Cosmopolis
So we've known for some time now that Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom will be opening the Cannes Film Festival (site) on May 16. Yesterday, the Festival announced that Thérèse Desqueyroux, Claude Miller's final film, will close this year's edition on May 27. Miller's adaptation of François Mauriac's novel Thérèse Desqueyroux features Audrey Tautou in the title role as well as Gilles Lellouche and Anaïs Demoustier.
And lineups for the Short Films Competition and the Cinéfondation Selection were unveiled on Tuesday. Jean-Pierre Dardenne will preside over the Jury.
Today, the Festival's announced the full lineup for the Official Selection of its 65th anniversary edition. This is a roundup-in-progress, obviously.
Update, 4/30: Seven films have been added to the lineup, rounded up here.
COMPETITION
Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom. The synopsis at the official site: "Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two 12-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing off-shore — and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in every which way. Bruce Willis plays the local sheriff, Captain Sharp. Edward Norton is a Khaki Scout troop leader, Scout Master Ward. Bill Murray and Frances McDormand portray the young girl's parents, Mr and Mrs Bishop. The cast also includes Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, and Bob Balaban; and introduces Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward as Sam and Suzy, the boy and girl." And you can watch the trailer on the film's page. Vulture's posted a 47-second clip. Update, 4/25: Movieline's got five more new clips.
Jacques Audiard's Rust & Bone. We've got the trailer on the film's page. From Celluloid Dreams: "Ali suddenly finds himself in charge of Sam, his 5-year-old son that he barely knows. Penniless and without friends, he leaves the north of France to seek shelter at his sister's in Antibes. Even though she and her husband do not have much money, they make a room for them in their garage and take care of Sam. Ali finds work as a bouncer at a local nightclub. After diffusing a fight one evening, he meets Stephanie a beautiful, self-confident woman. He takes her home and leaves her his number. But she is a princess and he is a poor fellow. Stephanie is a killer whale trainer at the local Marineland. After a terrible accident one day, Ali gets an unexpected phone call from Stephanie. When he sees her again she is crammed into a wheelchair. She has lost both her legs and her dreams. Ali will share genuine moments with her, without pity, and help her to live again…" With Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Corinne Masiero, Jean-Michel Correia, Bouli Lanners and Céline Sallette. Update, 4/23: The Playlist has a batch of images.
Léos Carax's Holy Motors. From Wild Bunch: "We follow 24 hours in the life of a being [Denis Lavant, DL] moving from life to life like a cold and solitary assassin moving from hit to hit. In each of these interwoven lives, the being possesses an entirely distinct identity: sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, sometimes youthful, sometimes old to the point of dying; sometimes destitute, sometimes wealthy. By turns murderer, beggar, company chairman, monstrous creature, worker, family man… It's clear that DL is playing roles, and plunging headfirst into each - but where are the cameras, the crew, the director? He seems horribly alone, exhausted from being chained to all these lives that are not his, from having to kill enemies that are not his enemies, having to embrace wives and children who are not his. But sometimes, conversely, we feel DL is wounded by having to leave, the moment his scene is over, other beings he would have liked to leave no longer. Where is his home, his family, his rest?" Also featuring Kylie Minogue, Eva Mendes, Edith Scob, Michel Piccoli, Jean-François Balmer and Carax himself.
David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis. Trailer and synopsis. The official site and a fan site. The adaptation of Don DeLillo's novel features Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Sarah Gadon, Mathieu Amalric, Jay Baruchel, Kevin Durand, K'Naan, Emily Hampshire, Samantha Morton and Paul Giamatti.
Lee Daniels's The Paperboy. From the official site: "Based on Pete Dexter's critically acclaimed novel, The Paperboy is the enthralling story of two brothers (Matthew McConaughey and Zac Efron) investigating a case involving a death row inmate (John Cusack). Convinced by a mysterious woman (Nicole Kidman) that the inmate is innocent, the brothers embark on a journey that is filled with betrayal." Also features David Oyelowo, Macy Gray and Scott Glenn. Update, 4/22: The Playlist has the first couple of images. Update, 4/23: Over 20 more.
Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly. Based on George V Higgins's novel Cogan's Trade. Brad Pitt plays a mob enforcer on the tail of two junkies who've robbed a poker game. Also features Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Bella Heathcote and Sam Shepard.
Matteo Garrone's Reality. From Kevin Jagernauth at the Playlist: "Starring Claudia Gerini, Aniello Arena and Loredana Simioli, exact plot details are still under wraps, but the as the title hints, this time around the writer/director is taking a look at reality television, and at the very least, this image suggests a lighter movie than the excellent but heavy Gomorrah.... Reality is slated for an August release in France, and there is no US distributor at the moment." Update, 4/22: From Camillo De Marco at Cineuropa: "Reality is the story of Luciano, a Neapolitan fishmonger who, in order to supplement his meager earnings gets by through small-time swindles together with his wife Maria. Thanks to his natural likeability, Luciano doesn't miss any opportunity to show off in front of his clients and numerous relatives. One day, encouraged by his family, he takes part in the audition for Big Brother. From that moment on his understanding of reality will never be the same again."
Michael Haneke's Amour. From Les films du losange: "Georges and Anne are in their 80s. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has an attack. The couple's bond of love is severely tested." With Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva and Isabelle Huppert.
John Hillcoat's Lawless. From ComingSoon: "Gangster meets Western in Lawless, the true story of the freewheelin' Bondurants brothers, bootlegging siblings taking the law into their own hands…. Brazen and fearless, these young rebel brothers helped build the American Dream in this exuberant tale of what was to become crime's first major gold rush." More details here. Nick Cave's screenplay is based on Matt Bondurant's novel The Wettest County in the World (the brothers were his grandfather and great-uncles). Features Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman and Mia Wasikowska. Update, 4/25: Twitch has a trailer (2'30").
Sergei Loznitsa's In the Fog. From the site (which also has a clip): "The principle roles are played by Vladimir Svirski (Belorussia), Vlad Abashin and Sergei Kolesov. The cast of the film also features the Romanian star Vlad Ivanov, as well as the Russian actors Boris Kamorzin, Mikhail Evlanov, Dmitry Bykovskiy, Nadezhda Markina and Julia Peresild. The action of the film, based on the novel by the Belorussian writer Vassily Bykov, takes place on the German occupied western frontiers of the USSR in 1942. A village railway worker, Sushenya, is wrongly accused of being a collaborator, and two partisans arrive from the forest to get revenge. When Sushenya attempts to prove his innocence, his humanity is put to the ultimate test, and he is forced to make a moral choice under immoral circumstances."
Hong Sang-soo's In Another Country. Isabelle Huppert "plays three characters each with the same name who each visit the same seaside town and meet the same local residents," reported Film Business Asia's Patrick Frater in February. "The rest of the cast, including Yu Jun-sang, are South Korean, but much of the dialogue is in English." Update, 4/22: The Playlist has a fresh image. Update, 4/25: The trailer.
Im Sang-soo's Taste of Money. The trailer's on the page. It's "about a young ambitious man who works for a Korean conglomerate owned by a powerful family," reports Wildgrounds. "Witnessing the moral corruption of this family, he's slowly getting involved in their private matters… Forcing him to choose his side. To survive in this harsh world. The film almost looks like a follow-up to The Housemaid, depicting once again the moral hypocrisy of the South Korean bourgeoisie." With Kim Hyo-jin, Kim Kang-woo, Yoon Yeo-jeong, Baek Yoon-sik and On Joo-wan.
Abbas Kiarostami's Like Someone in Love. First, the trailer's cleaned up and back online. From MK2: "Present day. A big city in Japan. A learned old scholar, a pretty young student who sells herself to pay for her studies and a jealous young man ready to explode. In the space of a day these three characters form unexpected relationships that will change their lives forever." With Rin Takanashi, Tadashi Okuno and Ryo Kase.
