Cannes 2008 Winners
As we already wrote “Entre les Murs” (”The Class“) directed by Laurent Cantet won the Golden Palm (Palme d’Or) at 2008 Cannes Film festival.Other winners included Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, two-time Palme d’Or recipients, who took the screenplay award for “The Silence of Lorna.”
Sandra Corveloni, who played a working-class mother in São Paulo in Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas’s “Linha de Passe,” won the best actress award.
Benicio Del Toro, who played the title in Steven Soderbergh’s “Che” won the prize for best actor.
The directing award went to Nuri Bilge Ceylan for “Three Monkeys,” a film about a disintegrating Turkish family.
Both the jury prize and the grand prix went to Italian films:
-the jury prize to “Il Divo,” Paolo Sorrentino’s highly stylized portrait of former Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti
-and the grand prix to Matteo Garrone’s “Gomorrah,” a brutally realistic examination of organized crime in Naples.
The Caméra d’Or for best first feature went to Steve McQueen’s “Hunger,” (Un Certain Regard) which unsparingly depicts the protests of imprisoned IRA militants in the 1980s.
The jury conferred two special prizes for Catherine Deneuve for ”Un Conte De Noel” and Clint Eastwood for ”The Exchange.”
In Competition
Un Certain Regard Prize
”Tulpan” by Sergey Dvortsevoy
Jury Prize
“Tokyo Sonata” by Kurosawa Kiyoshi
Heart Throb Jury Prize
”Wolke 9” by Andreas Drese
The Knockout of Un Certain Regard
”Tyson” by James Toback
Prize of Hope
”Johnny Mad Dog” by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
Un Certain Regard
American distributors had, by the end of the festival, bought some of the most interesting films in and out of competition.
Tarantino’s Cannes Masterclass
Quentin Tarantino delivered an expletive-laden Cinema Masterclass at Cannes Thursday in which he mixed tips on movie-making with reflections on his own greatness.
“At the end of the day if there’s one thing I’m doing it’s forging a new type of comedy,” he said, noting that his violence-filled oeuvre gave people a “thrill” because it made them “laugh at things that aren’t usually funny.”
“Trying to make a feature film yourself with no money is the best film school you can do” he said, recounting how he spent three years making his first film during his weekends off work.
Spaghetti westerns, kung fu flicks and Brian da Palma were his inspiration, said Tarantino, who took home the Cannes film fest’s coveted Palme d’Or award in 1994 for “Pulp Fiction.”
Tarantino fits his own films into two categories:
There are the hyper-realistic movies like his 1992 debut feature “Reservoir Dogs,” a botched jewel heist story whose ensemble cast includes Harvey Keitel and Tim Roth, and “Pulp Fiction,” another crime drama starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman.
And then there are the “movie movies,” he said, which include the two “Kill Bill” films and “Death Proof,” which pay tribute to genres such as martial arts movies, samurai movies and serial killer films.
“I look on ‘Kill Bill’ as my ‘Apocalypse Now‘,” he said.
Tarantino, whose “Death Proof” last year failed to scoop the Palme d’Or here, is noted for the use he makes of music, picking pop classics or music from cult television series.
“I have one of the best soundtrack collections in America. I just don’t trust any composer to do it. Who the fuck is this guy coming in here and throwing his shit over my movie. What if I don’t like it? And the guy’s already been paid!”.
Previous directors who have given the Masterclass here include Martin Scorsese, Nanni Moretti, Wong Kar Wai and Sydney Pollack.
“I want to make movies, I have to make movies. The reason I don’t make more movies is that I want to live life in between. I give it all to the movies, and it’s like I’m climbing Mount Everest every time. When I get off the mountain then I want to be able to enjoy some time in the chalet at the bottom. But the real, real reason I don’t want to make more movies is that
I’m a writer, and I always have to start with the blank page and that’s hard. Nothing you’ve done before means a damn when you’ve got to start all over again.”Quentin Tarantino
‘Palermo Shooting’ - Wim Wenders - Cannes 2008
‘Palermo Shooting’ premieres on Saturday, the day before the winner of the festival’s coveted Palme d’Or is announced
Wim Wenders, who won the Palme d’Or for his 1984 movie, “Paris, Texas,” is to screen “The Palermo Shooting,” a romantic thriller with a multilingual, multinational cast, Dennis Hopper, Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Milla Jovovich.
As a successful photographer of world-wide renown, Finn leads a life that is as prominent as it is hectic. He gets by with very little sleep, his cell phone is never still, and the music from his headphones is his most constant companion.
But when his life suddenly spins out of control, Finn takes off and leaves everything behind. His journey leads him from Düsseldorf to Palermo. There he finds himself persecuted by a mysterious shooter who’s after him with a vengeance. At the same time a whole new life is beginning for Finn. And a great love…
Campino, singer with German punk band Die Toten Hosen, stars as Finn, a photographer from Dusseldorf. Here he is shown capturing model Milla Jovovich (she plays herself), who was actually pregnant during filming.
