Cannes, 8

Ya sólo quedan cinco días, y de 22 películas en competición, sólo quedan 5 por exhibirse.

Si juzgáramos por la acogida de la prensa francesa, Un Conte de Noel de Arnaud Desplechin sería la segura ganadora de la Palma de Oro, pero si algo ha enseñado la historia es que Cannes es impredecible.

"The process of editing was intense. The further you get into it, you need context. That's why you need two movies." -- Steven Soderbergh.

A 20 años de haber ganado sorpresivamente la Palma por sex, lies and videotape, Steven Soderbergh presentó su proyecto épico de 4 horas Che, dos películas individuales [El Argentino y Guerrilla] presentadas simultáneamente con un intermedio. El corte presentado no es todavía el definitivo y aún no se ha determinado si se estrenarán comercialmente de esta manera, pero viendo los resultados de un proyecto similar como Grindhouse y la recepción de la crítica, no creo que suceda.

Soderbergh, uno de los pocos verdaderos autores que quedan en Hollywood, es reconocido por ser un one-man-band, dirigiendo, produciendo, fotografíando, editando y hasta operando la cámara principal de todas sus películas, pero el concenso es que lo presentado en Cannes es un esfuerzo desigual, pero que en algún lugar dentro de esas 4 horas hay una película que funciona, pero Soderbergh todavía no la ha encontrado:

"No doubt it will be back to the drawing board for “Che,” Steven Soderbergh’s intricately ambitious, defiantly nondramatic four-hour, 18-minute presentation of scenes from the life of revolutionary icon Che Guevara. If the director has gone out of his way to avoid the usual Hollywood biopic conventions, he has also withheld any suggestion of why the charismatic doctor, fighter, diplomat, diarist and intellectual theorist became and remains such a legendary figure; if anything, Che seems diminished by the way he’s portrayed here. Originally announced as two separate films, “The Argentine” and “Guerrilla,” to be released separately, the film was shown as one picture, with intermission, under the title “Che” (although neither this nor any other credits appeared onscreen) in its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Neither half feels remotely like a satisfying stand-alone film, while the whole offers far too many aggravations for its paltry rewards." -- Variety.

"Che exhibits a bracing confidence in the intelligence of the audience. It makes no concessions to anyone unfamiliar with the events or period it depicts. The five hour running time (including an intermission) will seem a daunting hill to climb for many. Any notion of releasing the two films separately will only result in severely diminished returns for the second, more leisurely, film as the law of dwindling interest sets in. The very embodiment of a formidable marketing challenge, Che is likely to remain a project that attracts widespread critical respect but only committed specialist audiences." -- Screendaily.

"I know I predicted this based on a reading of Peter Buchman's script, buy the first half of Steven Soderbergh's 268-minute Che Guevara epic is, for me, incandescent -- a piece of full-on realism about the making of the Cuban revolution that I found utterly believable and politically vibrant and searing." -- Jeff Welles.

"There is a lot, however, that the audience will not learn from this big movie, which has some big problems as well as major virtues. In between the two periods covered in “Che,” Guevara was an important player in the Castro government, but his brutal role in turning a revolutionary movement into a dictatorship goes virtually unmentioned. This, along with Benicio del Toro's soulful and charismatic performance, allows Mr. Soderbergh to preserve the romantic notion of Guevara as a martyr and an iconic figure, an idealistic champion of the poor and oppressed. By now, though, this image seems at best naïve and incomplete, at worst sentimental and dishonest. More to the point, perhaps, it is not very interesting." -- The New York Times.

Lucrecia Martel.

La otra película en competencia del miércoles fue La Mujer sin Cabeza de la argentina Lucrecia Martel.

Además de presentar allí La Niña Santa en el 2004, Martel participó como miembro del jurado en el 2006.

Martel junto al elenco.

La Mujer sin Cabeza es sobre la forma en que la vida de una mujer queda transformada luego de ser la causante de un accidente.

Laberíntica y Lyncheana, las reacciones ante La Mujer sin Cabeza son encontradas:

"Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel is nothing if not subtle. She is also a master of visual and aural technique, which is on full and splendid display in "La Mujer Sin Cabeza" her third feature. The problem is that, as with "La Cienaga" and "La Nina Santa," her narratives can be maddeningly slight, causing the viewer to struggle to comprehend even basic character relationships or motivations. It's difficult to invest much emotion if you have little idea who's who." -- The Hollywood Reporter.