Ken Loach's The Angels' Share. From the Telegraph's David Gritten: "It's Loach's 11th nomination in 31 years — a record. He has won the Palme just once, in 2006, for his Irish political drama The Wind That Shakes the Barley. The Angels' Share is an upbeat story with a social agenda. In Glasgow, a jobless young man with a criminal record and a newborn son joins a group doing community service. On a day trip to a distillery in the countryside, he becomes fascinated by the whisky-making process, and sees a way out of his troubled life. 'It may seem strange to say this, but it's a real surprise to be going to Cannes again,' Loach said. 'It's a privilege ...we never take for granted. We just cross our fingers that the audience emerges with a collective smile.'"
Cristian Mungiu's Beyond the Hills. From Wild Bunch: "In an isolated Orthodox convent in Romania, Alina has just been reunited with Voichita after spending several years in Germany. The two young women have supported and loved each other since meeting as children in an orphanage. Alina wants Voichita to leave and return with her to Germany, but Voichita has found refuge in faith and a family in the nuns and their priest, and refuses. Alina cannot understand her friend's choice. In her attempt to win back Voichita's affection, she challenges the priest. She is taken to hospital and the people of the monastery start to suspect that she is possessed. When the doctors send her back, Alina is included in the monastic routine in the hope that she will find peace. But her condition worsens and they finally have to tie her to a wooden plank to prevent her from hurting herself. After ruling out all other options, the priest and nuns decide to read her prayers to deliver those possessed by the Evil One. They perform an exorcism, but the result is not what they had hoped, and Voichita begins to doubt the religious choice she has made. She decides to free Alina — but her decision comes too late. Inspired by the non fictional novels of Tatiana Niculescu Bran." Update, 4/24: More from Marin Apostol at Ioncinema.
Yousry Nasrallah's Baad el Mawkeaa (After the Battle). From MK2: "Once a member of one of the notorious armed groups that were coerced by the Egyptian Government to carry out violent attacks on protestors in Tahir Square on 2nd February 2011, Mahmoud has since lost his job, been subjected to beatings and humiliating treatment, and been ostracized by his own community that live close to the Pyramids. Mahmoud and his family are close to despair when he meets Reem, a secular young Egyptian divorcee and modern-thinker who works in advertising. Reem is a fervent ecologist who lives in a wealthy neighborhood. Their encounter will change the course of their lives forever."
Jeff Nichols's Mud. It's got "a stellar cast," notes the Austin Movie Blog's Charles Ealy, "including Reese Witherspoon, Matthew McConaughey, longtime Nichols collaborator Michael Shannon and Sam Shepard. Tye Sheridan, a Texan who played one of the children in Malick's The Tree of Life, plays one of two young boys who discover a fugitive on an island in the Mississippi River and try to help him."
Alain Resnais's Vous n'avez encore rien vu (You Haven't Seen Anything Yet). Loosely based on Jean Anouilh's play Eurydice. From Cineuropa's Fabien Lemercier: "Scripted by Laurent Herbiet and Alex Réval, the film is set in a playwright’s sumptuous old mansion in a little village in central France. In the large drawing room, the butler welcomes some friends whom the playwright, now deceased, asked to be summoned for the reading of his will and who all responded to the request. These 13 actors previously performed in his plays, including one in particular who was considered outstanding in her time. But is she still?" With Mathieu Amalric, Lambert Wilson, Michel Piccoli and Anne Consigny.
Carlos Reygadas's Post Tenebras Lux. According to the Wikipedia entry, the film "is semi-autobiographical, and the narrative takes place in Mexico, England, Spain and Belgium; all places where Reygadas has lived. Reygadas has described it as a work where 'reason will intervene as little as possible, like an expressionist painting where you try to express what you're feeling through the painting rather than depict what something looks like.'" And it's Ioncinema's most anticipated film of 2012. Related: Raya Martin on Reygadas in the new massive Issue 50 of Cinema Scope. Update, 4/22: Eric Lavellee has a collection of new stills at Ioncinema.
