very large -- in the Paris subway stations:

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/4082/img1172tc.jpg

[Chris Knipp]

I'll write thumbnail reviews of ESSENTIAL KILLING and TOMBOY soon. Meanwhile here is part of Mike d'Angelo's entry for yesterday at Cannes. I didn't quite believe Manohla Dargis' dismissal of this film.

CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
Cannes ’11, day two: an evil child, a new Manic Pixie Dream Girl, and a TV pilot that isn’t
We Need To Talk About Kevin
By Mike D'Angelo May 13, 2011

MORE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

Last year at Cannes, my favorite “film” was the roughly hourlong section of Olivier Assayas’ Carlos devoted to the 1975 OPEC hostage crisis. This year, it’s gonna be tough for anything to beat the gobsmacking first 30 minutes (or so) of We Need To Talk About Kevin, Lynne Ramsay’s long-awaited return to the screen after Ratcatcher (1999) and Morvern Callar (2002). Barricading herself within the tormented psyche of a mother (Tilda Swinton) whose son has clearly committed some Columbine-style atrocity, Scottish filmmaker Ramsay fragments present-day misery and nearly two decades of memories into an impressionistic collage of red-streaked images and head-rattling noises, frequently hopscotching across multiple time frames in a matter of seconds, without any signposting apart from Swinton’s hair. Dialogue is sparse, conventional characterization all but nonexistent; it’s an avant-garde portrait of free-floating guilt, sustained for so long that I began to think the entire film might be in that radical idiom.

--Mike d'Anngelo, Onion AV Club. For the rest go here. (http://www.avclub.com/articles/cannes-11-day-two-an-evil-child-a-new-manic-pixie,56046/)

[Johann]

Awesome. Nice pictures Chris!

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks! I'll write up the movies I see, at least briefly as time goes on. Last year I saw and reported on 17 films in Paris. It's not going to be like that this time and I'm going to get more sunshine and eat more good food.

Today I saw LA BALLADE DE L'IMPOSSIBLE/NORWEGIAN WOOD directed in Japanese by Anh Hung Tran (of VERTICAL RAY OF THE SUN), from a novel by Haruki Murakami, a long, slow, beautiful, at times quite erotic film about desperate young loveL.

[cinemabon]

Did I miss your review of "Midnight in Paris" or haven't you posted it yet? I just read David Germain's review (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110516/ap_en_ot/us_film_review_midnight_in_paris) and found it very curious. My wife and I saw the last Allen film (at my insistence) found it moralizing and profoundly unfunny. I understand this one has some great performances. I like the idea of going back to 1920's Paris (time travel) but Owen Wilson's country-twain delivery, I hear, disappointed many. Does he ever speak any differently than he does in any movie? Still, the harking back to "funnier" Allen films makes me want to catch this one. What did you thnk? I'll be watching.

David Denby, The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2011/05/23/110523crci_cinema_denby

Nothing in local theaters worth mentioning, except commercial outtings like Bridesmaids and Thor... Have fun in France. Looking forward to your delicious renditions.

[Chris Knipp]

I have not seen it yet. It has been very crowded in the evening and also I was going to see it with some friends. The review will appear here when I see it, most likely. Thanks for the links, but I don't think I'll look at reviews till I see it. I saw Manohla Dargis' and excerpts of some of the French ones. The Allociné rating is 4.3 -- super-high. They like Woody and they like Paris, and the movie has the Cannes imprimatur having been its opening night film.

[cinemabon]

I've heard it referred to as Woody Allen's Manhattan for Paris. I'm curious. Did you see "Tree of Life" yet? The reviews are all over the place! Variety loved it. Entertainment Weekly was among those who "booed" the work.

[Chris Knipp]

No chance for me to see those yet. Soon, though, they will be available. TREE OF LIFE as well as the Dardennes' THE KID ON THE BIKE both open in Paris the 18th. I don't know what "Manhattan for Paris" means. Both these films may have already shown at Cannes; I know THE KID ON THE BIKE has. I'm not at Cannes though. I can only see what opens in Paris and besides that, I have not been going to movies nonstop the way I did last year. I'm trying to enjoy Paris itself and the nice weather.

[Chris Knipp]

Go to my PARIS MOVIE REPORT (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3065-PARIS-MOVIE-REPORT-%28May-2011%29) (MAY 2011) for reviews of Terrence Malick's TREE OF LIFE and Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardennes' THE KID ON THE BIKE/LE GAMIN AU VELO, both in Cannes competition but oened on May 17 and 18, respectively, in Paris.

