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By James Rocchi
Special to MSN Movies
Samuel Johnson wrote, "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life."
And that, for the modern film lover, is Cannes in a nutshell: the big, bustling
center of the world; the crossroads between Hollywood and international cinema;
the place where exquisite and expensive parties nestle uncomfortably close to
micro-budget indie films, each making the other self-conscious by its very
presence. And yet, like Johnson's London, Cannes can be exhausting: the lines,
the cinematic disappointments, the scheduling challenges that take on the same
stress and mental effort as air-traffic control.
This is my sixth year covering Cannes, and, no matter how many times you've
hopped on the merry-go-round, it doesn't get any easier. The press Wi-Fi lounge
still looks like a Civil War hospital, with bodies sprawled everywhere holding
laptops instead of muzzle-loading rifles. The theater lines are still confusing
and exhausting. The Gallic shrug of indifference is still the wordless answer to
every question you ask of an usher in your fractured, grade-school French.
But the movies make it worth it, and then some. For example, I have distinct
memories of Cannes 2007, where I got to see "No Country for Old Men," "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," "Persepolis" and "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" in the space of 48 hours -- or,
40 percent of my top 10 list that year in one heady, long drink of pure cinema.
Every year at Cannes there's a mix of films you salivate over with ill-concealed
anticipation from the moment they're announced, and the other movies you find
through the word-on-the-street buzz that wasn't anywhere on your radar -- both,
of course, ultimately defined by the pleasure or pain of actually seeing them
for yourself. Here's a rundown of the movies and the madness from opening
weekend, Cannes 2009:
May 13: "Up" and at 'Em
The opening night of the festival made history: Pixar's "Up" isn't just the first 3-D film to play the opening night at
Cannes, it's also the first animated film to do so. This makes for a red carpet
short on stars; Ed Asner, who voices lead Carl Fredricksen in the
film, didn't even come to France. But, in an interesting nod to both hometown
pride and global marketing, Charles Aznavour, who voices Carl in the French
version, was. The opening night red carpet also featured the Cannes jury making
its bows in what's become a tradition of the festival. Headed by French actress
Isabelle Huppert, this year's jury also includes
director James Gray (best known for "Two Lovers" and "We Own the Night," and who's always gotten more respect at
Cannes than his native America) and, mysteriously, actress Asia Argento. As anyone who's suffered through "Boarding Gate" or any of Argento's other pouting, preening
performances can tell you, her body is far more celebrated than her body of
work, and you have to wonder if Argento's presence on the jury was, in fact,
lobbied for by the legions of paparazzi who stalk the red carpet in the hopes
she'd add some zip and zing to their work. (Story Continues On Next Page...) |
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