Walter Salles's On the Road. Character posters. From MK2: "Just after his father's death, Sal Paradise, an aspiring New York writer, meets Dean Moriarty, a devastatingly charming ex-con, married to the very liberated and seductive Marylou. Sal and Dean bond instantly. Determined not to get locked in to a constricted life, the two friends cut their ties and take to the road with Marylou. Thirsting for freedom, the three young people head off in search of the world, of other encounters, and of themselves. Based on the novel by Jack Kerouac." With Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, Tom Sturridge, Danny Morgan, Alice Braga, Elisabeth Moss, Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen.
Ulrich Seidl's Paradies: Liebe. From the official site: "The film tells the story of two women, mother and daughter. Sugar Mama, the first story, introduces Teresa, a 40-year-old care worker for the disabled. She flies to Mombasa, Kenya, to find love, luck and a black lover. Melanie, the second story, tells the story of Teresa's daughter. The adolescent is 13-years old, overweight, and pretty sassy. While her mother is on holiday in Kenya, she spends her summer at a weight loss camp in the countryside in Lower Austria. There she falls in love with the camp director, known simply as the Doctor, a man 40 years older than her. The doctor rejects her advances, knowing that they can never be together. Paradise is about young women and old men, and old women and young men. The movie explores what it means to be overweight and the market value of sexuality in our society. It explores the longing for love." Update, 4/30: Barbara Petsch talks with Seidl for Die Presse (in German).
Thomas Vinterberg's Jagten (The Hunt). From Trust Nordisk: "Following a tough divorce, 40-year-old Lucas has a new girlfriend, a new job and is in the process of reestablishing his relationship with his teenage son, Marcus. But things go awry. Not a lot. Just a slight comment. A random lie. And as the snow falls and the Christmas lights are lit, the lie spreads like an invisible virus. The shock and mistrust gets out of hand, and the small community suddenly finds itself in a collective state of hysteria, while Lucas fights a lonely fight for his life and dignity." With Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Lars Ranthe and Susse Vold.
UN CERTAIN REGARD
Ashim Ahluwalia's Miss Lovely. In an interview for Dear Cinema, Ahluwalia tells Nandita Dutta: "Miss Lovely is set in the Bombay of the mid-1980s. It's the story of two brothers, Vicky and Sonu, who produce sleazy C grade films. In a sense, they are petty criminals, they interpolate illegal sex scenes into their films and are always running from the police. Then they both end up falling for the same woman. That's their downfall. It's a tale of betrayal and doomed love."
Juan Andrés Arango's La Playa. From the San Sebastian Film Festival: "Tomas, a young black boy driven from Colombia's Pacific coast by the war, tries to get by in Bogota, a racist city with 8 million inhabitants. Looking for Jairo, his younger brother lost in the streets, Tomas sets out on an initiatory voyage that will test his courage in the face of fear, nostalgia and the wounds of the past to make a new start 2,600 above sea level."
Nabil Ayouch's Les Chevaux de Dieu (God's Horses). Very difficult to find anything on this one. Anyone?
Catherine Corsini's Trois Mondes (Three Worlds). According to a synopsis at Premiere, it seems to be about a young man who's on the verge of marrying his boss's daughter and take over his car dealership. On his last night out as a bachelor, he drinks — and then drives. The film seems to examine the consequences.