[Chris Knipp]

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/4968/melancholiaheader34.jpg
DUNST IN MELANCHOLIA

A Cannes roundup from the British FT Weekend.

Yesterday Lars von Trier was banned from the festival for his remarks about Hitler and the Jews (from summaries, he seemed to sympathize with both, but that didn’t go over well). In Financial Times Weekend Nigel Andrews stresses in his roundup today (http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/a918d7cc-8267-11e0-8c49-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1MyF7fNNA) (“Reality at the Margins,” May 21, 2011) that “super-life” often dominates Cannes offscreen and on. The incredible weather makaing “Hollywood look like Hoboken,” the fireworks that “nearly blew the roof off Nice,” the raft of American stars: Croisette glitz matched on-screen fantasy. The later was found in Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In, Hazanvincius’ festival fave black and white silent film spoof The Artist, Miike’s Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, Malick’s dreamy major Cannes prize-contender Tree of Life.

But Andrews particularly admired films from the other side of the cinema world-view: the low-key realism of Mohamad Rasoulof’s Au revoir from Iran and Bruno Dumont’s Hors Satan. (Also, of coruse, the Dardennes’ The Kid with the Bike.) Rasoulof and Panahi are both jail-condemned Iranian directors who nonetheless defiantly sent films to Cannes. Hors Satan Andrews summarizes as is “a tale of redemption with a Hardyesque knot of characters: village girl, stepfather, itinerant poacher. It is tense, implosive, poetic.” I hope this, and the Iranian films, make it to the New York Film Festival. Almodóvar almost certainly will; he’s a friend of NYFF. Further praising minimalism Andres enthuses over Kaurismäki’s latest, Le Havre, about an African boy stuck in the port and trying to escape from the law. But minimalism, Andrews thinks, doesn’t save the claustrophobic self-indulgence of Alain Cavalier’s Pater, a “virtual two-hander” starring him and Vincent Lindon as themselves.

And Andrews' enthusiasm for one film leads him to conclude that we really need "super-life" in cinema. Undeterred by von Triers’ being canned from Cannes, Andrews picks his grand and inventive Melancholia, which remains in competition. Andrews: “if I were lord of the awards at Cannes, I would give it the top one and a few more. Here is a work of crazed and insolent ambition, its grasp equalling its reach.”It would be amazing if it won and von Trier wasn’t allowed to pick up his Palme d’Or. The film shows we need larger-than-life in cinema, the FT writer muses. The film introduces "a weekend wedding party in a country home by the sea; a bride tormented by post-nuptial depression or worse (Kirsten Dunst); a sense of gathering social doom (worthy of the film’s Danish-directed stablemate Festen); and, to top it all, a planet called Melancholia moving towards Earth on collision course.” It has an “extraordinary tableau prefiguring apocalypse," "strong cameos from John Hurt and Charlotte Rampling,” and becomes "a combination of sci-fi disaster film and Wagnerian twilight-of-the-world. . . Near the close, the characters sit on the terrace exchanging resonant verities as the end of civilisation draws near. . . With every reel Trier plants a new twist or adds a fresh insight." Needless to say I want to see this one in the NYFF too, and barring an apocalypse, there's a good chance I will.

It also looks like two world-views (both spelled out in the super-life style) are at war with each other for the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year: von Triers' splendid doom versus Malick's grand uplift.

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/4818/penelopecruzjohn1893940.jpg
GLITZ [photo AP]

[Chris Knipp]

May 21: Still have not read any reports of the films at Cannes 2011 by:

Of the name directors I mentioned at the outset I still not seen reports on films by these:

NURI BILGE CEYLAN
MARKUS SCHLEINZER (formerly MICHAEL HANEKE'S casting assistant
PAOLO SORRENTINO (of IL DIVO)
ROBERT GUÉDIGUEGUIAN (of THE TOWN IS QUIET and ARMY OF CRIME)
HONG SANG-SOO
KIM KI-DUK
JOACHIM TRIER (of REPRISE)

I'm looking these up.

