Americans won a Hat Trick with three top prizes in Cannes this year as the world’s most important film festival wraps with a bang, not a whimper and we take a look at the top films, major deals as well as best and worst in parties and fashions.
Oscar-winner Tommy Lee Jones directorial debut, "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada," surprised everyone by ropin’ in the most top awards, as Jones took bows for best actor, though not for best new director, which he was disqualified for after the fest began. The quirky western from the Harvard Magnum Cum Laude grad was likened to a Sergio Leone or Sam Peckinpah picture, and brought best screenplay honors to scribe Guillermo Arriaga.
Another kudo for the U.S. was for Jim Jarmusch’s "Broken Flowers," which won the 58th Cannes fest Grand Prix with Bill Murray in the lead role. It is being called one of Murray’s most subdued, yet best roles ever. Sharon Stone and Jessica Lange also star. Jarmusch gave an elegant speech, saying “the real honor was to be along side these great filmmakers here.”
Great indeed, as the lineup of stars on the red carpet looked like the Academy Award green room. In a fairly major coup for the Cannes Fest, both of the most recent Oscar winners for acting, Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank, presented the Palm d’Or. Plus there were past Academy Award winners George Lucas, Woody Allen, Liza Minnelli and nominees like Dennis Hopper, Sam Shepard, Edward Norton and Sharon Stone.
The were some fashion do’s, like Hilary in a swank shoulder-less Christian Dior white gown with two black ribbons and strands of what appeared to be diamonds – and fashion dont’s like Monsieur Lucas showing up in blue jeans for his big Star Wars party on the Queen Mary II. George, baby, this is Cannes, not your ranch. Next time get a new stylist or expect your suitcases to be “lost” at the airport and a new wardrobe assigned to you. Though with “Revenge of the Sith” took in over $300 million world in its first weekend, he does not likely care.
Stone had a busy fest, with her annual AmFar event in Cannes, announcing “Basic Instinct II” and performing in Grand Prix winner “Broken Flowers.”
Disturbingly, it was Paris Hilton who caused the most commotion on the Croisette. Europeans love their tabloids and the paparazzi there don’t get to snap her too often. More than a thousand photo-seekers stormed the beach area where she was introducing the next National Lampoon film. If you had the bad luck to have to meet someone in a club or restaurant and she walked in with hundreds of photogs, your Perrier Jouet would quickly be in your lap. Really, with so many revered filmmakers there, the person they wanted to photograph most was a woman best known for being a spoiled brat, her hardcore sex videos and dorky TV shows?
Another American, this one with talent, performance-artist-turned-director Miranda July, won the highly prestigious Camera d’Or for best first time director. From the podium, she said “To get such recognition for your first film someone saying ‘the way that you are, that’s okay. You can go on now.’” It was a co-win with Lankan director Vimukthi Jayasundara's "The Forsaken Land." Jones would have been in competition in this category, but on the second day of the fest, he was disqualified when it came out that he once directed a TV movie.
Woody Allen’s extremely well-received “Match Point” was screened out-of-competition, prompting seven year entrant Wim Wenders to quip “I never come here out-of-competition. You have a lot of fun, but you never get a baby out of it.”
And all this Yank action happened in a year of supposedly muted American presence after Michael Moore won the Palm d’Or last year with “Fahrenheit 911.” Yet it explains why, when the French Acrobatic Flying Team’s eight supersonic jets trailed smoke in the French colors – red, white and blue – one American couple at a nearby table said “Oh look, they are saluting all the United States wins.”
Not quite. After all this is an international festival and in France, no less. The locals rejoiced as Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne won the very top prize, the Palm d’Or for “The Child.” Like many other entrants, the brothers are longtime Cannes jury favorites and won in 1999 for “Rosetta.” “The Child” is a disturbing tale about a petty thief in Belgium who has a baby and sells it on the black market -- only to experience remorse and try to get the child back. Beautifully shot, even with just handheld cameras, and well acted – it is still not likely to get beyond the arthouse circuit.
However, when the official awards were over, jury president Emir Kusturica made no secret of his disappointment at the 21 films in the official selection. “We had a selection where I think the average wasn't very high," I felt that most of the films were a little bit less good than I expected," he said in the final press conference. Yet the films in competition are only as good as the ones the selectors like fest president Gilles Jacob invite – and politics always play a part.
Among the winners and losers for best party, there was quite a competition. The party for the U.S. movie “Sin City” certainly lived up to its name with a debauched, all-night ball at the Palm Beach Nightclub and Casino with scantily-clad females dancing on platforms hung from the ceiling. And if that didn’t get your pulse up, there were lap-dances being done in another room.
For some seaworthy soirees, it was a ship-measuring contest. Lucas’ out-of-this-world party for “Star Wars III” was pretty impressive, what with a regimen of Stormtroopers handling security on Queen Mary II, in Cannes port for the first time.