Brandon Cronenberg's Antiviral. First, yes, he's David's son. Back in September, Twitch's Todd Brown reported: "An expansion of themes and ideas from his short Broken Tulips, Antiviral is a biting satire of celebrity culture that takes its cues from the elder Cronenberg's tradition of body horror and the ultra-realistic techno-futurism of latter day William Gibson. The picture is set in a near future world very similar to our own with the exception that celebrity obsession has now reached such a scale that the very famous are striking deals with scientific labs who culture their viral infections and sell them to fans desperate for a more intimate connection to their idols. You want to carry the exact strain of herpes that your favorite pop star is infected with? They can do that." Here's more in a followup report.
Laurent Cantet, Benicio Del Toro, Julio Medem, Gaspar Noé, Elia Suleiman, Juan Carlos Tabío and Pablo Trapero's 7 Days in Havana. Trailer's on the page. From Wild Bunch: "Each chapter depicts a day of the week through the extraordinary lives of its characters. A world away from the familiar clichés, the film aims to express the soul of Havana and its diversity in touching, entertaining and funny style. All seven stories have independent plots, but the connections between them create a powerful dramatic unity. Emblematic Havana landmarks form the backdrop to the chapters in which several characters appear more than once, organically connecting the narratives and demonstrating that in Havana all social spheres intersect."
Benoît Delépine and Gustave de Kervern's Le grand soir. Two half-brothers, played by Benoît Poelvoorde and Albert Dupontel, head out on a road trip in search of their father. With Yolande Moreau and Brigitte Fontaine.
Xavier Dolan's Laurence Anyways. Trailer's on the page. From MK2: "Laurence, a young French teacher and soon-to-be-published author, enjoys an intense and mutually loving relationship with his fiancée, Fred. But on the day after his 30th birthday, Laurence confesses to Fred that he longs to become a woman, asking her to support him in this transformation. Despite her best efforts, Fred is too hurt by this development, and they break up. Each of them tries to build a new life, without thinking of the past. Five years later, Laurence sends a copy of his first book of poetry to Fred." With Nathalie Baye, Melvil Poupaud, Monia Chokri and Suzanne Clément.
Michel Franco's Despues de Lucia (After Lucia).
Joachim Lafosse's Aimer a Perdre la Raison. In 2010, Nancy Tartaglione reported for Screen that the film was "inspired by the true story of a mother who murdered her five children before attempting suicide. The events sent shockwaves throughout Belgium at the time and the film focuses on the relationship between a benevolent doctor who raises his friend’s brother as if he were his own son. When the boy grows up, he falls in love and starts a family but the object of his love is drawn into a web of jealousy and blame, leading to the inevitable tragic end." With Gérard Depardieu, Tahar Rahim and Émilie Dequenne. Update, 4/22: The Playlist has a fresh image.
Lou Ye's Mystery. Melanie Goodfellow for Screen in February: "'It's Ye's first film officially shot in China since a five-year ban,' comments Wild Bunch's Vincent Maraval. Ye received the ban after making Summer Palace, set against the backdrop of the Tiananmen Square massacre and its aftermath. Mystery revolves around an investigation into the mysterious death of a young woman involved with a married businessman." With Hao Lei (Summer Palace) and Qin Hao (Spring Fever).
Darezhan Omirbayev's Student. Not much news yet on this latest work by "the Kazakh film director that has been critically acclaimed by European media the most," as Gulnara Abikeeva wrote in KinoKultura in 2003. "Jean-Luc Godard named Darezhan Omirbayev 'one of the most outstanding film directors of today.'"
Moussa Touré's La Pirogue. The third feature from the Senegalese filmmaker in 20 years. Tambay has the synopsis (and more) at indieWIRE: "A fishing village in the outer suburbs of Dakar. Many pirogues [small, flat-bottomed boats] set off from there to reach the Spanish territory of the Canary Islands, after an often deadly crossing. Baye Laye is captain of a fishing pirogue. He knows the sea. He doesn't want to leave, but he has no choice. He has to take 30 men to Spain. These men don't all understand each other. Some have never even seen the sea and nobody knows what awaits them…"
Pablo Trapero's Elefante Blanco. Martina Gusman plays a young social worker who teams up with two priests to fight to have social housing built on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. But both a drug cartel and the church try to stop them.