"Lucrecia Martel asks way too much of the viewer in her third feature, a dour tale of moral and social paralysis centring on a hit-and-run incident in an Argentinian rural backwater and its effects on the woman at the wheel. At first the Latin American auteur's long-awaited new film looks like it is about to build the same edgy mix of family drama, visual symbolism, social critique and menacing atmosphere that distinguished her first two features, La Cienaga and The Holy Girl. But in The Headless Woman, Martel lets the miasma blur the drama and stifle the story. The result is a 'plotless film' that, in its Cannes press screening, prompted walkouts and boos, although many still maintain that the film's advanced symbolic and narrative sudoku is worth puzzling out." -- Screendaily.

Durante la conferencia de prensa, Martel confirmó su próximo proyecto, un épico apocalíptico sobre una invasión extraterrestre llamado El Internauta.

Martel se mantiene como la autora latinoamericana definitiva, con su visión como único compromiso, así que será interesante ver cómo maneja un proyecto comercial de gran presupuesto y tan alejado de sus trabajos anteriores.

Cannes, septième journée

Otro día y dos películas más de la sección oficial exhibidas.

Angelina Jolie arrivó triunfante junto a Clint Eastwood para presentar The Changeling, o The Exchange, al parecer todavía no se deciden por un título definitivo.

 

 

Ambos tienen razones de sobra para celebrar. La película hasta ahora ha sido una de las de mejor acogida, llegando a comparar su visión decadente del Los Angeles corrupto observado en obras maestras como Chinatown, y la prensa se deshace en elogios para Angelina, llamando su actuación una verdadera revelación. En su papel de ser la mitad de Brangelina y ser la mujer más famosa y perseguida del mundo, la gente a veces olvida su enorme talento como actriz, culpa en parte de ella misma por sus cuestionables elecciones en el pasado...hasta ahora:

"A thematic companion piece to Mystic River but more complex and far-reaching, The Exchange impressively continues Clint Eastwood’s great run of ambitious late-career pictures. Emotionally powerful and stylistically sure-handed, this true story-inspired drama begins small with the disappearance of a young boy, only to gradually fan out to become a comprehensive critique of the entire power structure of Los Angeles, circa 1928. Graced by a top-notch performance from Angelina Jolie, the Universal release looks poised to do some serious business upon tentatively scheduled opening late in the year." -- Variety.

"For only the second time in his filmmaking career, Clint Eastwood's celebration of the loner who bucks the system, the "cowboy" who demands justice without concern for personal jeopardy, settles on a heroine. Like Hilary Swank's boxer in "Million Dollar Baby," Angelina Jolie's single mother, Christine Collins, takes every punch thrown at her and comes back fighting. Her combat is not in a boxing ring -- where fighting is supposed to take place -- but rather in a corrupt police department, psychiatric ward and the court of justice where she demands to know one thing: What happened to her son? Jolie completely shuns her movie star image to play a woman whose confidence in everything she thinks she knows is shaken to its very core. She can appear vulnerable and steadfast in the same moment. This woman has a depth she herself has never explored." -- The Hollywood Reporter.

"Quite simply, Clint Eastwood's new film Changeling is flawless, with Clint proving yet again that he is the true master of the great American film. Early next year, it's safe to say that Changeling will be in the Academy frame itself, when the 2008 nominations are announced, with likely places in the Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor (for John Malkovich as Christine's champion), Best Screenplay and Best Score, for the haunting theme penned by Clint himself. No praise is too high for this thoughtful, engrossing, intelligent film. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant." -- Empire.

Esta es la quinta visita de Clint Eastwood a Cannes, y esta vez seguro no se va con las manos vacías.

La otra película de la sección official exhibida fue Delta, del autor húngaro Kornél Mundruczó.

Esta película parece redefinir la frase "cine contemplativo." Esta es la descripción de la crítica de Entertainment Weekly, Lisa Schwarzbaum:

"This one's about a nearly mute, possibly saintly, or possibly just simpleton young woman who sets up incestuous house with her equally nearly mute, possibly saintly, or possibly just simpleton half-brother on a remote outpost of a reedy Hungarian waterway. The two stare at the sky, or at a turtle, or at a chunk of bread, until brutish, outraged, drunken locals put an end to the two of them. The end."

El actor Felix Lajko, la actríz Lili Monori, el director Kornél Mundruczó y la actríz Orsi Toth.

