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Cannes opens with Anderson's 'Moonrise,' camel

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:17:44 -0500

CANNES, France (AP) — Wes Anderson opened the 65th Cannes Film Festival with his meticulously composed ode to young love, "Moonrise Kingdom," while less mannered theatrics surrounded the annual French Riviera extravaganza.

Anderson and his star-studded cast declared the festival officially begun at the opening ceremony Wednesday night shortly after striding down the absurdly glamorous Cannes red carpet, a seaside gauntlet of tuxedos and photographers. The premiere announced the start of 12 days of the most selective festival slate in cinema, with eagerly anticipated films to follow from many of the world's most esteemed directors.

That is, when a camel isn't running amok.

Sideshows are as much a part of Cannes as the main events, a tradition kicked off this year by Sacha Baron Cohen. The comedian again promoted his upcoming film, "The Dictator," with a stunt, this time taking a humped mammal on a stroll down the Croisette, Cannes' famous promenade.

The more dignified, black-tie-only opening ceremony was hosted by Bernice Bejo, who starred in one of the hits of last year's Cannes, "The Artist" — which went on to win the best picture Academy Award. In attendance, along with the cast of "Moonrise Kingdom," were Jane Fonda, Eva Longoria, Lana Del Rey and Alec Baldwin, who gallantly carried his fiancé, Hilaria Thomas, up the many stairs of the Palais.

While Cannes' 65th anniversary — marked by festival posters of Marilyn Monroe — suggests maturity, "Moonrise Kingdom" began things on a childlike note.

The film is about two preteens (newcomers Jared Gilman and Kaya Heyward) in love and running away together on a remote New England island in a 1965, Norman Rockwell-esque America. Stamped with Anderson's trademark visual style to almost the degree of his animated "The Fantastic Mr. Fox," the movie is seen mostly from the point of view of the kids.

The adults in the film — a combination of Anderson regulars such as Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman with newcomers such as Bruce Willis, Edward Norton and Tilda Swinton — are more cynical and react in different ways to the purity of the children's gambit.

"These are what you call art films," Murray deadpanned at the film's press conference. "All we get is a trip to Cannes."

"Moonrise Kingdom," Anderson's first film at Cannes, was received well and found largely positive reviews — a thoroughly Wes Anderson film, it was roundly decided — starting the festival off with a congenial vibe.

Murray was happy to tweak the entry of the action star Willis to Anderson's familial troupe of players.

"We could have gotten the Muscles from Brussels, but it wouldn't have been the same," said Murray, alluding to Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Earlier, Baron Cohen appeared in character as Admiral General Aladeen at a news conference outside his hotel. A camel was brought to him, which he then mounted with some trouble and rode down the row of boutique stores to apparently take in some shopping.

As he slowly made his way down the street, Baron Cohen was mobbed by dozens of photographers, bringing traffic to a halt and drawing the curiosity of police. After a short stroll, Baron Cohen turned around and returned to the hotel.

Such a stunt, while certainly unique, isn't uncommon at Cannes, where movies often go to extremes to catch the world media's attention. Billboards of films due out this year are plastered around town and many others are being screened out of competition.

DreamWorks Animation and Paramount Pictures have consistently used the festival to hype projects in the works, and did so again Wednesday with a presentation of "The Rise of the Guardians," an animated family film for this year's holiday movie season.

It gathers slightly different versions of mythic childhood characters — including Santa Claus (Baldwin), the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman) and the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fischer) — in an "Avengers"-like league of world protection.

Baldwin, never one to bite his tongue, showed no interest in sugarcoating the truth for younger audiences: "Fairy Tooth is a club in lower Manhattan," he declared.

A jury of nine will sift through the 22 in-competition entries — which include Walter Salles' "On the Road," David Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis" and Michael Hanakes' "Amour" — to decide the festival's top award, the prestigious Palme d'Or.

This year's jury is presided over by Nanni Moretti, who won the festival's top prize in 2006 for "The Son's Room," and includes actors Ewan McGregor and Diane Kruger, directors Alexander Payne and Raoul Peck, and fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier.

At Cannes, the psychology of the jurors is analyzed like tea leaves for hints of what kind of material they might respond best to. Moretti lamented the feverish scrutiny of the jury, saying he preferred when jury meetings were as secret as the thoughts of the conclave of cardinals who choose Roman Catholic popes — the subject of Moretti's most recent film, "Habemus Papam."

"There were two remaining taboos in the world: the silence after the awards and the conclave," Moretti said. "Now it's just the conclave."

Any puffs of white smoke at Cannes, though, are more likely to be the result of mischief from Baron Cohen than peaceful deliberation.

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Associated Press Writer Jill Lawless contributed to this report.

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Follow Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jake_coyle

Cannes' female-free directors line-up criticized

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:08:13 -0500

CANNES, France (AP) — At this year's Cannes Film Festival, there are directors in their 30s and their 80s, directors from Europe and North America, directors from Asia and the Middle East — but no women.

Not, at least, among the 22 films competing for the coveted Palme D'Or, an absence that has drawn criticism from feminists — and a defense from the festival's artistic director. Thierry Fremaux argues it's not his fault that filmmaking remains primarily "a male sport."

