the cannes film festival 2010: what to expect

Between the 12th and the 23rd of May, the picturesque seaside party town of Cannes in the South of France becomes awash with cigar-chomping film producers; bankable, tabloid-worthy stars and salivating distributors…which is where we come in! Three of our most savvy cinephiles are currently snuffling for films in Cannes like pigs for quality truffles, and we can scarcely wait to feast upon the filmic delicacies they manage to uproot upon their return. But until they do, we can only speculate about what they might bring home for us, such as…

BIUTIFUL

The Mexican dynamo Alejandro González Iñárritu stunned us ten years ago with his multi-thread thriller AMORES PERROS (which was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar®), and he’s back in Cannes this year with this Javier Bardem-led drama.

HORS LA LOI

Rachid Bouchareb enjoyed enormous success in Cannes in 2006 with DAYS OF GLORY, which was set during the Second World War and focused on a group of Algerian soldiers. The entire male ensemble earned the Best Actor award at Cannes for their performances, and Bouchareb himself won the François Chalais Award. It will be very exciting to see what the clever Frenchman will do next!

COPIE CONFORME

Abbas Kiarostami is no stranger to la Croisette: his drama TASTE OF CHERRY won the prestigious Palme d’Or back in 1997 (tying with Shohei Imamura’s THE EEL), and THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES and TEN were each nominated for the Palme d’Or. Let’s hope COPIE CONFORME follows the same path as TASTE OF CHERRY!

OUTRAGE

From the director of HANA-BI (no. 10 on my Mum’s Top Ten Directors Suite films list, in case you were curious) and DOLLS, Takeshi Kitano, comes OUTRAGE, which is set in the brutal Japanese underworld. Focusing on several yakuza clans all vying for dominance, it sounds a bit like Italian mafia drama GOMORRAH, which went gangbusters at Cannes in 2008.

ANOTHER YEAR

Master of improvisation Mike Leigh (HAPPY-GO-LUCKY) brings his latest dramedy ANOTHER YEAR to Cannes this year, which stars two of his regular actors Jim Broadbent (TOPSY TURVY) and Imelda Staunton (VERA DRAKE) enduring the joys, trials and tribulations of an ordinary year. Classic Mike Leigh fare.

LA PRINCESSE DE MONTPENSIER

Bertrand Tavernier’s first big success at the Cannes film festival was back in 1984, when his gorgeous period film A SUNDAY IN THE COUNTRY earned him the Best Director award. Since then, he has had considerable success with such films as LET JOY REIGN SUPREME and IN THE ELECTRIC MIST, but has yet to win the Palme d’Or. Could this be his year?

FILM SOCIALISME

The legendary Jean-Luc Godard graces the Cannes screens for the first time since 1990′s NOUVELLE VAGUE, this time bringing SOCIALISME, which stars poet/musician Patti Smith. Something of a symphony in three movements, SOCIALISME sounds a bit like UNE FEMME MARIÉE crossed with LA CHINOISE. Intriguing.

Olivier Assayas’ CARLOS is screening Out of Competition at Cannes, but that doesn’t mean we’re any less excited about it! The director of CLEAN, DEMONLOVER and last year’s sublime SUMMER HOURS is sharing the “Out of Competition” spotlight with Woody Allen, Stephen Frears and Oliver Stone.