"Five years after launching the project and 18 months after starting to shoot it, with one tragic accident in the middle which almost sunk the entire production (the death of lead actor, Lajos Bertok, to whom the film is dedicated), Kornel Mundruczo is back on his feet with his best rounded and most mature work to date. The themes he has been associated with in the past are now integrated in a perfectly coherent world and it seems as if he has found his own individual voice and a style he is most comfortable with, facts attested by the Best Film Award and the Gene Moskovitz prize offered by the foreign press, which he collected at the Hungarian Film Week." -- Screendaily.

Fuera de competencia se presentaron dos de los documentales más esperados, ambos inspirados por dos figuras icónicas: Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired y Maradona.

El documental de Marina Zenovich, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, al parecer relata de manera equilibrada los hechos definitivos de la vida de Polanski, desde su familia muerta en un campo de concentración judío, el asesinato de su esposa embarazada Sharon Tate por la familia Manson, y el crímen que cometió por el que aún se mantiene prófugo de la justicia norteamericana:

“Marina Zenovich's thoroughly researched and beautifully crafted documentary revisits the case and introduces new evidence that suggests a gross miscarriage of justice. It's a compelling tale that should be a natural for film savvy cable outlets. Zenovich does not argue that what Polanski did to 13-year-old Samantha Geimer was right, but she does present a compelling case that he was not treated fairly by the judicial system, especially by his trial judge, Laurence Rittenband. It's a complex story with many moving parts, and Zenovich gives context to the main drama by referencing Polanski's horrendous childhood fleeing the Nazis in Poland and the death of his mother in a prison camp.” -- The Hollywood Reporter.

Maradona y Emir Kusturica fantasmean en el photocall.

El futbol es una religión y son pocas de sus figuras las que provocan tantas pasiones como Diego Armando Maradona. El celebrado dos veces ganador de la Palma de Oro Emir Kusturica visita Cannes por sexta ocasión, esta vez fuera de competencia, para presentar este documental sobre el hombre y la leyenda, en el que al parecer el mismo Kusturica termina dándose más protagonismo que su objeto de estudio:

"This video-shot film, which Kusturica started in 2005, is an undisciplined, uncritical and (most unforgivably) un info rmative picture of a legend, by a man who clearly thinks he's something of a legend himself. The film equivalent of one of those photos in which fans gets to throw an arm round a hero's shoulders, Maradona By Kusturica should have theatrical life in select showcases, simply because of the enduring veneration in which the former footballer is held worldwide; Kusturica's own flagging auteur cachet may help, but it certainly won't be the main appeal" -- Screendaily.

"This loosely-structured documentary portrait of the beleaguered football legend bears out the suspicions suggested by its title: Maradona By Kusturica is indeed practically a large order of Kusturica with a side salad of Maradona."

Cannes, día 6

Otro ajetreado día en La Croisette.

Hoy se estrenaron dos películas de la sección oficial - La Silence De Lorna, de los celebrados hermanos belga Jean Pierre y Luc Dardenne, y Two Lovers, del norteamericano James Gray.

Los Dardenne, dos artistas con una carrera tan impoluta que causarían la envidia hasta de David Lynch o Wong Kar Wai, ya ganaron la Palma en el 2006 por su [no me cansaré de repetirlo] extraordinaria L'Enfant, y en el 99 por Rosetta, y regresan por más.

De izquierda a derecha: el actor Fabrizio Rongione, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Arta Dobroshi, Luc Dardenne y el actor Jeremie Renier.

Con esta su cuarta participación en Cannes, que desde el principio se consideraba una de las favoritas por la Palma, no parecen correr con la misma suerte:

"Fake marriages undertaken to get Belgian citizenship are the subject of the Dardenne brothers' latest drama, which starts as rivetingly as any of their films and then, an hour in, spins into an unexpected and unsatisfying direction. Set in the city of Liege, a far less gloomy location than the industrial grime of their hometown Seraing, the film will disappoint fans of their last few films, notably L'Enfant which won the Palme d'Or in 2005 and was a strong arthouse seller around the world." -- Screendaily.

"While the Belgian-born Dardenne brothers are genetically incapable of making an uninteresting film, it must be admitted that "Le Silence de Lorna" -- though always eminently watchable -- is not up to the standards of their devastating 2005 Golden Palm winner, "The Child," or previous miracles like "The Son," "Rosetta" (winner of the Golden Palm in 1999), and "The Promise." -- The Hollywood Reporter.