Sylvie Verheyde's Confession of a Child of the Century. From Wild Bunch: "The Napoleonic Wars are over. Octave loves his mistress Elise — until he witnesses her being unfaithful. Despair leads to decadence. Influenced by his friend Desgenais, Octave becomes the perfect libertine, although this new life fails to satisfy his thirst for the absolute. Then he meets Brigitte, a young, selfless widow. He has found a new love. At first, she tries to resist. Eventually she gives in. They are inlove, but Octave is quickly overcome by suspicion. Doesn't every woman betray her lover sooner or later? Isn't Desgenais right when he claims thatlove doesn't exist? In a world where no one any longer believes in anything, can Octave find in his love for Brigitte the strength to believe in the future?" With Charlotte Gainsbourg, Pete Doherty, August Diehl, Volker Bruch, Lily Cole, Joséphine de la Baume and Rhian Rees.
Koji Wakamatsu's 11.25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate. We posted the trailer back in October. From Wild Bunch: "On November 25th 1970, a man committed ritual suicide inside the Tokyo headquarters of the Japanese Ministry of Defense. The man was Yukio Mishima, one of Japan’s greatest and most celebrated novelists.With four members of his own private army — the Tatenokai — Mishima had taken the commandant hostage and called upon the assembled military outside the Ministry to overthrow their society and restore the powers of the Emperor. When the soldiers mocked and jeered Mishima, he cut short his speech and withdrew to the commandant’s office where he committed seppuku — the samurai warrior's death — tearing open his belly with a ceremonial knife before being beheaded by one of his colleagues. What was Mishima truly trying to express through his actions?…"
Benh Zeitlin's Beasts of the Southern Wild. See the Sundance roundup. Yesterday, the San Francisco Film Society announced that Zeitlin would be the recipient of the inaugural Graham Leggat Award at the 55th San Francisco International Film Festival, currently on through May 3.
OUT OF COMPETITION
Dario Argento's Dracula. Midnight screening. Twitch's Todd Brown back in December: "A one-time titan of international genre film, Dario Argento has been working on a 3D version of the Dracula story for a while now. And while the casting of Rutger Hauer as Van Helsing gave brief cause for hope all signs since have been poor. And now the film's sales trailer has been posted on YouTube and, well... it's more of a warning than a promo."
Bernardo Bertolucci's Io e te (Me and You). Back in December 2010, Variety's Nick Vivarelli reported that the film is "an intimate coming-of-age drama based on bestselling short novel Io e te by Italo author Niccolò Ammaniti, who will co-pen." It's "largely set in a Rome basement where an introverted adolescent hides out, having told his parents he has gone on a ski trip. In this hideout the boy gets an unexpected visit from an older half-sister he barely knows who is strung out on heroin and needs his help." In March 2011, the AFP recorded Bertolucci's comments on working in 3D for the first time: "I want to use 3D in a different way from what we have seen in films like Avatar or other films characterized by special effects. I want to sit on the flying carpet that this technology offers... I want to use the technology to go even more in depth on the characters." Update, 4/23: The Playlist has a first batch of images.
Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath's Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted. The site. And yes, it's also in 3D.
Gilles Jacob and Samuel Faure's documentary Une Journée Particulière. It's about Cannes itself and will screen on May 20 in conjunction with the festival's 65th anniversary celebration.
Philip Kaufman's Hemingway & Gellhorn. From Wikipedia: "Retelling the story of one of America's most famous literary couples [Ernest Hemingway and journalist Martha Gelhorn], the movie begins in 1936 when the pair first met in a bar in Florida. He was already a famous writer and she was one of the greatest war correspondents of the 20th Century. Their five-year marriage first saw them travel to Spain to record some of the most famous reports on the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939. Gellhorn was the only woman to ask Hemingway for a divorce and she inspired him to write his novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls." With Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman in the title roles, David Strathairn as John Dos Passos, Molly Parker as Pauline Pfeiffer, Parker Posey as Mary Welsh Hemingway, Rodrigo Santoro as Zarra, Mark Pellegrino as Max Eastman, Peter Coyote as Maxwell Perkins, Lars Ulrich as Joris Ivens, Robert Duvall as a Russian general and Tony Shalhoub as Koltsov.
