It’s heating up in Cannes, quite literally today, but we’re still avoiding the beach and any beach-related sports for stuffy screenings and stilted press conferences. Go us!
More stars are arriving, more films are unspooling (including some biggies) and more disdainful looks from peeved locals are making us feel awkward. It’s interesting how much this small resort town tries to include film in every place possible, to appeal to the swarm of movie types. This morning, Catherine Shoard found a very dedicated and glitzy shoe shop:
Because who wouldn’t buy loafers approved by Bond and Batman.
The big film
After delving into impressively and inventively odd territory in Dogtooth and Alps, there was plenty of excitement over the new film from Yorgos Lanthimos although, given its starry cast (Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz), some trepidation over whether he would soften his sharp claws for the masses. The Lobster, which screened this morning, is a dystopian tale of a future where single people must find a mate in a creepy hotel within a certain time or face transformation into wild animals and, even those who didn’t like it, can hardly call it a bid for the mainstream.
It’s a fascinatingly strange and smart film that studies the differences between being single and being in a relationship in a warped and often gruesome manner. Peter Bradshaw awarded it three stars, calling it “bizarre and hilarious” but felt it ran out of ideas by the end. Others agreed that the ending took the bisque-it while some believed it might snatch the Palme Thermid’Or:
THE LOBSTER: Premise and first two thirds are deadpan absurdist excellence, then it meanders through a lesser third act. Still pretty swell.
— Alison Willmore (@alisonwillmore) May 15, 2015
The Lobster is surreal, twisted, fun and surprisingly moving; Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz are great together #Cannes2015
— Damon Wise (@yo_damo) May 15, 2015
Lanthimos' LOBSTER has mise-en-scene to burn and a superb Colin Farrell at its center, but runs out of ideas well before the end. #Cannes
— Scott Foundas (@foundasonfilm) May 15, 2015
Henry Barnes headed along to the press conference this morning and discovered a rather unlikely inspiration for the film. According to Lanthimos, he binge-watched Channel 4 reality series The Hotel, which helped inform the script. Which came as a surprise to us as we were expecting Phoebe Buffay to get a name-check. So Henry asked, of course, and was met with a sea of blank looks. Sounds pretty shellfish not to give Friends some credit, if you ask us...
The blockbuster
It’s one of the few blockbusters being shown during this year’s festival and last night’s out of competition screening of Mad Max: Fury Road brought out a parade of stars. As well as the cast, including Charlize Theron, Tom Hardy and Nicholas Hoult, the red carpet was also graced by Julianne Moore, Jack O’Connell and Michelle Rodriguez among others.
The film itself went down a storm. Yesterday’s press screening boasted three different sets of rabid applause throughout the film and after a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, The Hollywood Reporter is even touting it as a potential Oscar contender. Not sure if we quite agree just yet, although its a shoo-in for some of the technical categories, but it’ll be interesting to see which other films emerge from the fest as awards contenders outside of Cannes. Carol, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, is looking like a potential Academy favourite, at least on paper.
We nipped along to yesterday’s Mad Max press conference and heard star Charlize Theron discuss the very real edge to the film’s grim view of the future. “It felt very grounded in real events,” said Theron. “The idea of globalisation and global warming and drought and the value of water, and leadership becoming completely out of hand.” The success of the film also led director George Miller to talk about sequels and a live action show. Our working title for the sequel is 2Max2Furious in case anyone’s interested.
The Woody
Woody Allen has had mixed fortunes on the Croisette in recent years with the acclaim for Vicky Cristina Barcelona almost eradicated by the arrival of To Rome With Love four years later. This year, it looks like Allen will be ending up somewhere between the two with the world premiere of Irrational Man. Joaquin Phoenix stars as a professor engaging in an affair with student Emma Stone which leads to murky and possibly murderous territory. The press screening has just let out and reactions are mixed. Peter Bradshaw gave it a mere two stars, calling it “amiable but forgettable” and here’s what other critics had to say:
Woody Allen's Irrational Man is his greatest failure. Neither funny or dramatic, it's all your favorite people at their least interesting
— David Poland (@DavidPoland) May 15, 2015
Woody brings erudite entertainment to Cannes w/ Irrational Man. Emma Stone is radiant & few do sweet n sour like Joaquin Phoenix #Cannes2015
— Total Film (@totalfilm) May 15, 2015
Irrational Man (Allen): 58. My favorite of the plots he recycles; shaky execution, but great fun as pure story once it kicks in. A+ Winston.
