The sparkling goodies of this playground of millionaires are dangled before the thousands of accredited journalists, theater programmers, film buyers, and filmmakers soon to be heading for the legendary festival. Most of us will be pinching the Euros until they scream, but nonetheless enjoying the nonstop spectacle provided by those who get to ride around in helicopters.
Although the film was disappointingly lackluster, it certainly made no difference to his French fans, who hailed him like an emperor.
I watched Allen on that occasion from a seat among the hyper-excited audience, marveling at his frail stature, almost inaudible voice, and the shrinking body language that made him seem an incongruous god of cinema. Danish maverick director Lars Von Trier " Antichrist " returns to the festival with " Melancholia ," an apocalyptic science fiction film about the relationship of two sisters as a planet threatens to collide with the earth. At his best, von Trier unleashes in his films a very unsettling and indelible sort of myth-making.
From "Antichrist," I remember not the notorious scenes of torture, but the image of the talking fox that eerily intones the line "Chaos reigns," and the creepy, vague aura of the supernatural. At least at a distance, "Melancholia" sounds like ripe material for him.
But this festival is not only about the movies; it's a capsule view of the whole world movie scene from high to low. Just as an Oscar show is a disappointment without an unforeseen incident or two, Cannes wouldn't be Cannes without the major and minor scandals that people talk about for years.
Lars Von Trier is the guy who called Roman Polanski a midget upon receiving an award for "Europa," aka " Zentropa ," back in That night he set fire to his award scrolls on the beach for the benefit of a Danish TV crew. Can this perpetual bad boy be counted on for some bad behavior? It remains to be seen whether he'll dare to take on tough-guy jury president Robert De Niro. The Cannes competition selection includes films that promise to be formidable awards contenders, judging by the reputations and past records of the directors alone.
This father-son story about a family with three boys was speculated to be in Cannes, then didn't appear, and was later rumored to be making its appearance at a number of other major festivals but didn't appear.
Malick has the cultiest of cult reputations, and this is only his fifth feature. For better or for worse, "The Tree of Life" is likely to be the feeding frenzy film of the festival. Just based on track record, the Belgian Dardenne brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre will be the ones to beat. Finland's master of dark deadpan comedy can always be counted on for pathos to the max. Of special interest among the festivals' Asian selection is "Hara Kiri: Death of a Samurai" by Takashi Miike, renowned for his quirky approach to sex and violence.
Many critics thought De Niro would have favoured Drive, a violent road movie that had critics cheering during its goriest parts. Indeed, its Danish director - Nicolas Winding Refn - was awarded the best director prize. Yet The Tree of Life's only real competition came from The Artist, a beautiful black-and-white silent film about the end of the silent movie era in Hollywood.
Its reward came in the form of a best actor prize for its leading man Jean Dujardin, who said he would share it with his co-star Berenice Bejo. Tilda Swinton had also been tipped for the best actress prize for her work in We Need to Talk about Kevin - the only British entry in this year's competition. The movie was made on a shoestring budget by Scottish director Lynne Ramsay. But positive reviews from the Cannes critics should mean a widespread release.
We Need to Talk about Kevin, about a troubled teenager unable to bond with his mother, was one of several films this year to deal with children. Austrian movie Michael drew on real-life news stories in its story of a young boy kidnapped by a paedophile, while the Dardenne brothers' The Kid with a Bike follows a boy frantically searching for his father.
And then there were the films aimed at children. Organisers will have breathed a sigh of relief that the Hollywood studios had the will and the money to finance these sorts of junkets.
Without them, the festival was in danger of slipping behind its rival in Toronto in terms of international profile. Cannes does enjoy a certain amount of controversy, and it got it when British actor Keith Allen arrived with his movie about the death of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed. As well as criticising the establishment, Unlawful Killing also berated the British press for its ineptitude.
Amid the shouting at a bad-tempered press conference, it emerged the movie had been funded by Mohammed Al Fayed, Dodi's father.
Allen's film is unlikely ever to be shown in the UK without substantial re-editing. Yet all that was forgotten when Lars Von Trier arrived in town. Two years ago Von Trier made worldwide headlines when his gruesome film Antichrist premiered at Cannes. This year his provocation was less intentional but had the same result.
Despite its abhorrence of his comments, the festival courts the spotlight as much as any celebrity. Many believe, therefore, that at some point in the future, Von Trier will once again walk up those famous steps into the Palais des Festivals. Malick's drama triumphs in Cannes. Von Trier vows to continue work. Malick movie premieres at Cannes. Diana film 'not sensationalist'.
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