James Gray vuelve a Cannes por segunda vez luego de presentar allí el año pasado We Own The Night, celebrada a rabiar por la crítica francesa, con algunos distinguidos miembros de ésta llamándola una obra maestra, cosa que aún estoy tratando de entender.

Con su actor favorito Joaquin Phoenix por vez tercera como protagonista, esta es la historia de un hombre deprimido confundido entre dos amores - el que aprueban sus padres y el de su excéntrica vecina.

Vinessa Shaw, el director James Gray, Gwyneth Paltrow y Moshonov Moni.

"They don't make pictures like James Gray's "Two Lovers" anymore. It's an old-fashioned love story in which the melodramatic trapdoors of shock and surprise never open. Shot, paced and scored like a 1950s kitchen-sink romance, the film spurns the school of Judd Apatow with a complete disdain for adolescent contrivance and stupid gags." -- The Hollywood Reporter.

"An involving, ultimately touching romantic drama about a young man's struggle deciding between the two women in his life, "Two Lovers" reps a welcome change of pace for director James Gray from his run of crime mellers. Well acted by Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw, this very New York tale is old-fashioned in good ways that have to do with solid storytelling, craftsmanship and emotional acuity." -- Variety.

Como proyección especial se presentó la italiana Sanguepazzo, o Una Historia Italiana, de Marco Tullio Giordania, director de la mundialmente aclamada La Meglio Giuventù [The Best of Youth], misma que ganó en la edición del 2003 del Festival el premio a Mejor Película de la sección de Un Certain Regard.

Basada en la historia real de Luisa Ferida y Osvaldo Valenti, dos estrellas de cine fascistas que fueron asesinadas por la Resistencia luego de la caída de Mussolini.

Marco Tullio Giordania llegó acompañado de la estrella de la película, la siempre bellísima y visitante asidua a Cannes Monica Bellucci:

Monica junto al director de la cinta, Marco Tullio Giordania.

En la tarde tuvo lugar uno de los eventos más emotivos en lo que va de Festival, con el merecido homenaje al nonagenario [¡y todavía activo!] maestro Manoel de Oliveira:

Cannes, #5

Dos de los eventos más esperados del Festival se llevaron a cabo el día de hoy: El estreno mundial de Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, y la reedición de la obra maestra de culto de Wong Kar Wai Ashes of Time.

En el caso de Indiana Jones, como era de esperarse, las reacciones son positivas, pero con ciertas reservas:

"One of the most eagerly and long-awaited series follow-ups in screen history delivers the goods -- not those of the still first-rate original, 1981's "Raiders of the Lost Ark," but those of its uneven two successors. "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" begins with an actual big bang, then gradually slides toward a ho-hum midsection before literally taking off for an uplifting finish. Nineteen years after their last adventure, director Steven Spielberg and star Harrison Ford have no trouble getting back in the groove with a story and style very much in keeping with what has made the series so perennially popular." -- Variety.

"Crystal Skull is intended, and works effectively, as instant nostalgia — a class reunion of the old gang who in the '80s reinvigorated the classic action film with such expertise and brio. So don't expect the freshness of the what-one-man-can-do plot in Iron Man, or the oneiric visuals of Speed Racer. Spielberg and Lucas, and screenwriters David Koepp and Jeff Nathanson, are looking not forward but back, to the first three films." -- Time Magazine.

"So high was Indy fever in Cannes that the normally half-empty Lumiere cinema was packed, packed, packed, with a palpable air of excitement that resulted in an unprecedented burst of applause as the lights dimmed, followed by an impromptu sing-song of John Williams' famous theme. Well, the good news is that there was applause, and cheers, at the end too, which is pretty unusual at Cannes. Yes, there were a few boos, but there were always going to be, since Cannes critics are a tough crowd. Although it could never be the Indy film you dreamed of (when has a sequel of this pedigree ever delivered on the expectations of people who've had 19 years to obsess and fantasise about it?), this is NOT the Indy film you were dreading." -- Empire.

