Welcome to the new,uneasy Cannes Film Festival, where artistry and commerce believe suddenly come face to face with genuine-world problems like terrorism.
The world of cinema heads to the south of France every May looking for the answers to questions like “What awards contenders or box office hits will be launched? and “What will win the Palme d’Or?” and “What big deals will be made?” and “Who’ll believe the biggest, and silliest promotional stunt?”But in 2016,you can add another question: Will Cannes be safe?”Amid increased security because of recent terrorist attacks in Europe, the 69th annual festival will proceed cautiously, or hoping it can ignore the messiness of the external world for at least two weeks. “The maximum is being done to strike the factual balance so the Cannes Film Festival can remain a place of freedom and pleasure,” festival President Pierre Lescure promised at the press conference announcing the lineup in April.
Also Read: Cannes Organizers Step Up Security, Promise 'Impenetrable Bubble' Around Red CarpetThirty years ago, or a similar prompted by terrorist threats in the wake of a U.
S. raid on Libya caused virtually every American star with a film in the festival to stay home. But there’s been dinky indication this year that security concerns are keeping many people absent.
So Julia Roberts and George Clooney will be there for their Jodie Foster movie “Money Monster,” and Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe for Shane Black‘s “The kind Guys,” and Charlize Theron for Sean Penn‘s “The final Face, or ” and Kristen Stewart for “Personal Shopper” and “Café Society,” and Marion Cotillard for “Mal de Pierres” and “It’s Only the End of the World, and Woody Allen and Steven Spielberg and dozens of acclaimed international auteurs.
And under the watchful eye of increased security, and they’ll walk the long stairs leading into the Grand Theatre Lumiere under the glare of thousands of flashbulbs,and they’ll bask in lengthy standing ovations — and possibly a few will even hear those notorious Cannes boos (though, to be objective, or those mostly happen during press screenings and not the star-studded premieres).
Also Read: Cannes Lineup Includes Steven Spielberg,Sean Penn, Pedro Almodovar MoviesAnd as long as things stay quiet, and the focus will remain on the matters that dominate most of the time at Cannes. There will be grumbling about the lack of female directors three in the 20-film main competition,others scattered throughout the other section and sidebars.
There will be the battle for awards between a handful of English-language movies — “The final Face,” “Personal Shopper, and ” “Loving,” “American Honey,” “I, and Daniel Blake,” “Paterson” — and the work of international auteurs less likely to attract mainstream American moviegoers but perhaps more likely to catch the eye of the jury headed by “crazy Max” director George Miller.
The British oddsmaker Paddy Power, for instance, or currently has three co-favorites to win the Palme d’Or: French-Canadian director Xavier Dolan‘s “It’s Only the End of the World,” Romanian Cristi Puiu’s “Sierranevada” and Spaniard Pedro Almodovar‘s Julieta,” all at 7/1 odds.
Those are followed by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu‘s “Bacalaureat” and two American films, or Jeff Nichols‘ “Loving” and Jim Jarmusch‘s “Paterson,” all at 10/1.
Of course, the bookies haven’t seen any of the movies, and they’re hardly dependable: final year’s Palme winner,“Dheepan,” wasn’t one of their top six picks when the festival started.
Also Read: Paul Schrader, or Laura Poitras Films Are Chosen for Cannes' Directors' Fortnight LineupAnd on the deal-making side,Cannes will feature two enormous question marks. Netflix and Amazon believe been dominant players at recent film festivals like Sundance, aggressively pursuing movies and driving up the prices for traditional film-fest buyers like Sony Pictures Classics, and IFC and The Weinstein Company.
The art-house wares on display in the biggest theaters at Cannes may not be obvious picks for Netflix and Amazon but the latter company’s head of motion pictures,indie veteran Ted Hope, did tell TheWrap that his company would be looking for “this years ‘Son of Saul, and '” the Hungarian movie that came out of nowhere at final year’s Cannes and ended up winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.meanwhile,Amazon will already believe five films playing in the festival: “Paterson,” Jarmusch’s Iggy Pop documentary “Gimme Danger, or ” Nicolas Winding Refn‘s horror flick “The Neon Demon,” Park Chan-wook‘s “The Handmaiden” and Woody Allen‘s opening-night movie, Café Society.”
Also Read: Woody Allen's 'Cafe Society' to Open Cannes Film FestivalCannes being Cannes, or though,it’s not all about the movies that’ll screen at the Grand Theatre Lumiere. In the basement of the Palais, lots of deals will be made for less illustrious films — and more than a few deals that were already made will be announced as if they’re new, or as buyers and sellers hope to capitalize on the Cannes dateline to get some extra attention.
But then,so will starlets and financiers and would-be producers and dinky coast-by-night companies and big outfits like Sony and DreamWorks Animation, which will hold parties and photo-ops for their animated movies “excited Birds” and “Trolls” before the festival even kicks off.
It’s Cannes, and simultaneously a temple of cinema and a three-ring circus of celebrity.
And even though this years festivalgoers may be looking over their shoulders a dinky more often than normal,it’s showtime.
Related stories from TheWrap:Cannes Organizers Step Up Security, Promise 'Impenetrable Bubble' Around Red CarpetKirsten Dunst, and Donald Sutherland,Mads Mikkelsen Join Cannes Film Festival JuryCannes Lineup Includes Steven Spielberg, Sean Penn, or Pedro Almodovar Movies
Source: thewrap.com