CANNES 2006 – PREVIEW

THE ONES TO TALK ABOUT
Which films and filmmakers will they be talking about this year at – and after – Cannes? Andrew L. Urban sticks his nose in, his neck out and his finger in the wind in this preview of the 59th Festival de Cannes, which includes five Australian features (plus three shorts), as well as the rarity of two films by a single filmmaker (Richard Linklater).

Well, there might be some talk about Richard Linklater having one film in Competition and one in Un Certain Regard – the latter now “so demanding it has become a true alternative selection to the main Competition,” according to festival Artistic Director Thierry Fremaux. But my guess is that one of the most talked about films will be Taxidermia, from Hungary’s iconoclastic György Pálfi, who made the multi-awarded and wordless, Hukkle (2002). Taxidermia was screened during Hungary’s Film Week (showcasing new Hungarian films of the past year) in February this year, and Variety’s Eddie Cockrell reckons “it sets a benchmark for body horror in cinema.”

As for Linklater, the inclusion of his Fast Food Nation in Competition smacks of Fremaux wanting a reprise of the kind of political slam dunk that greeted Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911. Fast Food Nation is a drama, though, scavenging in the fast food industry and its effects, with a ‘Mexican illegals’ angle.

More interesting, perhaps, will be his follow up film (both completed this year), which screens in Un Certain Regard: A Scanner Darkly is a futuristic thriller adapted from another Philip K. Dick novel, finished in rotoscope (like his Waking Life) which means the actors are painted over digitally, frame by frame. In this future, two out nof 10 Americans are undercover spies for the Government, protecting the Yanks from drugs and terror. Nobody can be trusted. Keanu Reeves, Woody Harrelson and Robert Downey jnr star.

Apart from some of the Cannes favourites like Pedro Almodovar, Ken Loach, Aki Kaurismaki, Nanni Moretti and Marco Bellochio, interest will certainly focus on Sofia Coppola’s Marie-Antoinette, starring Kirsten Dunst (who worked with her in The Virgin Suicides) as the ill fated young Queen of France. No, but the surprise is Jason Schwartzman as King Louis XVI, and Rip Torn as his father XV. Judy Davis gets Comtesse de Noailles, and Marianne Faithfull is Maria Theresa, the only Habsburg female to rule (Austria and Hungary) in the mid 1700s. And English actor Steve Coogan (masterly in 24 Hour Party People) plays Count Mercy d’Argenteau. No wonder Fremaux refers to this film as “free and modern” and “audacious”.

(Coppola is one of three women directors in the Competition; two more have films in Un Certain Regard.)

I’m personally looking forward to Paolo Sorrentino’s L'Amico di famiglia (The Friend of the Family), which Fremaux describes as a film about “all those people we never look at.” His film, The Consequences of Love, which was in Competition two years ago (and screened on World Movies in early May), shows a talent for intriguing, dynamic cinema, with a unique approach.

And I think Rolf de Heer’s third film selected for Cannes, Ten Canoes (The Quiet Room and Dance Me To My Song were in Competition), will certainly be talked about.

AUSTRALIANS AT CANNES
Two of the three Australian films screening in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes film festival this year are in poetic juxtaposition: Paul Goldman’s Suburban Mayhem is set in contemporary white Australia and deals with a young woman who feels entitled to anything she wants and will do anything to get it, including murder. Ten Canoes is set in ancient northern Australian bushland and deals with a young man who covets another man’s wife and is warned off by his elders. And it’s very funny. The humour is character driven (but also woven into David Gulpilil’s narration), situation reliant and recognisably universal. The humanity of the characters is so immediate and recognisable, that the only reason to accept its period setting(s) is the accoutrements like tools, dress, shelter and behaviour.

"It's a long road, culturally and in every other way, from Ramingining to Cannes, and it's not one that I'd ever thought we'd be travelling. I'm honoured, but the honour really belongs to the Ramo mob,” said de Heer, referring to the locals from Ramingining who helped not only make the film in front of the camera, but literally by making most of the items used in the film.

