Cannes mid-point wrap up

With the Cannes Film Festival nearly half way done, its time now to catch up on all in on the news from the world’s most prestigious film festival.

The films that are in competition for the Palm D’or include:

À L’ORIGINE (IN THE BEGINNING) directed by Xavier GIANNOLI
ANTICHRIST directed by Lars VON TRIER
BAK-JWI (THIRST) directed by PARK Chan-Wook
BRIGHT STAR directed by Jane CAMPION
CHUN FENG CHEN ZUI DE YE WAN (Spring Fever) directed by LOU Ye
DAS WEISSE BAND (THE WHITE RIBBON) directed by Michael HANEKE
ENTER THE VOID directed by Gaspar NOÉ
FISH TANK directed by Andrea ARNOLD
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS) directed by Quentin TARANTINO
KINATAY directed by Brillante MENDOZA
LES HERBES FOLLES (WILD GRASS) directed by Alain RESNAIS
LOOKING FOR ERIC directed by Ken LOACH
LOS ABRAZOS ROTOS (BROKEN EMBRACES) directed by Pedro ALMODÓVAR
MAP OF THE SOUNDS OF TOKYO directed by Isabel COIXET
TAKING WOODSTOCK directed by Ang LEE
THE TIME THAT REMAINS directed by Elia SULEIMAN
UN PROPHÈTE (A PROPHET) directed by Jacques AUDIARD
VENGEANCE directed by Johnnie TO
VINCERE directed by Marco BELLOCCHIO
VISAGE (FACE) directed by TSAI Ming-Liang

Of the films in competition, those that have garnered already high acclaim include Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock to which  etaiwan news says: “The film is a hilariously funny and moving take on how a family running a rundown motel get involved with the promoters of the 1969 festival that was finally attended by half a million people.”

Un Prophete which is directed by Jacques Audiard had been called by First Showing: From Tahar Rahim’s stand out performance to Alexandre Desplat’s amazing score to Stéphane Fontaine’s wonderful cinematography, everything about Un Prophete is exceptional.

Fish Tank the latest film from auteur Andrea Arnold has been called by the UK Associate Press: It succeeds in large measure because of Jarvis, who had never acted before and was spotted by the filmmakers arguing with her boyfriend at an English railway station. Jarvis, now 17, wasn’t at Cannes for the film’s premiere — she had a baby two weeks ago. Her performance as Mia is raw and real, both aggressive — at one point Mia headbutts another girl — and vulnerable.

Still the only woman to ever win the best director prize at Cannes,  Jane Campion returns with Bright Star, which the Washington Post hailed the film as: Built around small intimate scenes involving the two lovers and Fanny’s family, the film seeks to avoid the kind of stiff, crinoline-draped scenes familiar from countless period films. The film includes the lush and colorful imagery that marked Campion’s earlier films and natural performances from the cast including the two leads, Australian actor Abbie Cornish as Fanny and Britain’s Ben Whishaw as Keats.

Francis Ford Coppolla‘s return to film with his first original script since The Conversation,   Tetro has received the most mixed reviews at this point with  Time magazine saying: : “The great news is that this unquestioned giant of American cinema, who sired the ‘Godfather’ films, ‘The Conversation’ and ‘Apocalypse Now’ in the ’70s, is still making independent-minded movies three decades later. The bad news is that he made this one.”

Park Chan Wook’s return with his first film since the spectacular Oldboy, with Thirst is one of the most loved and hated films out there currently though was the first film to be sold for distribution. Cinemaisdope states: ”It’s horrifies you one second, makes you laugh out loud the next and deeply moved in the next. The story is dark as hell and takes you to some dark places of the soul and existence but the way the story gets told never leaves you emotionally detached and never loses its tone.”   While Variety says: ”Inspired by and following key plot elements in Zola’s 19th-century novel of murder and adultery, ‘Therese Raquin,’ the two-hour-plus pic is slow to warm up and largely goes around in circles thereafter, with repetitive (and often plain goofy) jokes about hemoglobin lust and bone-crunching, sanguinary violence.”

Pixar once again seems to do no wrong as their first 3d film UP has been receiving  high praise from critics such as The Huffington Post stating: “The lasting impression of this gem is gentle and sweet. No wonder the filmmakers genuflected at the altar of Hiyao Miyazaki, the great Japanese animation genius. His sensibility suffuses everything they do.”

And lastly, Alejandro Amenabar‘s historical epic Agora,has been given positive reviews but has been described as a hard sell.  The Hollywood Reporter states: It is a pleasure to see Weisz’s scenes of scientific inquiry, which capture the passion of research and discovery without artifice or pretension. That the scientist is a woman makes it all the more engaging. The entire cast comes through very well after the shaky beginning, and while Minghella says little he has good screen presence. However, the biggest surprises are the lesser-known supporting actors: Isaac; Sammy Samir as a bishop seemingly devoid of human emotion; and Ashraf Barhom, whose Ammonious, a Christian Parabalani, is the epitome of a devout-less thug.

Isabelle Huppert is heading the jury of the prestigious festival along with fellow jury members director James Gray, actress Robin Wright Penn, actress Asia Argento, actresses Sharmilia Tagore and Shu Qi, writer  Hanif Kureish, as well as directors Chang-dong Lee, and Nuri Bilge Ceylan.

Fish Tank-Andrea Arnold

Bright Star-Jane Campion

UP-Pete Doctor

Inglourious Basterds- Quentin Tarantino

Antichrist- Lars Von Trier

Taking Woodstock- Ang Lee

Broken Embraces-Pedro Almodovar

Thirst- Park Chan Wook

The White Ribbon-Michael Haneke

Looking for Eric-Ken Loach

Map of the sounds of Tokyo-Isabel Coixet

Vengeance-Johnny To

Vincere-Marco Bellocchio

The films not in competition in the Cannes Film Festival include:

AGORA (AGORA) directed by Alejandro AMENABAR
COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY directed by Jan KOUNEN
DRAG ME TO HELL directed by Sam RAIMI
L’ARMÉE DU CRIME (THE ARMY OF CRIME) directed by Robert GUÉDIGUIAN
NE TE RETOURNE PAS (DON’T LOOK BACK) directed by Marina DE VAN
PANIQUE AU VILLAGE (A TOWN CALLED PANIC) directed by Vincent PATAR, Stéphane AUBIER
THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS directed by Terry GILLIAM
UP directed by Pete DOCTER

Drage Me to Hell-Sam Raimi

Agora-Alejandro Amenebar

Coco Chanel-Jan kounen

Below are some of the promotional posters making thier debut at Cannes for this years upcoming films courtesy of FirstShowing:

Joel Schumacher’s Twelve

Daniel Stamm’s Cotton produced by Eli Roth & Atom Egoyan’s Chloe

Marcos Efron’s And Soon the Darkness & Robert Guédiguian’s The Army of Crime

Don’t forget to check out the Cannes screening guide for all the films premier dates and screening times.