Paolo Sorrentino's (English-language) THE MUST BE THE PLACE (starring Sean Penn) gets a very favorable report from Jay WEissberg, who says it's "that rare film directed by a non-American that gets not just the locales but also the cadence of the language absolutely right, with a script full of great lines and images of lingering beauty. |

Nuri Bilge Ceyla's ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA is a nearly three-hour proceedural that's full of keen observation if a somewhat tough watch for the general even arthouse audience. Justin Chang of Variety writes: "An overnight search for a missing body yields a quietly poignant autopsy on the human condition in "Once Upon a Time in Anatolia." Nuri Bilge Ceylan's somber, rigorous new feature is a meditative procedural that expands what would normally consume the first five minutes of a "Law & Order" episode into a slow-moving, nearly three-hour portrait of men at work, taking stock of the enormous social and moral burdens they bear. Beautifully crafted, ultra-rarefied pic won't expand the audience for the Turkish auteur's work, though festgoers will again appreciate Ceylan's marvelous eye and surprising reserves of humor."

Markus Schleinzer's MICHAEL. I now recall Mike d'Angelo did talk about it to dismiss its banality-of-evil story as an "easy" thang to do, and decidedly not humanistic. Alissa Simon of Variety writesL Illustrating the banality of evil in an impressively controlled and sometimes darkly humorous fashion, "Michael" takes a coolly nonjudgmental, non-psychological approach to a disturbing topic, spending five months in the life of a 30-ish pedophile who keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement. Although it begins in medias res, Austrian writer-director Markus Schleinzer's feature debut slowly reels viewers in with Michael Fuith's strong lead performance, a creepy accumulation of ordinary detail and suspenseful twists. Although the pic is certainly not for all tastes, arthouse distribs of challenging material will want to give it a go.Weissberg's summary: "Paolo Sorrentino's coolness credentials are well established, but he's earned the right to be considered "cool" in an entirely different way with "This Must Be the Place," a film that brims with warmth, humanity and respect in ways one doesn't often find in the work of coolmeisters like David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino. Quirky, hilarious and moving, Sorrentino's first English-lingo production is a road trip of stunning scope yet deep intimacy, featuring an aged rock star-turned-Nazi hunter played by Sean Penn at his transformative best. The pic may baffle but is certain to generate massive highbrow press and long-term cult status."

[Chris Knipp]

May 21:

Of the name directors I mentioned at the outset I think I've still not seen reports on Cannes Festival films by these:

NURI BILGE CEYLAN
MARKUS SCHLEINZER (formerly MICHAEL HANEKE'S casting assistant
PAOLO SORRENTINO (of IL DIVO)
ROBERT GUÉDIGUEGUIAN (of THE TOWN IS QUIET and ARMY OF CRIME)
HONG SANG-SOO
KIM KI-DUK
JOACHIM TRIER (of REPRISE)

I'm looking these up, especially on Variety, which covers all the films in English with some good specialists in various languages and genres.

Paolo Sorrentino's English-language THE MUST BE THE PLACE (with Sean Penn) gets a very favorable report from Jay Weissberg, who says it's "that rare film directed by a non-American that gets not just the locales but also the cadence of the language absolutely right, with a script full of great lines and images of lingering beauty. . .Paolo Sorrentino's coolness credentials are well established, but he's earned the right to be considered "cool" in an entirely different way with "This Must Be the Place," a film that brims with warmth, humanity and respect in ways one doesn't often find in the work of coolmeisters like David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino. Quirky, hilarious and moving, Sorrentino's first English-lingo production is a road trip of stunning scope yet deep intimacy, featuring an aged rock star-turned-Nazi hunter played by Sean Penn at his transformative best. The pic may baffle but is certain to generate massive highbrow press and long-term cult status."

Nuri Bilge Ceyla's ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA is a nearly three-hour proceedural that's full of keen observation if a somewhat tough watch for the general even arthouse audience. Justin Chang of Variety writes: "An overnight search for a missing body yields a quietly poignant autopsy on the human condition in "Once Upon a Time in Anatolia." Nuri Bilge Ceylan's somber, rigorous new feature is a meditative procedural that expands what would normally consume the first five minutes of a "Law & Order" episode into a slow-moving, nearly three-hour portrait of men at work, taking stock of the enormous social and moral burdens they bear. Beautifully crafted, ultra-rarefied pic won't expand the audience for the Turkish auteur's work, though festgoers will again appreciate Ceylan's marvelous eye and surprising reserves of humor."