In Suburban Mayhem, young New Zealand actress Emily Barclay (In My Father’s Den) stars as 19 year old single, suburban mum, Katrina, a master manipulator of men who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. She’s entitled, she reckons. When her father threatens to stop supporting her financially and take away her child, she plans mayhem in the suburb … Barclay said she found mastering the Australian accent harder than she expected, but loved the lawless, audacious character, created by debuting screenwriter Alice Bell.

Goldman, who praised Alice Bell’s script, says the film is “relevant … but playful; a dark, flat comedy about how the psychopaths are taking over in the Australian suburbs!” he laughs. Bell was inspired to write the screenplay in the wake of numerous reports of family violence – many around Newcastle, where the film was shot.

The third Australian film in Un Certain Regard, Two Thirty 7 (aka 2:37), is described by its Australian distributor, Joel Pearlman of Roadshow Films, as “arguably one of the most important Australian films in recent years … a moving and thought-provoking film chronicling the lives of six high school students over one day. It's fantastic for Roadshow to witness and be involved in the launch of an important new Australian filmmaker.” Adelaide-based writer/director Murali K. Thalluri said, "I couldn't ask for a more perfect start…”

Directors’ Fortnight has slotted Ray Lawrence’s latest film, Jindabyne, a drama starring Gabriel Byrne, Laura Linney, Johhn Howard, Max Cullen and Chris Haywood, which pivots on the body of a dead woman found on a fishing trip by four blokes.

There is an Australian work in Short Film Competition, Denie Pentecost’s Sexy Thing, and Jane Campion’s short, The Water Diary, will screen out of competition while Victorian Collage of Arts student Dustin Feneley’s Snow will screen in the Cinefondation (film schools) section. In L’Atelier section Chrsitina Andreef’s Shiver is one of the 18 projects selected to enable them to complete financing.

Sarah Watt’s worldwide-acclaimed Look Both Ways collects yet another bouquet with a special screening in the International Critics Week, parallel to the main festival, in the Revelation of the Year slot.

STARS EXPECTED:
Opening night film: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Jean Reno, Jean-Pierre Marielle. From other films:
Penelope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Cillian Murphy, Liam Cunningham, Kirsten Dunst, Judy Davis, Asia Argento, Marianne Faithfull, Steve Coogan, Michele Placido, Cate Blanchett, Gael García Bernal, Sami Bouajila, Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, The Rock, Sean William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sergi López, Cécile De France, Gérard Depardieu, Jean-Pierre Bacri,
Vincent Lindon, Benoît Magimel, Benoît Poelvoorde, Fanny Ardant, Bruce Willis, Nick Nolte, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Ben Gazzara, Bob Hoskins, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ludivine Sagnier, Gena Rowlands, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Kris Kristofferson, Nanni Moretti, Silvio Orlando.

COMPETITION:
Pedro ALMODÓVAR - VOLVER 2h01
Andrea ARNOLD - RED ROAD 1st Film 1h40
Lucas BELVAUX - LA RAISON DU PLUS FAIBLE 1h30
Rachid BOUCHAREB - INDIGÈNES 1h50
Israel Adrian CAETANO - CRONICA DE UNA FUGA 1h55
Nuri Bilge CEYLAN - IKLIMLER 1h37
Sofia COPPOLA - MARIE-ANTOINETTE 2h03
Pedro COSTA - JUVENTUDE EM MARCHA 2h20
Guillermo DEL TORO - EL LABERINTO DEL FAUNO 1h50
(Pan’s Labyrinth)
Bruno DUMONT - FLANDRES 1h30
Nicole GARCIA - SELON CHARLIE 2h20
Xavier GIANNOLI - QUAND J’ÉTAIS CHANTEUR 1h50
Alejandro González IÑÁRRITU - BABEL 2h15
Aki KAURISMÄKI - LAITAKAUPUNGIN VALOT 1h20
Richard KELLY - SOUTHLAND TALES 2h31
Richard LINKLATER - FAST FOOD NATION 1h44
Ken LOACH - THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY 2h04
LOU Ye - SUMMER PALACE 2h20
Nanni MORETTI - IL CAIMANO 1h52
Paolo SORRENTINO - L’AMICO DI FAMIGLIA 1h50

