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2013 Cannes Film Festival - Day 6 Roundup

2013-05-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

Day 6 - Monday, May 20

Recap of the sixth day of the 66th Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes), which runs until Sunday May 26, 2013.

Screening In Competition today:
- From Japan, Wara No Tate 藁の楯 (Shield of Straw) by Takashi Miike.
  
  The second appearance in the main competition for this prolific director.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  "Kill Kunihide Kiyomaru, and I will pay you 1 billion Yen". This is the ad placed in all the main newspapers in Japan. In placing the ad, the powerful multi-billionnaire Ninagawa puts an irresistible price on the head of the man he believes to be his granddaughter's killer. Realising he has become a target for millions of people, Kiyomaru turns himself in at the Fukuoka Police Station. Four officers are dispatched to bring Kiyomaru back to Tokyo, risking their own life, but now any number of assassins lie in wait on the 1.200km journey. The trip becomes a hellish chase, with potential killers at every turn. Will the police get Kiyomaru to Tokyo to face justice, or will justice of a different nature prevail?
- From France, Un Château en Italie (A Castle in Italy) by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi.
  
  Making her Cannes debut with her third feature film. Also the only female director in the main competition this year.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  Louise meets Nathan, her dreams resurface. It's also the story of her ailing brother, their mother, and the destiny of a leading family of wealthy Italian industrialists. The story of a family falling apart, a world coming to an end and love beginning.
In the Un Certain Regard section:
- From Palestine, Omar by Hany Abu-Assad.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  Omar is accustomed to dodging surveillance bullets to cross the separation wall to visit his secret love Nadia. But occupied Palestine knows neither simple love nor clear-cut war. On the other side of the wall, the sensitive young baker Omar becomes a freedom fighter who must face painful choices about life and manhood. When Omar is captured after a deadly act of resistance, he falls into a cat-and-mouse game with the military police. Suspicion and betrayal jeopardize his longtime trust with accomplices and childhood friends Amjad and Tarek, Nadia’s militant brother. Omar’s feelings quickly become as torn apart as the Palestinian landscape. But it’s soon evident that everything he does is for his love of Nadia.
- From the USA, As I Lay Dying by James Franco.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  Based on the acclaimed novel by William Faulkner, AS I LAY DYING follows a family through their turmoil-filled journey to bring their mother to her gravesite.
Competition Film

Wara No Tate 藁の楯 (Shield of Straw)

directed by Takashi Miike

Japan

Critical response:

"The real shame is that the man responsible for some of the smartest, most insane, exuberant, boundary-pushing Japanese movies of the past decade has brought the story to life with such flat, joyless direction. "Brian Clark (Twitch)

"Never recovers impetus after a shaky opening and incessantly repeats the same tired conservations, just in several different settings with numbing regularity."John Bleasedale (CineVue)

"Perhaps the most interesting thing about Shield of Straw is not its Palme d’Or-winning potential (which is zero), but whether it will catch the eye of any Hollywood executives at Cannes who are in the market to remake something foreign."Robbie Collin (The Telegraph)

"Sleek and engrossing, though awfully drawn out and short on psychological complexity, this is a straight-up police action thriller that adheres to a very familiar Hollywood template."David Rooney (The Hollywood Reporter)

"Feels out of place in Cannes competition, but would be right at home on local megaplex screens or in the hands of exotic thriller distribs abroad, where it’s ripe for a more energetic remake."Peter Debruge (Variety)

"How it got into competition at Cannes, particularly in a year of such strong competition, is a mystery. An action film that induces narcolepsy in its audience is no action movie at all. "Jo Ann Titmarsh (Flickering Myth)

Competition Film

Un Château en Italie (A Castle in Italy)

directed by Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi

France

Critical response:

Check back for updates.

Un Certain Regard Film

Omar

directed by Hany Abu-Assad

Palestine

Critical response:

"All the actors have an easy confidence that’s vital for their frequent closeups, underscoring their humanity rather than their function as illustrations of a well-known conflict."Jay Weissberg (Variety)

Un Certain Regard Film

As I Lay Dying

directed by James Franco

USA

Critical response:

"As I Lay Dying is by no means an easy watch, but it’s certainly easier to watch than the book is to read."Catherine Bray (Film4)

"A rarified art film all the way, one that will divide even brainy students and specialized cinema types, this is by a long way the best of the eight features the mind-bogglingly prolific actor-director-writer had made and is, as such, a big surprise."Todd McCarthy (The Hollywood Reporter)

"Franco’s aesthetic choices result in a ponderously paced slice of Southern Gothic that becomes something of an endurance test."Allan Hunter (Screen Daily)

See our other #Cannes2013 coverage:

2013 Cannes Film Festival - Day 5 Roundup

2013-05-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

Grand Théâtre Lumière © Brian Solis

Day 5 - Sunday, May 19

Things are moving along quickly now, one third of the way through. Yesterday we had what appears to be an early favorite for the Palme d'Or emerge, but there are still a dozen contenders left to go. Let's see how today's films fared with the critics.