A la extrema derecha Wong Kar Wai, extrema izquierda su colaborador de siempre, el cinematógrafo Christopher Dolyle. En el centro los actores Charlie Young, Carina Lau y Tony Leung

Ashes of Times, una de las películas menos vistas del maestro Wong Kar Wai por su falta de disponibilidad en DVD en varias regiones y la mala calidad de sus subtítulos, se presenta en Cannes totalmente restaurada, remasterizada y con nueva musicalización:

“The film is still a formal wonder, as it was 15 years ago, full of Wong's signature step-printing technique, his off-kilter shooting angles and a flamboyant visual style that often produces something more like an abstract expressionist painting than a movie. But while it's hard to be definitive about what's different in the new version without comparing it shot by shot with the old, the music seems much more powerful and more fully keyed-in to the action, and the color is saturated and intensified to make the film even more stylized than it already was.” -- The Hollywood Reporter.

De la sección oficial, se exhibieron la italiana Gomorra de Mateo Garrone y Serbis, del filipino Brillante Mendoza.

De derecha a izquiera: El actor Toni Servillo, director Matteo Garrone, y los actores Maria Nazionale, Gianfelice Imparato y Salvatore Cantalupo.

Descrita como violenta y realista al extremo, Gomorra, una película basada en el bestseller mundial de Roberto Siavano sobre sus experiencias de primera mano con la mafia italiana, es hasta ahora [junto a Three Monkeys y Waltz with Bashir] una de las 3 contendientes más fuertes para la Palma:

"Powerful, stripped to its very essence and featuring a spectacular cast (of mostly non-professionals), Matteo Garrone's sixth feature film "Gomorra" goes beyond Tarrantino's gratuitous violence and even Scorsese's Hollywood sensibility in depicting the everyday reality of organized crime's foot soldiers. The characters of the film's five stories all work for the Camorra - the Neapolitan "mafia" behind over 4,000 murders in 30 years in Italy, and countless illegal activities - and besides being extremely dangerous are relentless, petty and anything but wise." -- The Hollywood Reporter.

"Probably the most authentic and unsentimental mafia movie ever to come out of Italy , Gomorrah is a courageous, bruising and harrrowing ride. But the film suffers from its own bravery: in adapting Roberto Saviano's bestselling book for the screen, Matteo Garrone and his five co-scripters (including Saviano himself, currently living under police protection) have jettisoned the journalistic context of the Neapolitan Camorra war and left us only with the dog-eat-dog, carpe-diem chaos of life in the crime-ridden suburbs of Scampia and Secondigliano. Like the white powder used and traded by many of its protagonists, Gomorrah provides a kick-in-the-head rush but no lasting buzz." -- Screendaily.

El director filipino Brillante [o Dante] Mendoza.

Y como nunca debe faltar la película controversial, chocante y de sexo explícito, este año el honor le toca a la filipina Serbis, del director Brillante Mendoza:

"Explicit fellatio, blocked toilets and a crudely exploded ass-cheek boil form some of the more unsavory elements of "Service," Brillante Mendoza’s latest opus that revels in shock value. Largely set in a rundown porn cinema called “Family,” whose proprietors share space with male hustlers plying their trade, pic’s rabbit-warren storylines, complete with half-dug trails, match Mendoza’s marked predilection for endlessly following characters walking through spaces. Moving into pseudo-Tsai Ming-liang territory is unlikely to win the prolific helmer further converts, though the competition slot at Cannes ensures “Service” will be tipped for plenty of fest play." -- Variety.

"Taking place mostly in a porno theater ironically, yet fittingly, named Family, "Serbis" is part homage to cinema, part intimate domestic drama that vividly details the tangled relations and all-too human frailties of an extended family running a theater in the provincial Philippines." -- The Hollywood Reporter.

"Since he shifted from production design to directing with The Masseur (2005), a static misfire about a gay massage parlor in the provinces of his native Philippines, Mendoza has made up for lost time by cranking out four films since (including one documentary), all low-budget, showing mastery in a variety of genres. With Serbis (Service), his first feature with foreign (French) backing, he has taken a giant step in the wrong direction, even if The Masseur's numbing stasis has been supplanted by an unpleasant, ADD-like dynamism. Just as he was becoming the new darling of the festival circuit, Mendoza 's rising star will stall, at least temporarily, and the film's commercial prospectes should be muted." -- Screendaily.

¿La peor noticia del día en Cannes? Harvey Weinstein, el poderoso productor y antiguo director de Miramax, anunció los planes de realizar una adaptación cinematográfica de El Alquimista, producida y dirigida por Laurence Fishburne.

Los fanáticos del charlatán Paulo Coelho se regocijan, y la literatura llora con cada libro que el mercader de la "autoayuda" edita y vende por millones.