Takashi Miike's Ai To Makoto (The Legend of Love & Sincerity). Trailer's on the page. Midnight screening. Based on Ikki Kajiwara's manga; we posted a synopsis in March.
Claude Miller's Thérèse Desqueyroux. See the top of this entry.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Fatih Akin's Der Müll im Garten Eden (Garbage in the Garden of Eden). From the site: "Ten years ago it was decided to dump waste in the hills above the Black Sea village of Camburnu. The villagers' struggle against the Turkish state has lasted as long — the mayor and the whole village against Ministers of State, judges and financial interests. How can they possibly succeed against these powerful institutions?"
Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Mekong Motel. In February, the Playlist's Simon Dang believed that this may be the project Apichatpong's been planning with Tilda Swinton centering "on the eponymous river and 'address the relationship between man and water, the catastrophic flooding which is blamed on Chinese dams and diseases spread by industrial-scale pig farming.' 'It's definitely not going to be a film that will just have a foreign movie star for the sake of it,' Weerasethakul previously told the Guardian. 'It's going to be an exchange of ideas, of images, of ... I don't know. It's like a game for me: the river, the pigs, and Tilda Swinton.'"
Laurent Bouzereau's Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir. First reviews were rounded up in a Daily Briefing in September.
Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon's The Central Park Five. Based on the book: "In this spellbinding account of the real facts of the Central Park jogger case, Sarah Burns powerfully reexamines one of New York City's most notorious crimes and its aftermath."
Sébastien Lifshitz's Les Invisibles. Even the French sites don't seem to have anything on this one yet.
Claudine Nougaret and Raymond Depardon's Journal de France. From Wild Bunch: "Travelling alone, internationally acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Raymond Depardon spent six years capturing his home country with a large format camera. This long, solitary road trip provided fertile ground for the creation — with his long-time partner and collaborator Claudine Nougaret — of an extraordinary travel journal. The journey returned Depardon to important places from his past as a reporter — Chad, Venice, Cannes — and to a wealth of previously unseen footage from his archive — an interview with Jean-Bedel Bokassa, film of Jean-Luc Godard, extraordinary glimpses of private and public life. Intimate, compelling, revelatory, Journal de France offers a unique portrait of a country and its landscapes, an overview of a truly remarkable career and a fascinating resume of the development of the photographic art over the past half century."
Nelson Pereira Dos Santos's A Musica Segundo Tom Jobim. A doc on the musician. The Festival de Cinema Luso-Brasileiro has more — in Portuguese. The Harvard Film Archive series Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Cinema Novo and Beyond opens tomorrow and runs through May 7.
Gonzalo Tobal's Villegas. From the Netherlands Film Institute: "In this debut feature two cousins meet again after a couple years. In their car, on the occasion of their grandpa's burial, they get lost together in the infinite pampean landscape. The film follows their reactions to the journey and the small conflicts, unforeseen events and emotions that slowly arise."
COMMENTARY
The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw: "The relative absence of women in the list of directors is, however, pretty dismal: the competition is an all-male affair, and there are just two women film-makers in Un Certain Regard: Sylvie Verheyde, with Confession of a Child of the Century, and Catherine Corsini, with Three Worlds."
At the Playlist, Oliver Lyttelton has notes on some of the surprises in the lineup — and more than a few notable absences, too.
Update, 4/23: Robert Koehler for the Film Society of Lincoln Center: "The pattern is clear, of a (semi) old boys' network, a sharply drawn camp of favored filmmakers."
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