Here's a recap of the fifth day of the 66th Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes), which runs until Sunday May 26, 2013.

Screening In Competition today:
- From the Netherlands, Borgman by Alex van Warmerdam.
  
  His Cannes debut. Also the first Dutch film in competition since 1974.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  Borgman’s arrival in the tree-lined avenues of an exclusive residential area is the beginning of a series of unsettling events around the carefully constructed facade of a wealthy couple, their three children and their nanny.
- From the USA, Inside Llewyn Davis by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen.
  
  The previous Palme d'Or winning duo's eighth time in competition.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  The life of a young folk singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.
In the Un Certain Regard section:
- From Cambodia and France, L'Image Manquante (The Missing Picture) by Rithy Panh.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  For many years, I have been looking for the missing picture: a photograph taken between 1975 and 1979 by the Khmer Rouge when they ruled over Cambodia...On its own, of course, an image cannot prove mass murder, but it gives us cause for thought, prompts us to meditate, to record History. I searched for it vainly in the archives, in old papers, in the country villages of Cambodia. Today I know: this image must be missing. I was not really looking for it; would it not be obscene and insignificant? So I created it. What I give you today is neither the picture nor the search for a unique image, but the picture of a quest: the quest that cinema allows.
- From the Philippines, Death March by Adolfo Alix Jr..
  
  Official Synopsis:
  Bataan. 1942. Thousands of Filipino and American soldiers were forced to march in the blistering heat amidst disease, starvation and maltreatment by the displeasured and disgusted Japanese guards.
Competition Film

Borgman

directed by Alex van Warmerdam

Netherlands

Quotes from the press conference:

"It has something to do with the fact that I'm getting older. Some people get milder when they get older but I have the feeling I'm getting more and more nastier. In that sense I'm a little bit disappointed about how nasty the film has become."Alex van Warmerdam on the tone of the film.

"I wanted to show evil as normal people, not creepy people or zombies, but normal people you could meet at the supermarket."Alex van Warmerdam

"I'm glad we didn't reheasrse a lot because everything existed then and there, and I think that's the best way."Actress Hadewych Minis

Critical response:

"It's certainly dark, sterile and deadpan, along with pretty much every stylistic choice in the movie, but also whip-smart, inventive and often very surprising."Brian Clark (Twitch)

"Textually rich if ponderously slow in the last thirty minutes, Borgman entertains you to the fullest while giving you much to chew on."Alex Griffith (Next Projection)

"An obsidian black comedy with a surreal and genuinely vicious 'eat the rich' ethic that might just pinch a prize."John Bleasdale(CineVue)

"A quirky study of the unrelenting grip of evil, the film is beautifully made, though stronger in its intriguing setup than its muddy resolution."David Rooney (The Hollywood Reporter)

"Stitch together a Bunuellian satire of the bourgeoisie with the enigmatic unease of a Michael Haneke drama and the absurdist humour of Roy Andersson and you begin to have the measure of Borgman."Allan Hunter (Screen Daily)

"A sly, insidious and intermittently hilarious domestic thriller that is likely to remain one of the most daring selections of this year’s Cannes competish. "Guy Lodge (Variety)

"A playful icy cocktail, which confirms in the beam of Cannes' powerful projectors the status of a cult author."Fabien Lemercier (Cineuropa)

Competition Film

Inside Llewyn Davis

directed by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

USA

Quotes from the press conference:

"Obviously it's important and a challenge when you have a specific character. We were screwed until we met Oscar. "Ethan Coen on casting

"We think about actors a lot when we write. Sometimes we write parts with actors in mind. You think about who's the right actor for the character, and also wouldn't it be more interesting to see something you haven't seen them do. "Joel Coen on casting

"I have met a ton of people during my time in the music industry. There are many talented people who never get heard. The most important thing is to not get caught up in the rat race. "Justin Timberlake on success and failure

"I'm very nervous of singing in front of people. But we all met and T-Bone and Joel and Ethan have an amazing ability to make you feel completely comfortable. "Carey Mulligan

Critical response:

"Above all, “Inside Llewyn Davis” is a revelatory showcase for Isaac, who sings with an angelic voice and turns a potentially unlikable character into a consistently relatable, unmistakably human presence."Scott Foundas (Variety)

