This morning indieWIRE posted a report on the official announcements, thus far, concerning the Cannes FIlm Festival lineup this year. Some observations from where I sit:
* At the moment, despite the presence of new films from Abbas Kiarostami, Bertrand Tavernier, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the competition looks a lot less interesting than does Un Certain Regard.
* And why might that be? For me, it has quite a bit to do with never caring if I see another film by Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu again. And that goes maybe double for Nikita Mikhalkov. There, I said it.
* At the moment it looks pretty unlikely that I’ll be going this year, and if’n I don’t, one of the things I’ll miss is the Cannes ritual, established with the première of Match Point, of getting into silly, low-temperature arguments about whatever ultimately insubstantial Woody Allen picture is making its debut there.
* What makes Un Certain Regard so interesting? A new Lodge Kerrigan, a new Hong Sangsoo, a new Cristi Puiu, a new film either partially or fully by Godard, that sort of thing…
I’ll be continuing in this vein over at The Auteurs’ tomorrow, for Topics, etc., and I’ll make it my Oulipean challenge there to not bring up Tree of Life, maybe…
New Lodge Kerrigan?! As the kids say, FUCK YEAH.
Similar thoughts here. The Apitchatpong is an obvious standout in the competition, but Un Certain Regard looks to be shaping up quite nicely. That said, the 14 films do seem a little light, and it still seems likely that there will be some last minute additions to the competition slate, so we’ll see what the final lineup is soon hopefully.
A few thoughts here:
I’m hoping that the Takeshi Kitano film is a return to form after the wacky self-reflexive deep end he went off over the past few years. Though perhaps perversely, I do kind of wish he could get away from the gangster thing.
Wondering what the relationship between the Apitchatpong feature and his beautiful short pieces “Letter to Uncle Boonmee/Phantoms of Nabua” are.
Not going to disagree with you on Innaritu necessarily, but this is the first feature he’s made without screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, who (with the exception of Melquiades Estrada) I find even more problematic, if that’s the right word. We’ll see what he’s like working with a different screenwriter.
Disappointed that Hou Hsiao-hsien’s new martial arts film isn’t on the slate. Hoping for a last minute addition to the lineup. Or maybe Venice?
A number of the films in the competition are total unknown quantities for me. Hoping for some new revelations.
Also, Glenn, just give in and talk about Tree of Life. Just do it. You know you want to. No use fighting it. That said, if do you manage to write the whole thing avoiding the words ‘Tree’ ‘Of’ and ‘Life,’ (might want to throw ‘Malick’ in there for good measure too) more power to you.
Also, +1 on the Lodge Kerrigan comment. It’s good news.
Yeah, I had no idea Kerrigan had a new one in the pipeline. Although I still haven’t seen CLAIRE DOLAN anyway, so I should probably worry about that first.
Hold on, I just realized that the Mikhalkov film is: “BURNT BY THE SUN 2.” I would just like to go on the record here and say that the title “BURNT BY THE SUN 2” is a comic goldmine waiting to happen.
New challenge: What unofficial subtitle does this film get now?
Also just realized that the Im Sangsoo film is a remake of Kim Ki-young’s Hanyo. Weird. Is Cannes going the sequels and remakes route?
“quite a bit to do with never caring if I see another film by Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu again”
You can say that again, mister.
Or, more to the point…
again, mister. You can say that
After crashing and burning with ‘The Barber of Siberia’, ‘Burnt by the Sun’ and even ‘12’, my wife said, ‘Fair enough, Mikhalkov’s just lost it a bit. You watch the earlier movies, you’ll see…’ And I did, and ‘Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano’ and ‘Black Eyes’ suck even harder, longer and more heavily than the later ones. But his Tsar complex is quite enjoyable.
Malick not having a presence at the festival would certainly be a disappointment, but it’s certainly not out of the question yet. I could see him pulling a maneuver much like Wong Kar-Wai with “2046”, tinkering with the film until the very last minute before delivering it to Cannes… and then tinkering on it more until its actual release.
The obvious highlights of the competition are Weerasethakul and Kiarostami, and can we just give the former an award now and save everyone all the suspense, please?
Agree about Mikhalkov (though I still think BURNT BY THE SUN is terrific, it’s the only one of his I like), but I like Innaritu more than you, so I’m looking forward to that one, although I’m looking forward to Mike Leigh’s new film more.
I thought Kiarostami said he wasn’t going to submit his films for any more “in competition” festival screenings? In any case I’m most excited about that one, plus the Apichatpong, the Godard, the Hong Sang-Soo and the de Oliveira (who at 101 is surely the oldest person to ever direct a feature film).
I’m cautiously optimistic about the Kitano and the Im Sang-Soo; I thought The President’s Last Bang was pretty great but the trailer for this new Housemaid looks disappointingly conventional, especially in comparison to the whacked-out original.
Hopefully, some of these will turn up in Chicago before year’s end. I’m still awaiting the arrival of Wild Grass for Christ’s sake …
I thought this year’s selections were a bit light too, though the new films by Leigh, Apichatpong, Godard, Puiu and Araki sound pretty exciting. The Malick-lessness is a bit disappointing. But I’m surprised that ‘Black Swan,’ Wong kar Wai, ‘Hereafter,’ ‘The Turin Horse’ and ‘Somewhere’ are all absent as well.
michaelgsmith: ‘Wild Grass’ comes out June 25 at the Quad Cinema (NY). Probably in Chicago sometime after.
WILD GRASS is premiering at the Quad?
That’s disappointing in and of itself.
When’s the last time Sony released a film directly to the Quad?
Also excited about the Kiarostami. Just yesterday read a rather revealing set visit report from Jonathan Romney in the Oct. 09 Sight & Sound. (I read real slow…) Also in that issue a great article on Pedro Costa… nice compliment with Glenn’s piece a few days back.
By all indications, Wong’s “The Grand Master” has a ways to go. And I don’t think “The Assassin” (Hou’s martial-arts film) has even started shooting.