On the other hand, the hottest ticket in Cannes was multi-billionaire Microsoft co-founder and rock guitarist Paul Allen’s bash on his massive yacht. Allen performed with Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart, but the coolest thing was his working replica of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine. The draw for the business-minded was a chance to casually drop their business plans and scripts on the floor next to the third richest man in the world.
D&G hosted a wild beach party with Kid Rock performing, while Cannes vets Pierre David and Stephen Paul both had birthday parties while in Cannes. Avi Lerner had a great fest, both in sales, profile and parties.
Longtime Cannes fixtures Peter Davis and Bill Panther held a $100,000 party at Mirado Beach to announce the new “Highlander” trilogy, but it was bittersweet. Panther slipped while taking the cover off the pool the next morning and reportedly broke three vertebrae in his neck. He is said to be recovering nicely.
The surprise hit party was for the Mexican film “Battle in Heaven,” which pulled off a Cannes coup with an all-night villa party with DJs flown in from London. The film itself, from director Carlos Reygadas has been very controversial and gotten mixed reviews, mainly for inclusion of hardcore sex scenes, but they know how to throw a fiesta.
On the other side of the spectrum, Supermodel Naomi Campbell had a disaster when it was strongly hinted that Nelson Mandela would be guest of honor at her party. The press and VIPs showed to see the Nobel Peace Prize winner, but there was one problem. The statesman was not there. It caused a lot of snide coverage in the media, and a lot of back-peddling in the Campbell camp.
Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise were rumored to have snuck into the Cote d’Azur region and were seen at the ultra-elegant and exclusive Hotel du Cap for some supposedly discreet business meetings. Frankly we did not see them directly, though Penelope Cruz was in town. After all, a celeb look-alike could get a lot of free meals in Cannes, where the old adage holds: Never trust anything you hear and only half of what you see.
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| Cannes Evening by Delacroix |
On the business front Bob and Harvey Weinstein, having sold Miramax to Disney, wasted no time coming out of the gate with their new Weinstein Bros. company (not likely the permanent name). They are looking to raise $1 billion in financing and commitments and may have signed deals worth more than half that in Cannes.
Even though they earlier said this would be a quiet Cannes for them, no one doubted these two perennial showmen would have some cards up their sleeves. The brothers announced a financing deal with Goldman Sachs for an unspecified financing commitment. Goldman Sachs deal starts in October with Jennifer Anniston vehicle “Derailed.”
Further financing will come from a distribution/financing deal with Dino and Martha de Laurentiis as well as Tarak Ben Ammar who will invest in the Weinstein Bros. as well as bring in three pre-funded pics -- "Young Hannbal, ”The Decameron" and "Last Legion," with an overall budget of $185 million.
The pair will also team with Cablevisions Rainbow Media, cable movie company IFC, and reportedly are planning a U.S. distribution company with Bauer Martinez.
"We came to buy our first movie here 25 years ago," said Harvey Weinstein at a press event. "Getting these deals done in Cannes was a goal."
And on Sunday the weary Cannes attendees rested after 12 days of manic business, movie marathons and all-night parties and clubs. That is if you call resting going en masse to Monte Carlo for the famous Grand Prix to enjoy the peaceful sounds of screaming Ferrari Formula One engines. Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen won the dramatic Grand Prix that had it all from crashes, to penalties, to overtaking. And the Cannes crowd seemed perfectly content to let someone else do the racing for a spell.
LIST OF 58th CANNES FILM FESTIVAL WINNERS
FEATURE FILMS
Palme d'Or
"The Child" (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Belgium)
Grand Prix
"Broken Flowers" (Jim Jarmusch, France-U.S.)
Best Actress Award
Hanna Laslo ("Free Zone," Israel-Belgium)
Best Actor Award
Tommy Lee Jones ("The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada," U.S.)
Best Director Award
Michael Haneke ("Hidden," France-Austria-Germany-Italy)
Best Screenplay Award
Guillermo Arriaga ("The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada," U.S.)
Jury Prize
"Shanghai Dreams" (Wang Xiaoshuai, China)
CAMÉRA D'OR WINNERS
"Me And You And Everyone We Know" (Miranda July, U.S.)
"The Forsaken Land" (Vimukthi Jayasundara, Sri Lanka)
SHORT FILMS
Palme d'Or
"Wayfarers" (Igor Strembitsky, Ukraine)
OTHER JURIES' AWARDS
PRIX VULCAIN DE L'ARTISTE-TECHNICIEN (TECHNICAL AWARD)
Leslie Shatz ("Last Days," U.S.)
Robert Rodriguez ("Sin City," U.S.)
CINÉFONDATION SHORT FILM AWARD
1st Prize
"Buy It Now" (Antonio Campos, U.S.)
2nd Prize (shared)
"A Deux" (Nikolay Khomeriki, France)
"Visiting Hours" (Maya Dreifuss, Israel)
3rd Prize (shared)
"La Plaine" (Roland Edzard, France)
"Be Quiet" (Sameh Zoabi, U.S.) |