"I don't select films because the film is directed by a man, a woman, white, black, young, an old man," said Fremaux, who has led the festival since 2001. "I select films because I think they deserve to be in selection.

"It wouldn't be very nice to select a film because the film is not good but it is directed by a woman," he added.

Last year, four female directors made the main competition lineup, including Britain's Lynne Ramsay and Australia's Julie Leigh. The festival's critics say this year's choice suggests that was a blip, rather than a trend.

The French feminist group La Barbe took the festival to task for excluding women with a petition published in Le Monde and The Guardian newspapers.

The letter, whose signatories included filmmaker Virginie Despentes and writer Nancy Huston, said sarcastically that the lineup "sends a powerful message ... Above all, never let the girls think they can one day have the presumptuousness to make movies or to climb those famous Festival Palace steps, except when attached to the arm of a Prince Charming."

It's not that women are in short supply at Cannes. They abound — most prominently on-screen and on the red carpet. The French Riviera film festival is synonymous with female glamour, from Sophia Loren and Monica Bellucci to Penelope Cruz and Angelina Jolie.

Women also are plentiful in off-screen cinema roles, from the traditional enclaves of hair and makeup to film editing, where experts like Martin Scorsese's longtime collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker are considered among the best in the business.

"There are a lot of women (in editing) because they are close to the directors, and the directors are men," said Colette Farrugia, a film editor with 30 years of experience in the business.

Female feature directors remain rare, despite high-profile successes like Kathryn Bigelow, whose war film "The Hurt Locker" won six Academy Awards, including best director — making her the only woman ever to win that prize.

Research by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University found that just 5 percent of last year's 250 highest-grossing films were directed by women, a lower level than a decade earlier.

Some have suggested forms of affirmative action, or quotas, for female filmmakers, but directors oppose the idea.

"I would absolutely hate it if my film got selected because I was a woman," said British director Andrea Arnold, whose films "Red Road" and "Fish Tank" both won prizes at Cannes. "It's true the world over in the world of film, there are just not that many women film directors. That's a great pity and a great disappointment."

Fremaux acknowledges that cinema is still male-dominated, but says "it's not the fault of Cannes."

He stresses that female directors are not entirely absent from the festival, which runs Wednesday to May 27. The secondary competition, Un Certain Regard, features two, both French: Sylvie Verheyde ("Confession of a Child of the Century") and Catherine Corsini ("Three Worlds"). There are also four women on the nine-member festival jury.

"If we really want to solve the problem it's not here, and not in accusing Cannes. It is in asking the same question in January, everywhere in the world and every month," he said.

Kate Kinninmont, chief executive of industry group Women in Film and Television, agreed that criticizing Cannes, or imposing quotas, would not solve the problem.

"I think it's a big cultural thing that's going to take a long time," she said. "We've got a lot of very talented women making shorts. They will be the next generation that will start to change the balance.

"It's only going to be done by the strength and confidence of women going forward."

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Associated Press Writer Hilary Fox contributed to this report.

Jill Lawless can be reached at http://twitter.com/JillLawless

Cannes Film Festival jury keeping an open mind

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:09:08 -0500

CANNES, France (AP) — If Nanni Moretti had his way, what happened in Cannes would stay in Cannes.

The Italian director is heading the film festival's jury and will preside over the now-traditional post-prizes press conference when the movie extravaganza wraps up May 27. He preferred it in the old days, when jury meetings were a bit like the thoughts of the conclave of cardinals who choose Roman Catholic popes — the subject of Moretti's most recent film, "Habemus Papam."

"There were two remaining taboos in the world — the silence after the awards and the conclave," Moretti said as the festival opened Wednesday. "Now it's just the conclave."

Moretti — who won the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, in 2006 for "The Son's Room" — heads a nine-member panel that includes actors Ewan McGregor and Diane Kruger, directors Alexander Payne and Raoul Peck and fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier.

Speaking to journalists before they watch 22 films over the next 11 days, the jurors said they had tried to come to the festival without preconceptions. McGregor said he didn't even read the list of films in competition until he arrived Tuesday.

All said they wanted to be taken unawares by the entries, which include movies by past Cannes winners Michael Haneke, Ken Loach and Abbas Kiarostami as well as relative newcomers like American directors Jeff Nichols and Lee Daniels.

Gaultier, who has designed costumes for films by Luc Besson and Pedro Almodovar, said he was looking for "a film that triggers a real emotion, and surprise" — and wouldn't just focus on style.

"If the film really touches me, moves me, it's not just a question of aesthetics," he said.

Payne, a self-described "big film buff," said he was trying to approach each movie as if "I'd never seen a film in my life."

Several jurors are Cannes veterans. Moretti has had six movies in the festival, while Kruger starred in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 contender "Inglourious Basterds."

McGregor, who came to Cannes with "Trainspotting" and "Moulin Rouge," said sitting on a jury was a very different experience — and more fun.

"As an actor ... when we come to festivals we show our films, and we get to see our film, and then we sit in a dark room for three days with your good selves, and then we go home," he told reporters. "What a privilege it will be to sit in the dark for 12 days and have all these great stories sweep over us."