At the start of the film, Finn is shown to be a photographer of some renown, but as his life starts to unravel he decides to leave all the success behind.
On his journey into the unknown, he finds himself tracked by a mysterious assassin and encounters the ominous Frank, played by Dennis Hopper, who warns him that death is not far away.
Finn’s destination is Palermo, where he meets the beautiful Flavia (Giovanna Mezzogiorno). In Sicily’s capital, Finn and Flavia fall in love and Finn begins a new life, with renewed hope.
You can also read the interview with Wim Wenders after the jump
Maradona steals the show - Cannes 2008
Documentary film ‘Maradona by Kusturica‘ directed by the award-winning Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica had its premiere at 61st Cannes Film Festival, out of competition.
Maradona is at the festival to promote a self-titled docu.
Often considered as the best and most famous footballer in the world, Diego Maradona is also known for his cocaine addiction.
Gallingly for England fans, Kusturica portrays Maradona’s notorious handball in the 1986 World Cup as “a leap for justice”.
Another documentary about a flawed sporting icon, Mike Tyson, is doing the rounds at Cannes.
Maradona said there was little comparison between them:
“He lives in suffering, I live in joy. It is that which distinguishes us from one another.”
Of his one-time drug addiction, he said:
“I live my life in a different way now. I have abandoned those bad habits. Now I have a different life, I’m not living at 100mph as I used to. I’m taking it more gently.”
He explained why he agreed to the documentary:
“People have written a lot of books about me, made a lot of films about me. I have been portrayed as somebody evil, somebody bad, somebody mediocre. Emir was able to penetrate to my heart, to talk about what I have been through in the good and the bad moments of my life.”
The film portrays Maradona as a Messianic figure to Latin Americans.
“I don’t really feel that I am God. There is one one God and it’s not me,” he said, but added: “People have faith in me, they believe in me as perhaps they believe in God… and I’m not going to contradict them.”
He did pass on one anecdote, about a time when he was on an aeroplane with his daughter when it hit turbulence. Seeing that she was frightened “a man saw me on the plane, leaned over to my daughter and said, ‘Don’t worry, God is with us.’”
Asked to name his favourite actress, Maradona replied:
“Julia Roberts. I would do anything to see her come along the Croisette. I would cut off my hand for that, even the hand with which I scored against England.”
Some excerpts from Press Conference: “Maradona by Kusturica”
‘Two Lovers’ - Two Clips and Reviews - Cannes 2008
U.S. director James Gray premiered “Two Lovers” Monday night, and it’s one of the most sensitive portrayals of the vagaries of love to hit the screen in recent years.
Gwyneth Paltrow portrays a confused woman who lives nearby and is involved in an affair with a married man. Vinessa Shaw stars as the daughter of family friends who is considered a nice match for him by his parents.
Much of the credit goes to Joaquin Phoenix, who stars as a depressed young man who moves back in with his parents after a failed engagement and becomes romantically involved with two women.
”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. Developing an audience will be another matter altogether; its central romantic dynamic would be entirely accessible to a mass audience, but pic’s smallish nature and lack of real B.O. names suggest that interest will need to be built among discerning viewers via fest exposure and critical support, leading into gradual platform release by a dedicated distrib.” - Variety
Watch the clips and read more after the jump
‘The Good, the Bad, the Weird’ - Cannes 2008
“The Good, the Bad, the Weird” directed by Kim Jee-woon (South Korea) will be present at 61st Cannes Film Festival, out of competition.
In the 1930s, the world is in chaos. In Northeast Asia, the Korean Peninsula has fallen into the hands of the Japanese Imperialists. Many Koreans have flocked to Manchuria, the vast terrain of horses and wilderness bordering their homeland and China. Some of them, inevitably, have turned into mounted bandits to earn their living in this barren wasteland.
Tae-gu (The Weird) is a thief. He robs a train of Japanese military officers, but the incident is not as simple as it first seems. In the middle of this fierce gun battle against the Japanese, he obtains a mysterious map that leads to a treasure from the Qing Dynasty, buried somewhere in Manchuria.
Watch the trailer and poster after jump
‘Indiana Jones 4′ - The Old Magic Still Works - Cannes 2008
Earlier today, the world’s press in Cannes finally got to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Here is a summary of the critical reaction:
Anne Thompson of Variety sets the scene outside the screening and says the film is ‘good enough’ and ‘fun’:
”Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull had its world premiere at Cannes at 1 PM May 18; the press anxiously streamed into the Lumiere early, afraid they would be shut out-and many were.
There were whoos and whistles before the screening started.The movie unspooled without the usual Cannes logo. The first hour plays like gangbusters and is really fun.
Harrison Ford has Indy down, even as a grizzled “gramps” dealing affectionately with Shia LaBeouf as a 60s greaser with a pompadour.
The movie will do blockbuster boxoffice, and whatever critical brickbats are still to come…”
Her Variety colleague Todd McCarthy says it ‘delivers the goods’:
”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.”