Markus Schleinzer's MICHAEL. I now recall Mike d'Angelo did talk about it to dismiss its banality-of-evil story as an "easy" thang to do, and decidedly not humanistic. Alissa Simon of Variety writesL Illustrating the banality of evil in an impressively controlled and sometimes darkly humorous fashion, "Michael" takes a coolly nonjudgmental, non-psychological approach to a disturbing topic, spending five months in the life of a 30-ish pedophile who keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement. Although it begins in medias res, Austrian writer-director Markus Schleinzer's feature debut slowly reels viewers in with Michael Fuith's strong lead performance, a creepy accumulation of ordinary detail and suspenseful twists. Although the pic is certainly not for all tastes, arthouse distribs of challenging material will want to give it a go.

Kim KI-duk's ARIRING. I also now recall D'Angelo said it was embarassing to watch or talk about Kim Ki-duk's ARIRING because it's a tedious review of why he's been at an impasse for the past three years Hollywood rReporter calls it a "no-tech answer to Felini's 8 1/2." And then, "it is so navel-gazing it makes Takeshi Kitano’s Takeshis and Glory to the Filmmaker seem positively self-effacing." I think I can skip that one.

Robert Guédiguéan's SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO, unrelated to the classic Hemingway short story, also sounds like one to miss, or at least not good future festival material. Again the Rob Nelson sums things up: "The sweetest young orphans one could possibly imagine get saved by a middle-class Marseille couple in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," a blizzard of cloying sentiment not to be confused with Hollywood's like-titled Hemingway adaptation from 1952. Inspired by a Victor Hugo poem, French director Robert Guediguian ("The Army of Crime") returns to the small-scale work with which he began his career in 1980, ladling on the syrup in an ingratiating bid to melt bourgeois hearts. While Ariane Ascaride and Jean-Pierre Darroussin are endearing enough as the middle-aged do-gooders, the forecast calls for "Snows" to fall mainly in Gaul."

Joachim Trier's OSLO. I lliked the director's debut REPRISE, seen at the SFIF several years ago, very much. It sounds like his new OSLO will be equally woirth seeing. Boyd van Hoelj 's Variety summary: "While relative Lars tackles the end of the world in "Melancholia," distant cousin Joachim Trier -- yes, sans the von -- opts for an intimate portrait of the end of the world of just one thirtysomething in "Oslo, August 31st." Like Norwegian helmer's earlier "Reprise," this confident and beautifully crafted second film adds a contempo finish and pays homage to the French New Wave, adapting the suicide-themed novel that also inspired Louis Malle's "The Fire Within." Fest and Scandinavian auds will respond, but pic will require near-unanimous critical support for breakout play." I'd like to see it and hope it turns up in New York somewhere soon.

So three you see why we haven't heard about most of these directors' new Cannes entries, and why one or two of them, the Sorrentino and the Trier anyway, are ones we should watch for.

By the way I saw somewhere somebody commented that for a change some women directors' films were contenders, but I only know about Lynne Ramsey's WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN.

[Chris Knipp]

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/3273/cannes.jpg
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardene with Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Les Palmarès (awards) - Festival de Cannes - Du 11 au 22 mai 2011

The Cannes awards were announced last night, and as expected, TREE OF LIFE won the Palme d'Or. Von Trier's MELANCHOLIA was not forgotten, for Kirsten Dunst got Best Actress, with Hazanavicicius' star Jean Dujardin of THE ACTOR, a French favorite not much admired by American visitors, got Best Actor, he of the OSS Bond-esque satire series with the same director. Some (including me) thought the Dardennes might be overlooked, considering the've got two Cannes prizes already and THE KID WITH THE BIKE, though fine, is much like earlier work. But they got to share the Grand Prix with Nuri Bilge Ceylan's ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA.

The mise en scène prize went to Nicolas Winding Refn's DRIVE, which stars Ryan Gosling.
Scenaria prize to Joseph Cedar's FOOTNOTE

Jury Prize to a French film, Maïwenn's POLISSE.

And in the "parallel sections"/" sections Parallèles:

Semaine de la Critique: to Jeff Nichels for TAKE SHELTER.
Directors' Fourtnight: Bouli Lanners' LES GÉANTS.
Un Certain Regard: split between Kim Ki-duk for ARIRANG and Andreas Dresen's HALT AUF FREIR STRECKE.

Caméra d'or to Pablo Giorgelli's LAS ACACIAS.

[oscar jubis]

This thread will be most fun to read in two years, when I've seen the films. Right now, I'd rather read the Cannes 2009 thread.