"While music permeates the film, viewers expecting a film a clef featuring lightly fictionalized versions of embryonic music all-stars will have to make an adjustment."Todd McCarthy (The Hollywood Reporter)

"An ode to art for art's sake, “Inside Llewyn Davis” is the most innocent movie of the Coens' career, which in their case is a downright radical achievement."Eric Kohn(IndieWire)

"The success or failure of the film resides on Oscar Isaac, and he absolutely wears the Coens' precise dialogue and tone like a glove, and delivers a melancholy, worn performance that's equally funny as well."Kevin Jagernauth (The Playlist)

"A top-to-tail delight and the strongest movie to play in competition so far."Jamie Graham (Total Film)

"For such a modest film, Inside Llewyn Davis is as rich as anything the Coens has done before. "David Cox (Film4)

"The very talented Isaac imbues Llewyn with just the right amount of crassness to make him an interesting character without making him unlikeable."Ryland Aldrich (Twitch)

"That the Coens are able to move swiftly and seamlessly between the pathos and the satire gives the film depth without taking away from any of its unforced ease in the storytelling."Barbara Scharres (RogerEbert.com)

"The film can sometimes meander a bit, bringing on supporting characters that are colourful without being especially memorable, but taken as a whole the movie’s seemingly lackadaisical storyline compassionately but also humorously reveals how he became the artist that he is, successful or not."Tim Grierson (Screen Daily)

Un Certain Regard Film

L'Image Manquante (The Missing Picture)

directed by Rithy Panh

Cambodia, France

Critical response:

"The director has said that in order to turn the page, you must first write it, you can't turn a blank page. With this film, we can say that his mission is accomplished."Céline Louis (Orange.com) [translated from French]

"To his own powerful memory-driven narration, Panh alternates increasingly elaborate scenes of his clay figures in the camp environment with sequences of archival footage or those in which his cartoon-like figures are juxtaposed against filmic backgrounds. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. "Barbara Scharres (RogerEbert.com)

"A deliberately distanced but often harrowing vision of a living hell."Neil Young (The Hollywood Reporter)

Un Certain Regard Film

Death March

directed by Adolfo Alix Jr.

Philippines

Critical response:

"by the time it grinds its way to an inevitably bleak conclusion, “Death March” has long since exhausted its ideas and the expressive potential of its daring but ineffectual stylistic devices."Justin Chang (Variety)

"It is best appreciated almost as a dance of seething, scrambling, stumbling bodies, to the cacophonous chorus of groans, pleas, and exploding shells."Barbara Scharres (RogerEbert.com)

I survived Death March #Cannes13 (40% of audience did not)
— David Poland (@DavidPoland) May 19, 2013

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2013 Cannes Film Festival - Day 4 Roundup

2013-05-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

Cannes Palais des Festivals et des Congrès

Day 4 - Saturday, May 18

There's been plenty of excitement off-screen at Cannes, with gunfire and a late night jewel heist happening right on the Croisette. Fortunately nobody was hurt. Let's hope the films take back center stage today.

Here's a recap of the fourth day of the 66th Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes), which runs until Sunday May 26, 2013.

Screening In Competition today:
- From the USA, Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian) by Arnaud Desplechin.
  
  The French director's fifth time in competition. He returns with an English language drama starring Mathieu Amalric and Benicio Del Toro.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  At the end of World War II, Jimmy Picard, a Native American Blackfoot who fought in France, is admitted to Topeka Military Hospital in Kansas - an institution specializing in mental illness. Jimmy suffers from numerous symptoms: dizzy spells, temporary blindness, hearing loss... In the absence of any physiological causes, he is diagnosed as schizophrenic. Nevertheless, the hospital management decides to seek the opinion of Georges Devereux, a French anthropologist, psychoanalyst and specialist in Native American culture.
- From Japan, Soshite Chichi Ni Naru (Like Father, Like Son) by Kore-Eda Hirokazu.
  
  This is Kore-Eda's third film selected to the main competition at Cannes.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  The moving story of a man who finally faces himself when he encounters an unexpected wall for the first time in his life.
In the Un Certain Regard section:
- From France, Grand Central by Rebecca Zlotowski.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  Gary is young, agile, a quick learner. He's one of those who's never been promised anything. After a succession of odd jobs, he's taken on at a nuclear power plant. There, amongst the reactors and their high doses of radioactivity, he finally finds what he's been looking for: money, a team, a family. But the team also includes Karole, Toni's wife, with whom he falls in love. Forbidden love and radiation slowly contaminate Gary. Each day is menacing.
- From Hong Kong and China, Bends by Flora Lau.
  