UN CERTAIN REGARD
Opening film:
PARIS JE T'AIME 2h00

Rabah AMEUR-ZAIMECHE BLED NUMBER ONE 1h40
Marco BELLOCCHIO - IL REGISTA DI MATRIMONI 1h40
Rolf DE HEER - TEN CANOES 1h30
Denis DERCOURT - LA TOURNEUSE DE PAGES 1h25
Paz ENCINA - HAMACA PARAGUAYA 1st Film 1h18
Stefan FALDBAKKEN - URO 1st Film 1h38
Jacques FIESCHI - LA CALIFORNIE 1st Film 1h47
Paul GOLDMAN - SUBURBAN MAYHEM 1h35
Patrick GRANDPERRET - MEURTRIÈRES 1h40
Slawomir FABICKI - Z ODZYSKU 1st Film 1h40
Manuel HUERGA - SALVADOR 2h13
Nikolay KHOMERIKI - 977 1st Film 1h27
Richard LINKLATER - A SCANNER DARKLY 1h50
Catalin MITULESCU - CUM MI-AM PETRECUT SFARSITUL LUMII 1st Film 1h45
(The Way I Spent The End Of The World)
Garin NUGROHO -SERAMBI 1h10
György PÁLFI - TAXIDERMIA 1h30
Oxide PANG CHUN, Danny PANG - GWAI WIK 1h45
(Re-cycle)
Murali K. THALLURI - TWO THIRTY 7 1h36
Djamshed USMONOV - BIHISHT FAQAT BAROI MURDAGON 1h45
(To Get To Heaven First You Have To Die)
Francisco VARGAS - EL VIOLIN 1st Film 1h38
(The Violin)
Kristijonas VILDZIUNAS - YOU AM I 1h30
WANG Chao - LUXURY CAR 1h30
YOON Jong-bin - THE UNFORGIVEN 1st Film 2h06

FILMS OUT OF COMPETITION
Grand Théâtre Lumière:
Paul GREENGRASS - UNITED 93 1h45
Brett RATNER - X-MEN: THE LAST STAND 1h43
Tim JOHNSON, Karey KIRKPATRICK - OVER THE HEDGE 1h30

Midnight Screenings:
John Cameron MITCHELL - SHORTBUS 1h42
SU Chao Pin - GUISI 1h56
(Silk)
Johnnie TO - ELECTION 2 1h32

Salle Buñuel:
Mimo CALOPRESTI- VOLEVO SOLO VIVERE 1h25
Bill COUTURIE- BOFFO: TINSELTOWN'S BOMBS AND BLOCKBUSTERS 1h20
Benoît DELÉPINE, Gustave KERVERN - AVIDA 1h23
Davis GUGGENHEIM - AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH 1h58
Adam GUZINSKI - CHLOPIEC NA GALOPUJACYM KONIU 1st Film 2h06
(The boy on a galloping horse)
Jean-Henri MEUNIER - ICI NAJAC, À VOUS LA TERRE 1h35
Phillipe PARRENO, Douglas GORDON - ZIDANE, UN PORTRAIT DU 21E SIÈCLE 1h35
Sydney POLLACK - SKETCHES OF FRANK GEHRY 1h30
Tahani RACHED - EL-BANATE DOL 1h30
(These Girls)
Abderrahmane SISSAKO - BAMAKO 1h52

SHORT FILMS IN COMPETITION
Pablo AGUERO - PRIMERA NIEVE 15’
Belma BAS - POYRAZ 13’
Claude BARRAS, Cédric LOUIS -BANQUISE 7’
(Icefloe)
Robin KLEINSMIDT - ONGERIEWE 14’46’’
Florence MIAILHE - CONTE DE QUARTIER 15’
Osbert PARKER - FILM NOIR 3’
Bobbie PEERS - SNIFFER 10’
Denie PENTECOST - SEXY THING 14’
Jane SHEARER - NATURE’S WAY 10’
Eduardo VALENTE - O MONSTRO 13’
(The Monster)