The program of the upcoming 61st Cannes Film Festival has been announced in France. It found a place for the most anticipated premieres of the upcoming season - Hollywood, Asian and European. Only Russia is not represented in the competition
This year there are two anniversaries of Russian cinema at once. The first is the centenary of Russian cinematography: a date that is very important for us, but does not arouse the interest of the world community. The second is essential for Cannes. Fifty years have passed since the day when Mikhail Kalatozov's drama The Cranes Are Flying was awarded the Palme d'Or at the world's main festival. Both dates in Cannes will be celebrated exclusively by our compatriots. On the Croisette, they promise to open a festive "Pavilion of Russian Cinema". Let's rejoice, but still take into account that Cannes is the largest film market in Europe. This means that dozens of large pavilions and hundreds of smaller pavilions work there every year. Who will notice and appreciate our new pavilion in the festival fever - God knows.
There are twenty paintings in the competition, not a single Russian one among them. Actually, this is not a problem, and Cannes themselves are unlikely to notice such a significant incident for us. For example, neither the UK nor Japan, where in recent years cinema has been developing more rapidly and successfully than in Russia, is not in the competition. But in the main of the secondary programs, "Un Certain Regard", they will show "Tulip" by Sergei Dvortsevoi, made at the STV studio. The acting debut of the documentary filmmaker is marked in the program as the “first film”, which means that, in addition to the Un Certain Regard award itself, he will qualify for the Golden Camera. This is another signal for us: Cannes is looking for new, young authors, who in Russia are still afraid to give the green light. So last year, when there were already two Russian films in the competition for the first time in many years, the jury noted not Sokurov's Alexandra, which deserved excellent reviews, but Andrey Zvyagintsev's Expulsion, which was received much more coolly. Young everywhere they have a road.
new growth
A closer look at the list of contestants drives one into a stupor. One of two things: either Cannes is in a state of deepest crisis and famous directors refuse to give them their films (which is unlikely), or the masters were asked to move, making room for young people. There are only a few world celebrities in the competition. And what! Only two evergreen old men - Wim Wenders with "Shooting in Palermo" and Clint Eastwood with "The Exchange". They don’t refuse such people (especially since Eastwood has Angelina Jolie in the title role, and the festival needs stars even more than genius directors). Canadian Atom Egoyan in Worship moved away from the genre games to which he had been devoting himself for the last ten years, and again made an experimental, almost youthful movie based on his own script on the most pressing topic, about “hanging out” on the Internet. Well, you can’t do without the Belgian geniuses, the Dardenne brothers: after all, twice “palm-bearers”, the know-how of Cannes. And you can’t call them classics - the world first heard about these ex-documentarians only in 1999, when, unexpectedly for everyone, the triumph of the modest drama Rosetta took place in Cannes. This time the Dardennes will bring a film under the intriguing title Lorna's Silence.
The rest is all new trends. For example, the return to fashion of Latin American cinema. In the competition, one famous Brazilian - Walter Salles (who actually makes films in English and in the States more often now; his last works are The Motorcycle Diaries and the horror film Dark Waters) and two directors from Argentina at once, both young: protégé Pedro Almodovar Lucrezia Martel (The Headless Woman) and Pablo Trapero (Leonera).
Or here's another piece of news: Italian cinema is once again becoming relevant. Two of the best young Italian directors will try to prove this controversial thesis - Matteo Garrone with the mafia "Gomorrah" and Paolo Sorrentino with the political satire "Star". The young avant-garde artist Cornel Mundrujo, who already showed the bold and funny film Joanna in Cannes two years ago, will defend the honor of Hungary in the 2008 competition with the film Delta. Such exotic countries as the Philippines (“Serbis” by Brilliante Mendoza) and Singapore (“My Magic” by Eric Hu) also got into the Cannes alignment. Among the more titled participants are Nuri Belge Ceylan from Turkey (“Three Monkeys”) and Jia Zhang-ke from China (Ciqing Shidai), both winners and participants in several leading festivals in recent years.
Overshadowed by "Palm"
There are relatively few “palmon bearers” in the competition. In addition to the Dardennes and Wenders mentioned, there is Steven Soderbergh, whose 1989 debut Sex, Lies and Videos was a bombshell in Europe. His new work is the four-hour Che biopic, in which the famous revolutionary and radical was played by Benicio del Toro. For rental, the film will later, most likely, be “chopped” into two parts. The independent American cinema in the competition is also represented by the eminent debutant - screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, who has such spectacular works as "Being John Malkovich" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" on his account. His directorial debut is Synecdoche, New York.
The rest of the eminent Americans are mostly taken out of the main competition. "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", in which Woody Allen tried to master the Spanish language, will be presented at a special world premiere, where, in addition to the director, the leading actors Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem will also attend. Without a doubt, the most long-awaited film of Cannes 2008 will also be screened: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". Director Steven Spielberg, producer George Lucas and artist Harrison Ford will walk the red carpet. The event promises to be so bright and loud that after it few people will remember the main intrigue - who will get the Palme d'Or this year.
Outside the competition and a few more "palmon carriers". These are Emir Kusturica, who will bring the documentary film "Maradona" (and if you're lucky, then its main character), and David Lynch, who co-authored the official festival poster in 2008. And his own daughter Jennifer Lynch will show her film "Observation" at the out-of-competition midnight session, where the main roles were played by two Lynch actors - Julia Ormond and Bill Pullman. And for those who are not interested in such exquisite cinematic delights, a simpler meal will be offered - the animated "Kung Fu Panda".
The 2008 festival will show films that the public did not see 40 years ago due to the closing of the 1968 Cannes Film Festival. Then the directors expressed their solidarity with the students (pp. 4–17). But as, judging by the photo, everything started well ...
The Cannes Film Festival is considered the most prestigious. It has been held since 1946. The main prize awarded for the best film is the Palme d'Or.