[Johann]

I agree with Nigel Andrews that cinema needs to be larger than life. That's why I watch films, to see the "super-real" or creatively interesting takes on life/death and evrything else.

Lars von Trier just keeps making a name for himself. Banned from Cannes!
That's not good at all, as any cinephile knows that Trier is a skilled man and has the means and talent to win that Palme time and time again.
I think Trier is anti-social, so he comes off as a pompous, enfant terrible director.
I still love the man and his works.
That will never change, unless he becomes a total batshit-unhinged loony.

[Chris Knipp]

He is banned. His films are not. But that was going too far if you ask me, to ban him. Only racist speech is illegal in France, and perhaps -- just perhaps -- his remarks in the Cannes public interview could be considered that.

Saw Tree of Life again tonight, my last night in Paris ..... for now. Definitely one to see again and discuss.

[oscar jubis]

Tree of Life is my most anticipated movie movie this year.
There's a part of me that's really excited about the upcoming Potter, Planet of the Apes, and Tin Tin movies coming out this year too.

It's the time of year I begin to keep a list of movies I've liked a lot. I've found a few films to be quite exceptional and nourishing to me this year:

NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT
I TRAVEL BECAUSE I HAVE TO, I COME BACK BECAUSE I LOVE YOU
LE QUATTRO VOLTE
CERTIFIED COPY
BLACK IN LATIN AMERICA (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/black-in-latin-america/)
CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH

Undistributed
Half of Oscar
Beyond
Mama Gogo
A Useful Life

My 2011 Miami International Film Festival report is available here: http://filmint.nu/?cat=5

[Chris Knipp]

Any Malick film must be much anticipated, and long anticipated, since they're far apart. As one critic began his TREE OF LIFE review, "If you wait long enough, a new Terrence Malick film comes around."

It would seem you are not listing this year's movies. CERTIFIED COPY and LE QUATTRO VOLTE were 2010 and I saw and reviewed them as part of the 2010 NYFF, on this site. (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2875-New-York-Film-Festival-2010) If you followed my coverage (and I know you faithfully do) you probably know that I think LE QUATTRO VOLTE is very overrated. I was left rather cold by the contrived, over-intellectualized CERTIFIED too. But I have come around to accepting that CERTIFIED COPY is a very polished and suggestive piece of work, surprisingly so for a director whose films looked so rough and felt so raw before. It's polished, handsome looking, and perfect for people who want a film to debate about.

But what a contrast with TREE OF LIFE, in which Malick put his guts into, his feeling, his life, his thoughts about morality and the world, a wildly ambitious film contemplated for decades. CERTIFIED COPY (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2875-New-York-Film-Festival-2010&p=25107&posted=1#post25107) succeeds by working in fine filigree on a small piece of metal. It achieves resonance, but I don't see a balls-out, deeply committed effort there. Which is okay. Up to a point. As for LE QUATTRO VOLTE (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2875-New-York-Film-Festival-2010&p=25100#post25100), I just don't see much "there" there. But again, something that can be expanded in significance by writing about it's "conception," etc.

More later. Off to lunch.

NYC Thurs, May 26, 2011.

[oscar jubis]

I list according to date of theatrical release, not date of premiere. 4 Volte, Certified Copy, City of Life and Death (which I watched almost 2 years ago) and the others in my list are 2011 releases in the US. Thanks for the link to your review of 4 Volte. A different take than mine, no doubt.
Now that school is out, I have time to catch up with the movies I missed at theaters earlier this year.
I can't believe I still haven't seen Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, which is a 2010 release.

[Chris Knipp]

To get back to Cannes, I think as usual it will have given us some of the best (mainly non-US) films of 2011, and maybe in US release terms 2012 too. Already for me that includes The Kid with the Bike and Tree of Life. And Midnight in Paris is such fun and such a fond memory I may list it too. There will be Cannes films that will come up in other festivals (for me, especially the Nyff) and with luck be released in the US.

I'll look through my list of all the films I've seen in 2010 and see what my favorites are. But it's a little early to say, really, since the year is not half over and the best is probably to come.

