Chinese language - Cannes film festival hits 60

ENTERTAINMENT / 60th Cannes Film Festival






Cannes film festival hits 60

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-05-16 15:24





Workers on the roof of the Festival Palace use ropes to position the
official poster of the 60th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes May 11,
2007.[Reuters]

Cannes Film Festival turns 60 this year, and the diamond milestone means
a long line of stars jostling with lesser-known names of arthouse cinema
for media attention and fans' adoration on the famed red carpet.

The opening film gives a taste of both worlds, with respected Chinese
director Wong Kar Wai presenting his English-language movie "My Blueberry
Nights" featuring singer Norah Jones, Jude Law and Natalie Portman.

The glamourous Wednesday evening gala screening is the start of 11 days
of networking, air kissing, dealmaking and backstabbing in the sun-kissed
Riviera resort, host to the grande dame of the world's film festivals.

The main competition lineup features over 20 films, including five U.S.
productions and heavyweight directors like Quentin Tarantino, the Coen
brothers, Gus Van Sant, Sarajevo-born Emir Kusturica and Russia's
Alexander Sokurov.

Critics are calling the selection one of the strongest in recent memory,
although competitions have a habit of promising more than they deliver.

"I think this is probably the Cannes selection that has excited me most
in a decade," said Mark Cousins, a leading film critic and Cannes veteran.

"It is because of the likes of Van Sant, Sokurov, Kusturica and Wong -
these are major directors who have consistently delivered quality films
over a number of years."

He expects Van Sant and the Coen brothers to stand out among the U.S.
entrants, while Tarantino's "Death Proof," already in U.S. cinemas as
part of a double bill, was a box office flop.

In the race for the Palme d'Or top prize they are up against more obscure
film makers like France's Catherine Breillat and Christophe Honore, Kim
Ki-duk and Lee Chang-dong of South Korea, Romania's Cristian Mungiu and
Ulrich Seidl of Austria.

MUSIC, HEALTHCARE, ENVIRONMENT

As always, the competition risks turning into a sideshow, with Hollywood
sequel "Ocean's 13," starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, premiering in
Cannes, and Angelina Jolie promoting "A Mighty Heart" based on the story
of slain reporter Daniel Pearl.

They are just two among hundreds of pictures being promoted in Cannes,
where the booming market has made it a key date in film executives'
calendars.

There are no major blockbusters at the festival this year, unlike 2005's
Star Wars sequel and 2006's "The Da Vinci Code," which went on to gross
$758 million worldwide despite a critical mauling in Cannes.

There are also few overtly political films, although Michael Moore's
documentary "SiCKO," about the U.S. healthcare system, is likely to cause
a stir just as anti-Bush polemic "Fahrenheit 9/11" did when it won the
2004 Palme d'Or.

Heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio is in town with "The 11th Hour," his
environmental documentary that is the latest sign of Hollywood's growing
preoccupation with global warming.

And although no British film appears in the main competition in 2007,
after Ken Loach won the Palme d'Or in 2006 with "The Wind That Shakes the
Barley," some of its biggest musical acts are set to light up the silver
screen.

Martin Scorsese is expected to present clips from his upcoming
documentary about the Rolling Stones, "Control" looks at the life and
premature death of Joy Division's Ian Curtis and "The Future is
Unwritten" examines the Clash's Joe Strummer.

U2 frontman Bono is expected in Cannes for "U2 3D," another
"rockumentary" on the Croisette this year.










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