Cannes Diary – Day 1
Beautiful sunny day for the opening of the Cannes Film Festival, perfect weather for sitting in dark overly air-conditioned rooms all day. First film was not until 10 giving us time to pick up our accreditations and the oh-so-trendy bags of film programmes and assorted tat.
Picturehouse accreditation badges
Sixteen minutes of a not-quite-ready FREAKONOMICS was first up. The doc is split into five sections, each with a different director, and we were treated to the Morgan Spurlock section which was typically humourous if a little repetitive. Definitely has potential.
WE LIVE IN PUBLIC is a doc about the Internet and its effect on society, focussing around Josh Harris ‘the greatest Internet pioneer you’ve never heard of.’ The twittering geek in me found it periodically quite interesting, but at 90 minutes it felt long so I guess that says quite a lot.
Biggest queue of the day for a market screening (not in competition) was for THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE, Steven Soderbergh’s latest and smallest pic for some time, about five days in the life of an NYC call girl. Definitely more SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE than CHÉ or OCEAN’S THIRTEEN. We were a little divided on this one. It had some lovely moments but, judging by the number of walkouts, this film clearly isn’t for everyone.
Who would have thought that a film about a young woman who has placed a potato in her vagina as protection against a rape such as her mother suffered would have won the Golden Bear at Berlin, but Claudia Llosa’s MILK OF SORROW did just that. Dominated by surreal glimpses of everyday life in Peru and an outstanding performance from Magally Solier, rich in hope, sadness this plays like a tough LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE.
BATHORY by Juraj Jakubisko stars Anna Friel and Karel Roden and an old school European cast in fine form. The legendary Slovak director has clearly been let loose to create an unravelling sprawling tale about the infamous Elizabeth Bathory. Much like last year’s I Served the King of England, another film in which the director (Jiri Menzel) might have had too much excess to do what he wished with this novel.
Ben Foster, Samantha Morton and Woody Harrelson give an acting masterclass in THE MESSENGER, a buddy film about an injured soldier who joins the army’s Casualty Notification division for his last three months of service. An unlikely friendship is forged between the troubled soldier and his over-officious captain. Difficult sell.
Other pic seen by the gang include, SHRINK a respectable American indie; ECLIPSE Tribeca prize winner (I think) but a bit iffy and got worse as it went along; DESENT 2 there wont be a 3 (or at least there shouldn’t be); THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN holocaust themes with subtle impacts on French society, too arty for its own good.
Today has really, all been about Pixar’s UP, the first animated film to open the Cannes Film Festival. As you’ll soon discover from all the reviews, it’s marvellous. Certainly the Picturehouse film of the day.
Picturehouse Top Five (only a top three as its the first day)
- UP
- MILK OF SORROW
- THE MESSENGER
UP opening party pics
Pixar's UP
Macaroons and other delights
Madeleine, Chris and Charles Gant (Heat)
Dave, Christine, Madeleine and Chris