  Competing for the Camera d'Or with her directorial debut.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  BENDS straddles the Hong Kong--Shenzhen border and tells the story of ANNA, an affluent housewife and FAI, her chauffeur, and their unexpected friendship as they each negotiate the pressures of Hong Kong life and the city’s increasingly complex relationship to mainland China.
Competition Film

Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian)

directed by Arnaud Desplechin

USA

Critical response:

"Unlike the murky process of psychoanalysis, Arnaud Desplechin’s new drama appears all too understandable and surprisingly conventional for an entry in the Competition."Alex Griffith (Next Projection)

"An absorbing account of the minutiae of therapy and the observation that it is the man’s soul rather than his skull that requires attention."Richard Mowe (Eye For Film)

"Playing to virtually none of his strengths either as a stylist and a storyteller, it's a curious misfire from a director whom one had hoped would return stronger to English-language fare."Guy Lodge (In Contention)

"Devereux is played by the lovely French actor Mathieu Amalric in what one can only hope will go down as his worst ever turn. With the goggle-glasses and endless, inexplicable ebullience, it's less a performance than an audition for some Saturday Night Live skit."Catherine Shoard (The Guardian)

"It still feels like a Desplechin film, albeit one that's had anything too conceptually advanced expunged from the script in case the audience get lost, and has been accidentally played at half speed."David Jenkins (Little White Lies)

"At their best, Desplechin’s films exude a sense of mystery and wonder; the only mystery here is what attracted him to this woefully un-cinematic material."Mike D'Angelo (The AV Club)

"The whole project is saved largely thanks to the subtext of ethnic discrimination that runs through the film, and two riveting central performances, which overcome a wobbly start to find emotional balance by the final reel."Deborah Young (The Hollywood Reporter)

"Desplechin opens up new horizons with "Jimmy P", more serene, a new frontier whose contours he does not yet perfectly know, but where the Great Spirit of the Indians will perhaps accompany him. "Fabien Lemercier (Cineuropa)

Competition Film

Soshite Chichi Ni Naru そして父になる (Like Father, Like Son)

directed by Kore-Eda Hirokazu

Japan

Critical response:

"Once you get over the fact that the set-up involves a slight cliche about the authenticity of the humble life, this is a humane and moving film about what parents want from their children."Catherine Bray (Film4)

"Kore-eda, the last great humanist of Japanese cinema, has crafted a film so delicately judged that it manages to bring its audience to tears one moment and put them in thralls of laughter the next"David Neary (Next Projection)

"This is a warm and moving film, with excellent performances all round and a superb soundtrack."Jo Ann Titmarsh (Flickering Myth)

"Although the journey Ryota has to take occasionally treads a familiar path, there are enough moments of genuine pathos and humour to carry the occasional flimsiness of the conceit in interesting and novel directions."John Bleasdale (CineVue)

"It’s quite obvious from the first where this is going. Kore-eda’s plots are simple and direct; one could almost say childlike."Barbara Scharres (RogerEbert.com)

"It’s nearly impossible not to respond on some level to material this emotionally freighted, and Kore-eda’s understanding of young children is typically astute, but Like Father, Like Son has the overall depth and tenor of a Lifetime movie. "Mike D'Angelo (The AV Club)

"Kore-eda has made the most of his purposefully modest cinematic constructs. Like Father, Like Son, his latest in a long line of unassuming family dramas, is one of his most heartbreaking works yet."Jordan Cronk (The House Next Door)

"A characteristically low-key but supple treatment of familial bonds, expectations and responsibilities that reverberates with heartrending impact."Maggie Lee (Variety)

Sustained applause and sniffles after Hirokazu Kore-eda's glorious family drama Like Father, Like Son; best comp film so far #Cannes2013
— Robbie Collin (@robbiereviews) May 17, 2013

Un Certain Regard Film

Grand Central

directed by Rebecca Zlotowski

France

Critical response:

"A chilling reminder of how we create our energy and how much we are prepared to risk in order to produce it."Jo Ann Titmarsh (Flickering Myth)

"Bolstered by a wonderful ensemble cast and a smartly-written script, Zlotowski's Grand Central is a fascinating film on an urgent and seldom-explored situation."John Bleasdale (CineVue)

"While Zlotowski benefits from the presence of a number of critically acclaimed French actors this is the sort sophomore jump that will cement her status as one to watch within the global filmmaking community."Gregory Ellwood (Awards Campaign)

"It’s a nice premise, and there’s poise, drama and poetry in the way it’s played out, but the story and characters are too thin, in the end, to achieve meltdown."Lee Marshall (Screen Daily)

Un Certain Regard Film

Bends

directed by Flora Lau

Hong Kong, China

Critical response:

"While there isn’t much of a narrative here, the two leads are effortless at portraying worried souls who, through no real fault of their own, find themselves in very different binds."Tim Grierson (Screen Daily)

"Distinguished by understated lead performances from Carina Lau and Chen Kun, and by the coolly elegant visuals of cinematographer Christopher Doyle, this is a quiet film that reflects in human terms the uneasy symbiosis of Hong Kong with mainland China."David Rooney (The Hollywood Reporter)

"Beautifully assembled by a top-pedigree production crew, but it remains a modest accomplishment in scope and impact"Maggie Lee (Variety)

See our other #Cannes2013 coverage:

2013 Cannes Film Festival: Day 3 Roundup

2013-05-17T11:32:00.000-07:00

Day 3 - Friday, May 17

Recap of the third day of the 66th Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes), which runs until Sunday May 26, 2013.

Screening In Competition today:
- From France, Le passé (The Past) by Asghar Farhadi.
  
  His sixth feature and his Cannes debut. High expectations all around for this, the follow up to his Berlin Golden Bear and Academy Award winning A Separation (2011). A French drama starring Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, and Ali Mosaffa.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  Following a four year separation, Ahmad returns to Paris from Tehran, upon his French wife Marie’s request, in order to finalize their divorce procedure. During his brief stay, Ahmad discovers the conflicting nature of Marie’s relationship with her daughter Lucie. Ahmad’s efforts to improve this relationship soon unveil a secret from their past.
- From China, Tian Zhu Ding (A Touch of Sin) by Jia Zhangke.
  
  A previous winner of the Venice Golden Lion, Still Life (2006); this is his third film in the main competition at Cannes.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  Four people, four different provinces. A reflection on contemporary China: that of an economic giant slowly being eroded by violence.
In the Un Certain Regard section:
- From France, L'Inconnu du lac (Stranger By The Lake) by Alain Guiraudie.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  Summertime. A cruising spot for men, tucked away on the shores of a lake. Franck falls in love with Michel. An attractive, potent and lethally dangerous man. Franck knows this, but wants to live out his passion anyway.
- From Italy, Miele by Valeria Golino.
  
  Competing for the Camera d'Or with her directorial debut.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  Miele is the story of Irene a 30 years old girl who helps suffering people.Terminal patients who want to make shorter the struggle with death, people whose suffering injure the dignity of an human being. One day a 70 years old man in good health, who simply thinks to have lived enough, asks her to help him.
Competition Film

Le Passé (The Past)

directed by Asghar Farhadi

France

Quotes from the press conference:

"He is extremely precise, nothing is left to chance, everything is carefully orchestrated, and yet we feel liberated in our acting."Tahar Rahim

"I enjoyed it very much. Asghar is like a choreographer. its as though we are interpreters, we are real performers, the director deals with the story, and all I have to do is look at my partner, say the dialogue and I dont have to worry about anything else. He takes care of all the details and I have nothing left to do, I just love it."Berenice Bejo

"It was special. This was a unique experience. We rehearsed a great deal and saw each other frequently that helped us be free in our acting and give our all. It was an exceptional experience."Actress Pauline Burlet

"Wherever I work, I remain an Iranian filmmaker. It's difficult to place a national label on a work of art. The question and answer are unimportant. The most important thing is the bond between the spectator and the film. Each viewer can make the film their own."Asghar Farhadi

Critical response:

"This is an exquisitely sculpted family melodrama in which the end of a marriage is merely the beginning of something else, an indelible tapestry of carefully engineered revelations and deeper human truths."Justin Chang (Variety)

"There is no dramatic dead wood here, and Farhadi has taken great pains to make sure that every character who appears on screen has an angle, has a moral compass and has their own personal interpretation of the events as they happen."David Jenkins (Little White Lies)

"It’s a brilliant piece of cinematic craftsmanship, but at times, our admiration of Farhadi’s art and his actors’ bravura drowns out our belief in a story that feels a little too rootless, too designed for dramatic effect."Lee Marshall (Screen Daily)

"A superbly written, directed and acted drama that commands attention every step of the way"Deborah Young (The Hollywood Reporter)

"Farhadi's nuanced storytelling results in an overlong and sometimes lethargic feel, occasionally to the detriment of its seriously fascinating plot, but for that same reason its set of surprises continually resonate."Eric Kohn (IndieWire)

"This is a tremendously well written piece of work, with impressively developed characters, with scene after scene that further enriches and deepens our comprehension of their actions, yet never judges any of them."Kevin Jagernauth (The Playlist)