Cannes, cuarto día

Al escribir esto son las 11:00pm en Cannes, y la lluviosa cuarta jornada del Festival acaba de concluir.

Acompañando a un Allen visiblemente cansado y desgastado que no para de trabajar [está en medio del rodaje de su nueva comedia newyorkina] estuvieron sólo Penélope Cruz y Rebecca Hall. Notable la ausencia de Scarlett Johansson y Javier Bardem.

Al parecer Vicky Cristina Barcelona demuestra que, continuando con la promesa de Match Point, Woody Allen está de vuelta:

"Vicky Cristina Barcelona" is a sexy, funny divertissement that passes as enjoyably as an idle summer's afternoon in the titular Spanish city. With Javier Barden starring as a bohemian artist involved variously with Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz and Rebecca Hall, pic offers potent romantic fantasy elements for men and women and a cast that should produce the best commercial returns for a Woody Allen film since "Match Point." And, in the bargain, if Barcelona wants even more visitors than it already attracts, this film will supply them."

Y luego de ser comparada con Sofía Loren en Volver, Penélope parece volver [no pun intended] a evocar a otra diva italiana:

"Cruz, who officially graduated from sex kitten to powerhouse melodramatic actress in "Volver," is in full Anna Magnani mode here, storming up and down mountain peaks of emotion and captivating everyone in the process. Allen even generates affectionate comic mileage from the common rap on Cruz's acting--that she's great in Spanish but blah in English--by having her deliver Maria Elena's colorful tirades in her native language, only to be told again and again by Juan Antonio to speak English so Cristina can understand her. She's dynamite here in either language." -- Variety.

Aquí el trailer que la hace parecer más Almodóvar que Allen:

De la sección oficial se estrenaron la brasileña Linha de Passe, o Línea de Pase [del lingo futbolístico], co-dirigida por Walter Salles [Diarios de Motocicleta, Central do Brasil] y Daniela Thomas, y la china Er Shi Si Cheng Ji [24 City], dirigida por Jia Zangke.

Con Vinícious de Oliveira [el niño de Central do Brasil] como protagonista, Walter Salles y Daniela Thomas se reencuentran como directores a 12 años de Terra Estrangeira para contar esta historia sobre cuatro hermanos que buscan salir de su barrio de Sao Paulo jugando futbol.

El recibimiento de la prensa en Cannes ha sido entusiasta, pero esto tipo de película raramente es premiada por el jurado:

"Using a mainly non-pro cast and a deeply realist style, it relies on a strong screenplay and a hard-driving rhythm to keep viewers interested in the interwoven stories of four brothers and their single mom. Comparisons to Luchino Visconti's "Rocco and His Brothers" are inevitable, but without name actors in the cast, this is not going to be as easy a commercial ride as Salles' cultish "The Motorcycle Diaries. On the plus side, "Linha de passe" (a soccer term) has a great deal of strength and sincerity going for it, which should attract the kind of audiences who admired the sociological line of "Central Station." Set on the poverty-stricken outskirts of the Sao Paulo megalopolis, it traces one summer in the lives of Cleuza (Sandra Corveloni), a pregnant housemaid, her three teenage sons and her young Reginaldo (Kaique de Jesus Santos), son of a black bus driver. If you think of this remarkable child actor as the transformed character of the young Alain Delon, you begin to see how radically Visconti's film has been rethought." -- The Hollywood Reporter.

"Above all, the film comes across as a film about religion - that is, Brazil 's true religion of football." -- Screendaily.

Con Er Shi Si Cheng Ji, o 24 City, el chino Jia Zhang Ke reafirma su posición como uno de los principales autores del cine mundial.

Su estilo de unir realidad y ficción viene de la idea de que toda historia es siempre el resultado de la mezcla de hechos reales manipulados por la imaginación de quien los cuenta.

Jia Zhang acompañado de las protagonistas Joan Chen y Zhao Tao

Es imposible que su cine meditativo y "lento" genere reacciones indiferentes, o se ama o se odia:

"Following "Still Life" and "Useless", documentary and fictional artifice are combined ever more egregiously by Mainland helmer Jia Zhangke in "24 City," in which the demolition of a state-owned factory for a new development becomes a tool to reminisce on 50 years of modern Chinese history. Result is far more accessible than Jia's previous two pictures, with moments of genuine emotion by the real-life interviewees. But technique of interweaving name actors into the docu fabric smacks of auteurism for the sake of it, and pic says nothing new or revealing that hasn't been said in countless other movies and docus. Further fest play beckons." -- Variety.