Of actual US releases in 2011 so far:

THE DOUBLE HOUR (Giuseppe Capotondi, ITALIAN)
CEDAR RAPIDS (Miguel Arteta)
TREE OF LIFE (Terrence Malick)--Cannes Palme d'Or winner
WIN WIN (Tom McCarthy)

My highest recommendations of all films I've seen this year:

NON-US TITLES (seen at festivals, and one in a Paris theater):
Black Bread (Agustí Villaronga 2010)--SFIFF
City Below, The (Christoph Hochhäusler 2010)--SFIFF
Double Hour, The (Giuseppe Capotondi 2010) In current US release
Incendies (Denis Villeneuve 2010) ND/NF
Kid with the Bike, The (Dardennes 2011) Paris/Cannes
Love Crime (Alain Corneau 2011) R-V
Mill and the Cross, The (Lech Majewsk 2011)--SFIFF
Outbound (Periferic, Bogdan George Apetri 2010) ND/NF
Tomboy (Céline Sciamma 2011) Paris
Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine 2010) ND/NF
Lot's more of interest, but that's the pared-down list as of now.

US FILMS (2011 past, present, or upcoming US theatrical releases)
Cedar Rapids (Miguel Arteta 2011) R
Margin Call (J.C. Chandor 2011) ND/NF (autumn 2011 US release)
Tree of Life, The (Terrence Malick 2011) Paris/Cannes/US release current
Win Win (Tom McCarthy 2010) ND/NF

NOT (Recommended by some others)
Meek's Cutoff
Princess of Montpensier, The
Tuesday, After Christmas

I have just seen City of Life and Death (2011) and soon may see Queen to Play.

[Chris Knipp]

Howard Schumann has published a sympathetic review of LE QUATTRO VOLTE (http://www.cinescene.com/howard/fourtimes.html). I don't think it appeared here.

[Chris Knipp]

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/3241/516x1jsuyml.jpg

A Cannnes 2011 film, shown out of competition, opening in theaters in France this week, is the Mexican DAYS OF GRACE (DIAS DE GRACIA). Hollywood Reporter reviews it here. (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/days-grace-dias-de-gracias-190660). The promotions compare it to Iñárritu. The review calls it flashy, very violent, conventional. Watch a tralier here. (http://www.ugc.fr/show-movie.do?id=9093&tab=video&utm_content=diasdegracia&utm_source=fidelite&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=13/06/2012)
CANNES -- A breathlessly paced adrenaline rush, Days of Grace is the second violent film in Cannes this year (after Miss Bala, which is mild in comparison) depicting Mexico as a lawless land of drug lords, kidnappers, and corruption so endemic it goes “all the way up to the top.” This Out of Competition entry written, directed and produced by Everardo Gout is a first feature full of cruelty and only conventional character development. The hero, a handsome young cop, is as ruthlessly macho as the snarling, tattoed killers he battles, yet the film’s pace is so furious, there’s little time to worry about the ethics of sympathizing with him as he goes about breaking arms and cracking skulls. Heavy testosterone content earmarks it as a genre film for the male teen demographic, for whom it has the energy, if not the stars, to break out of Latino markets.--Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter. This was released April 13, 2012 in Mexico, June 13, 2012 in France. The pic is the cover for the soundtrack release by Nick Cave (THE PROPOSITION, SIN NOMBRE, etc.).

[cinemabon]

Just a brief note. I don't mean to detract from your review, Chris. The poster reminded me of something...

We had been in "pure, white, southern-land" for about two years when we invited my mother, who is 89, to visit. We were driving around, showing off how beautiful the local area was when mother blurted out, "Gang sign!" I almost slammed on the breaks. "Excuse me?" I responded. "What do you mean, gang sign?" "Back there," she said. "It's the sign that gangs have moved into your community." "Mother," I said with confidence, "there aren't any gangs here. This is an exclusive area of town." "What world are you living in?" she said to me. "Go back. See for yourself." I turned the car around and drove back up the boulevard. "There!" she pointed up.

Above us, dangling high over the street, a pair of tennis shoes were tied together and draped over the powerline that crossed the road.

"See?" she said to us. "Gang sign."

That was only the start. Later, the stop signs and other signs were defaced with black spray paint. My mother was right. No place is safe. You're deluding yourself if you think gangs won't show up on your doorstep, in your neighborhood or pass your house by... and they are growing in size!

Can't wait to see the film. Thanks for the review, Chris.

[Chris Knipp]

That's a good story, and you tell it well. But Urban Legend websites say there is no proof sneakers on power lines mean anything, or any one thing. I would not deny that graffiti and gangs are growing, worldwide. Graffiti especially.

http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/factoids/a/sneakers.htm

http://www.snopes.com/crime/gangs/sneakers.asp

You were not detracting from my review because I didn't have one.