"Good storytelling is good storytelling: whether he chooses to return home or not, "The Past" proves that Farhadi's international career is ready for takeoff."Guy Lodge (In Contention)

"Through solid acting and an astoundingly natural dialogue (a real achievement for a movie filmed in a language which is not that of the director), The Past confirms all the virtuosity within the simplicity of a filmmaker who has now become an expert when it comes to sad serenades"Fabien Lemercier (Cineuropa)

"Although The Past lacks the biting political subplot of the aforementioned A Separation, it once again confirms the Iranian director as one of world cinema's most accomplished anatomists of human relationships."John Bleasdale (CineVue)

"Farhad skilfully and delicately weaves these stories together. Some of them are dramatic and tragic, yet he never veers into melodrama. His scenes involving the children move you to tears without feeling manipulated."Jo Ann Titmarsh (Flickering Myth)

"Performances, across the board, are dazzling and fearless, and Farhadi’s script juggles the ensemble with dexterity, ensuring no one is side-lined, no reasons unexplained."Jamie Graham (Total Film)

"The most likely Palme d’Or contender so far ... proves to be an impressive picture that verges on melodrama – in a good way."Catherine Bray (Film4)

Competition Film

Tian Zhu Ding 天注定 (A Touch of Sin)

directed by Jia Zhangke

China

Quotes from the press conference:

"In society people are often aware of violent events, but they forget them very quickly. Hopefully when they see the film they won't forget, they will be able to talk about it. You can't make progress by hiding violence. Cinema can help us understand the violence and hopefully bring about change."Jia Zhangke on violence.

"I'm dedicated to preserving my creative freedom and do my best to avoid self censorship. I believe that I can embody true freedom. Once I have done that, I then ask myself what I can do so that as many Chinese people as possible can view the film."Jia Zhangke on censorship.

Critical response:

"Although the four stories sometimes leave something to be desired in the narrative sense, I remain in awe of Jia’s ability to foreground his characters while keeping all the drama of landscape and the action of street life behind them fully in play."Barbara Scharres (RogerEbert.com)

"Encouraging though it is to see Jia stretching himself, he hasn’t quite made a successful transition to populism yet."Mike D'Angelo (The AV Club)

"Jia may have conceived and produced A Touch of Sin for and about his own people, but the thematic inquiries of his film remain universal, the extent of his ambition as limitless and provocative as it's ever been."Jordan Cronk (The House Next Door)

"There are frequent flashes of very tough violence, and two of the tales climax in roaring rampages of revenge that will enthral and delight your inner Quentin Tarantino. "Robbie Collin (The Telegraph)

"Anyone expecting some kind of all-kicking, all-boxing extravaganza will swiftly learn otherwise minutes into this lengthy, ruminative study of the everyday violence pervading contemporary Chinese society."Guy Lodge (Timeout London)

"The end result is ambitious, disturbing, and kinetic, something akin to a modern day prophecy forewarning a plague of national rot and disillusionment already on its way to settling in forever."Glenn Heath Jr. (PressPlay)

"The broadness of his canvas sometimes stretches and there are a couple of moments where the shifts of tone clang, but given its ambition there's still a lot to admire in this view of the China that lies behind the myth and propaganda."John Bleasdale (CineVue)

"He has an incredible eye, not only in the way he's able to spot the rich pictorial beauty of these crumbling landscapes, but in the clever juxtapositions that comes of placing his rogues gallery of murders, drifters and depressives against them."David Jenkins (Little White Lies)

"The gritty social issues of his earlier work drive and inspire his work, but he is growing as an auteur, and growing fast, sucking in kung fu and gunplay to relay his message about hyper-modern China."Alex Griffith (Next Projection)

Un Certain Regard Film

L'Inconnu du lac (Stranger by the Lake)

directed by Alain Guiraudie

France

Critical response:

"By turns a commentary on risk-taking, sex, death and the gay community wrapped up in an art-house thriller with comic notes. Oddly enough, it’s a mix that works."Fionnuala Halligan (Screen Daily)

"Though it contains explicit scenes of gay sex, this is essentially an absorbing and intelligent exploration of queer desire spiced up with thriller elements"Boyd van Hoeij (Variety)

"This particular entry veers as close to straight-up gay porn as any narrative feature I’ve ever seen, with perhaps a third of its running time devoted to unsimulated sex acts."Mike D'Angelo (The AV Club)

"Love and passion, the director suggests, can be uplifting but his main aim was to examine the emotions of being in love with the "obscenity" of sex."Richard Mowe (Eye For Film)

Un Certain Regard Film

Miele

directed by Valeria Golino

Italy

Critical response:

"Aided by Gergely Poharnok’s expert lensing, Golino makes the leap into the director’s chair with consummate assurance, drawing out the script’s subtleties with only a few unnecessary glitches while coaxing a topnotch perf from Jasmine Trinca."Jay Weissberg (Variety)

"Trinca’s live-wire performance keeps us watching, and despite the occasional self-consciously auteurish touch, there’s an energy to the film’s direction and editing that bodes well for Golino’s future on the viewfinder side of the lens."Lee Marshall (Screen Daily)

"An impressively mature directing debut from Italian actress Valeria Golino, who crafts an often engrossing character study."Deborah Young (The Hollywood Reporter)

"Golino loses her impetus in the second half of the narrative but there is much to admire and appreciate."Richard Mowe (Eye For Film)

"Let down in part by an overly sentimental denouement, Miele remains an excellent drama, finely addressing big ideas, that is gorgeous to behold and very well acted."David Neary (Next Projection)

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2013 Cannes Film Festival: Day 2 Roundup

2013-05-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

Day 2 - Thursday, May 16

Recap of the second day of the 66th Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes), which runs until May 26, 2013.

Two competition films were screened today:
- From France, Jeune & Jolie (Young & Beautiful) by François Ozon.
  
  His fourteenth feature and second time in the main competition.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  A coming-of-age portrait of a 17-year-old French girl over four seasons and four songs.
- From Mexico, Heli by Amat Escalante.
  
  His third feature and first time in the main competition.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  Estela is a 12 year old girl who has just fallen crazy in love with a young police cadet who wants to run away with her and get married. Trying to achieve this dream, her family will have to live the violence that is devastating the region.
In the Un Certain Regard section:
- Opening the section from the USA, The Bling Ring by Sofia Coppola.
  
  Her fifth feature film. It stars Emma Watson, Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Claire Julien, and Taissa Farmiga.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  In the fame-obsessed world of Los Angeles, a group of teenagers take us on a thrilling and disturbing crime-spree in the Hollywood hills.
- Also from the USA, Fruitvale Station by Ryan Coogler.
  
  Competing for the Camera d'Or with his 2013 Sundance Grand Prize winning debut feature.
  
  Official Synopsis:
  "This is the true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who wakes up on the morning of December 31, 2008 and feels something in the air. Not sure what it is, he takes it as a sign to get a head start on his resolutions...
Competition Film

Jeune & Jolie • Young & Beautiful

directed by François Ozon

France

Quotes from the press conference:

"Adolescence is often highly idealized. I have painful memories of my own teenage years, so I wanted to deal with the topic again with a greater maturity and experience."François Ozon on why he made the film.

"I tested a lot of actresses, and when I saw Marine I felt that she was different from all the others. She was answering the questions, but in her eyes I could see a whole inner world, a mystery, and that's what I was looking for."François Ozon on the casting of Marine Vacth.

"Well I'm a model but I've never really seen myself as a model. I have a problem with being given a status. I didn't feel any major transition moving between modelling and acting. "Marine Vacth.

Critical response:

"Its skilful blend of dark humour, eroticism and the human dimension definitely ensure that the movie reflects the spirit of our times."Domenico La Porta (Cineuropa)

"Although it lacks its predecessor’s critic-wowing metafictional fireworks, its elegant execution will win warm regard."Leslie Felperin (Variety)

"Potent combination of sex, sensitivity, a plaintive soundtrack of Francoise Hardy songs and a luminous, star-making performance from Marine Vacth"Allan Hunter (Screen Daily)

"Psychologically probing and unerringly elegant in its nonjudgmental restraint, driven by a transfixing performance from the incandescent Marine Vacth that will land her major exposure on the casting radar."David Rooney (The Hollywood Reporter)

"It's a powerful and personal point-of-view, but in asking the audience to do half the legwork for him, "Young & Beautiful" misses an opportunity to say something definitively different about being seventeen."Kevin Jagernauth (The Playlist)

"It's to Ozon's credit that he never serves up easy answers, and even after ample scenes of sex and showdowns with those closest to Isabelle, we're none the wiser as to what's driving her."Dave Calhoun (Timeout London)

"Moment by moment you think you have the measure of it, but when you stand back, the overall picture is as baffling as that optical illusion in which the tuning fork suddenly seems to grow an extra prong. "Robbie Collin (Telegraph)

Competition Film

Heli

directed by Amat Escalante

Mexico

Quotes from the press conference:

"I think that we were right to show violence in this film in a way that makes people think and leads them to the conclusion that something is wrong. "Director Amat Escalante

"By making a movie about this bad aspect of our lives, we're trying to do our part to fix those problems. It's not only about Mexico, the whole world has problems, and anyone can identify even if they are not involved with violence."Scriptwriter Gabriel Reyes