"This picture may appeal to the mind more than it does to emotions. Jia purposely refrains from voicing any opinions here and its authenticity may be arguable, but if pure fiction is so often taken as historical testimony, why shouldn't half-fiction qualify for the same honours?" -- Screendaily.

Uno de los aspectos favoritos del público de Cannes son las populares proyecciones gratuitas que se hacen en el érea de La Croisette. La vida de Cannes gira alrededor del mar de la Cote d'Azur, así que ¿qué mejor lugar para proyectar una película que en la misma playa?

En estos 4 días se han presentado desde los clásicos cortos de la Warner Bros de los Looney Tunes hasta la obra maestra de Arthur Penn Bonnie & Clyde. El día de hoy le tocó el turno a un revival del clásico de culto de Robert Clouse Enter The Dragon, la película más icónica de Bruce Lee.

Mañana, la respuesta a la pregunta que todos se hacen, ¿destruyeron George Lucas, Steven Spielberg y Harrison Ford la magia de Indiana Jones? Con la presencia de todos ellos se estrena finalmente luego de 19 años de espera Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Cannes, día 3

De la sección oficial se estrenaron de Un Conte de Noël de Francia, y Üç Maymun [The Three Monkeys] de Turquía.

Un Conte de Noël es la cuarta película que el francés Aranud Desplechin lleva a Cannes en busca de la Palma.

Su última película fue la brillante Rois et Reine, y esta vez regresa junto a su musa, la eterna Catherine Deneuve en esta historia sobre una familia disfuncional.

Imágenes del photocall en la mañana y el estreno en el Palais en la tarde:

  

Las reacciones son encontradas. Screendaily la adora: 

"A beautifully-cast, tragic-comic ensemble piece in which an extended family gathers for the title holiday, Arnaud Desplechin's A Christmas Tale is an intricate, accomplished patchwork of sometimes nutty but always believable human behaviour. Lengthy but never dull, this lively tale is sufficiently engrossing to interest even those who don't usually go for Desplechin's frank and discomfiting approach to interpersonal and intergenerational relationships." -- Screendaily.

 

Pero The Hollywood Reporter y Variety no tanto:

"Desplechin is a past master at this sort of Chekhovian orchestration of multiple story lines. The danger, though, is of information (and sensory) overload as characters unburden themselves, sometimes at great length, in dialogue that often sparkles, though opinions might differ as to whether it is witty or merely febrile. Detached irony is the favored register of a literate, occasionally literary, script co-written by Desplechin with Emmanuel Bourdieu. What’s troubling is its lack of perspective on anything beyond the narrow, navel-gazing concerns of its characters. The  spectator is hard-pressed to care."  -- The Hollywood Reporter.

 

"Performances and direction, rather than the yards of inconclusive dialogue, are what keep Arnaud Desplechin's "A Christmas Tale" from curdling in its own juices. Dysfunctional family ensembler, just about held in focus by Catherine Deneuve's regal perf as a mother who's been diagnosed with liver cancer, is more tolerable and less boring than some of Desplechin's previous talkfests, like "How I Got Into an Argument" or "In the Company of Men," but beyond Gaul faces only minimal business from hardcore addicts of the helmer and gabby French cinema."  -- Variety.

 

En competencia también, Üç Maymun o The Three Monkeys, dirigida por el turco Nuri Bilge Ceylan, es llamada unánimamente una de las entradas definitivas del Festival y de Hatice Aslan como una de las candidatas más seguras por la Palma a Mejor Actríz.

Nuri Bilge Ceylan tampoco es un desconocido en Cannes. Este también es su cuarto trabajo representado en el Festival, en el que ya ha ganado el Premio del Jurado en el 2002 por Uzak, el FIPRESCI en el 2006 por Iklimler.

De izquiera a derecha los actores turcos Ercan Kesal, Yavuz Bingol y Hatice Aslan, el director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, el director artístico y guionista Ebru Ceylan y el actor Ahmet Rifat Sungar.

Las reacciones también son unánimanente entusiastas:

"I was hooked from the get-go -- gripped, fascinated. I was in a fairly excited state because I knew -- I absolutely knew -- I was seeing the first major film of the festival. Three Monkeys is about focus and clarity in every sense of those terms, but it was mainly, for me, about stunning performances -- minimalist acting that never pushes and begins and ends in the eyes who are quietly hurting every step of the way.