— Mike D'Angelo (@gemko) May 15, 2015
In more important news, Catherine Shoard spent some time with Woody this morning and while in the room, she was given the great pleasure of watching him order his lunch. He went for “chicken with mustard on any bread” despite her recommending fish. He ordered a ginger ale alongside. Not sure yet if she was able to watch him eat but awkward video footage will follow, if so.
The early favourite
Away from the starrier movies on offer, a challenging second world war drama has quietly emerged as one of the festival’s biggest breakouts, despite a hugely difficult subject matter. Son of Saul focuses on a Jewish prisoner who helps carry the bodies from the gas chambers to the pyres to be burned but once he finds his young son, he begins a mission to give him a proper burial. Peter Bradshaw gave it the full five stars, calling it “devastating and terrifying”. It’s playing in competition so we’re pegging this one as an early favourite for the big prize.
The yacht-off
While we’re still waiting for an invite to a yacht party, we’ve spent the first few days cruelly taunted by the impressive array of boats within swimming distance of the beach. According to Forbes, the yachts potentially mooring at the festival include ones owned by entertainment industry mogul David Geffen (worth $6.9 billion), Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen ($17.5 billion) and Louis Vuitton’s French CEO Bernard Arnault ($37 billion). The owner of the flat we’re staying in may well be a yacht fan but we’re not sure:
The library at the guardian cannes flat pic.twitter.com/CrYUlgSwQC
— catherine shoard (@catherineshoard) May 14, 2015
The Weinsteins
Last night, Catherine and Peter headed along to a presentation from Harvey Weinstein on The Weinstein Company’s upcoming slate. Actors including jury members Jake Gyllenhaal and Sienna Miller as well as Ex Machina’s breakout star Alicia Vikander joined him on stage. Here were the highlights:
- Adam Jones - Bradley Cooper plays a chef, his poor American Sniper wife Sienna Miller returning to play what appears to be another thankless wife role. As Peter says: “Will Harvey get Miller a lead or not?”
- Southpaw - Harvey was really pushing this Jake Gyllenhaal boxing drama and is confident that he will be getting some Oscar attention next year. He also claimed that it was supposed to be in the Cannes official competition but he withdrew it as there would be a conflict, given Gyllenhaal’s spot on the jury
- Carol - the Cate Blanchett/Rooney Mara romance is one of the buzziest films of the festival and a handsome trailer showed off some “meticulous 50s locations”
- The Hateful Eight - the first real look at Quentin Tarantino’s new western. Weinstein is fully behind this one and shared the following hefty statement: “I’ve been married to Quentin Tarantino for 22 years: the best marriage of my life.”
The selfie ban rule-breaker
After Salma Hayek bravely broke festival head Thierry Frémaux’s no selfie rule at the Tale of Tales press conference, Tom Hardy has become the latest star to defy the Cannes law. On last night’s Mad Max red carpet, he posed with a fan who may or may not be a Frémaux plant. The naming and shaming shall continue.
The “wait, what?” film
The B-movies continue to impress at this year’s market with today’s choice bringing together two words that really make zero sense next to each other, in an attempt to whip up some ironic Sharknado success. The plot of Lavalantula follows a washed-up action star who hasn’t yet been cast but we’re guessing a washed-up action star will probably take the role.
The future
The next big movie comes from Gus Van Sant, who’s hoping for a career lift from comeback king Matthew McConaughey who stars in his latest drama Sea of Trees, alongside Ken Watanabe and Naomi Watts. There’s also Mia Madre, the latest film from Nanni Moretti which stars John Turturro as a Hollywood actor.
We’re off to beg oligarchs to let us board their yachts. See you tomorrow.