A 50ish politician named Servet (Ercan Kesal), fighting off sleep as he drives on a narrow country road, hits a man and kills him. Freaked, he drives off without calling anyone. The next day he convinces the quiet-mannered Eyup (Yavuz Bingol), his longtime driver who's abut the same age, to confess to the crime and do the jail term, promising to give him a lot of money in addition to paying his salary to his wife Hacer (Hatice Aslan), and son Ismail (Ahmet Rifat Sungar) while he's in stir." -- Jeff Welles. 

 

De la sección Un Certain Regard, la que más llamó la atención fue el documental de James Toback Tyson, sobre el controversial boxeador:

"Those who think of Mike Tyson as just an animal unleashed upon an unsuspecting world should welcome the alternative perspective provided by "Tyson," James Toback's revelatory closeup look at the tumultuous life of the former heavyweight champ. Although straightforward in format, the film capitalizes on an obviously intense connection between filmmaker and subject with psychological acuity and emotional power. Sports fans will get their fill, but the pic's sensitivity to its exceedingly complicated subject opens up broader commercial horizons in theatrical, TV and homevid worldwide." -- Variety.

Cannes, jour #2

Uno de los estrenos del día de hoy fue Kung Fu Panda, siguiendo la tradición de Dreamworks de estrenar sus películas animadas en Cannes. Aparte del splash publicitario que causan sus estrellas como Angelina Jolie [embarazada y bellísima], Jack Black [insoportable y fantasmoso como siempre] y Dustin Hoffman [cobrando su cheque], todavía no entiendo la razón de llevar cine como este a Cannes, más aún viendo que la recepción que ha tenido ha sido la misma indiferencia con la que trataron a Shark Tale, Shrek 3 y Bee Movie:

"A nice looking but heavily formulaic DreamWorks animation entry." -- Variety.

Imágenes del photocall en la mañana y el estreno en la tarde en el Palais:

 

Angelina estará de vuelta el Martes 20 de la mano de Clint Eastwood para la presentación de The Changeling.

Por otro lado, de la influencia de los estudios de Hollywood y sus estrellas y la forma en que opacan el verdadero espíritu de Cannes se habla todos los años hasta el cansancio. Esto es lo que opinan al respecto dos de mis críticos favoritos, Manhola Dargis y A.O. Scott del The New York Times:

"For many Cannes-spotlighted directors like Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne ,Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Lucrecia Martel are the real stars of Cannes. In America their names may be met with blank stares, but here they walk up the same red carpet as some of the most prominent Hollywood filmmakers and celebrities. And this may be the ultimate measure of the festival's integrity as well as a reminder of its noble traditions."

De la sección oficial se estrenaron Waltz with Bashir de Ari Folman y Leonera, del celebrado autor cuasi costumbrista argentino Pablo Trapero.

Como se esperaba, las reacciones de Waltz with Bashir han sido muy positivas, y sigue siendo una de las favoritas para ganar la palma:

Al centro su director Ari Folman. [D] el director de arte David Polonsky, [I] el animador Yoni Goodman.

"Ari Folman's animated documentary could easily turn out to be one of the most powerful statements of this Cannes and will leave its mark forever on the ethics of war films in general. Dealing from a very personal point of view with the Israeli incursion into the Lebanon in 1982 and culminating with the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp massacre, which the Israelis did not perpetrate but surely tolerated, this is not only a tremendously potent anti-war movie but also a formidable moral indictment of Israeli conduct at that time." -- Screendaily.

Las reacciones de Leonera  son de igual entusiasmo:

 

De izquierda a derecha: su director Pablo Trapero, y los protagonistas Martina Gusman, Elli Medeiros y Rodrigo Santoro

"In his breakthrough film Crane World (1999), Pablo Trapero displayed his mastery at depicting wide open urban spaces and liberating patches of sky in his native Buenos Aires. Then, in Born and Bred (2006), he created a parallel world in nature, capturing the endless, intoxicating landscape of Patagonia. Now, with Leonera he successfully and gracefully shifts in the reverse direction, creating a suffocating, claustrophobic environment within women's prisons - specifically those that house mothers and their young children. This multi-layered film is so crisply shot and seductively executed that, despite its somewhat depressing story line, it could, like its clever protagonist, cross borders and find niche audiences in European and North American markets." -- Screendaily.