Critical response:

"With a very intense opening scene and punctuated by a few shocking sequences, Heli is a film benefiting from superb direction."Fabien Lemercier (Cineuropa)

"Destined to traumatize buyers and audiences in roughly equal measure, this accomplished but singularly unpleasant pic lends this year’s Cannes competition its first authentic whiff of scandal."Scott Foundas (Variety)

"Stylistically a slow-burner, Heli is nevertheless remorselessly confrontational, observing violence unflinchingly and – many viewers will feel – in barely tolerable detail."Jonathan Romney (Screen Daily)

"Undoubtedly made with serious intent, but it is also relentlessly depressing and curiously uninvolving."Stephen Dalton (The Hollywood Reporter)

"It tasted as superficially indigestible, if ultimately nutritious, as the prickly pears our hero hacks off the desert cacti in a frenzy of impotent rage."Catherine Shoard (The Guardian)

"Supremely accomplished and subtextually tidy, "Heli" leaves us, even at its ugliest, comfortably numb."Guy Lodge (In Contention)

"Performances from the almost entirely non-professional cast range from serviceable to stiff, however, in a picture that’s generally a little too muted and inert to ever pack much in the way of genuine emotional impact."Neil Young (The Jigsaw Lounge)

"I wouldn’t recommend the movie to anyone sensitive to on-screen violence, but I cannot dismiss it as an empty exercise, either. It’s a work of a highly talented filmmaker who happens to be drawn toward portraying malice."Michal Oleszczyk (RogerEbert.com)

"It'd probably be overselling Escalante's inexorable, hyperviolent hellride to say that the devil here is in the detail, as it's a film that's so bereft of any kind of hope, justice or empathy that it's hard not take the director's posturing sense of nihilism as some kind of sick joke."David Jenkins (Little White Lies)

Un Certain Regard Opening Film

The Bling Ring

directed by Sofia Coppola

USA

Critical response:

"Traces an intriguing feedback loop of which it is knowingly a part: a movie that affords its subjects the very immortality they so aggressively sought."Scott Foundas (Variety)

"It is all beautifully put together and the performances are all spot on, but there is a niggling sense that the film is an empty at the real-life Bling Ringers heads."Mark Adams (Screen Daily)

"Coppola’s attitude toward her subject seems equivocal, uncertain; there is perhaps a smidgen of social commentary, but she seems far too at home in the world she depicts to offer a rewarding critique of it. "Todd McCarthy (The Hollywood Reporter)

"There’s a numbing, unfulfilling repetitiveness to Coppola’s depiction of this mostly privileged gang’s label-hungry thieving."Matt Mueller (Thompson on Hollywood)

"Emma Watson is a stand-out: she delivers her character's blasé whines of entitlement like a musician coaxing a keening lament from an oboe, and her drained interactions with her dopey mother, played by Leslie Mann, are a joy."Robbie Collin (The Telegraph)

"Shot throughout with a distanced, non-judgmental camera, Coppola's film doesn't exactly delight in such detail, but it doesn't decry it either: dispassionately subversive and quietly modern, “The Bling Ring” may well be a morality tale with no moral. "Guy Lodge (In Contention)

"By the end, there's the feeling we've seen Coppola's most fully rounded, ambiguous and cautiously empathetic film to date."David Jenkins (Little White Lies)

"The real story here isn’t the good-girl-goes-bad stunt casting; it’s that Watson can act. Against the odds, the Harry Potter star gives a sharp, knowing smart performance."Cath Clarke (Timeout London)

Un Certain Regard Film

Fruitvale Station

directed by Ryan Coogler

USA

Critical response:

"A devastating dramatization ... freshman director Ryan Coogler doesn’t attempt to sensationalize this story or its characters."Sam Fragoso (The Movie Mezzanine)

"It was like poetry on screen brought to us by 26 year old, first time filmmaker Ryan Coogler, who possibly used his youth and background to identify with this young man and craft this movie as though we are walking together with Oscar Grant."Shala Thomas (Life Between Films)

"Best viewed as an ode to victim’s rights, “Fruitvale” forgoes nuanced drama for heart-tugging, head-shaking and rabble-rousing."Geoff Berkshire (Variety)

"A shrewd script and career-launching performances drive a tragic modern story that carries heavy social weight."Todd McCarthy (The Hollywood Reporter)

See our other #Cannes2013 coverage:

2013 Cannes Film Festival: Day 1 Roundup

2013-05-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

The 66th Festival de Cannes opens today and all the big names and faces are set to gather on the Croisette for twelve days of cinematic festivities.

All the action begins this evening starting with the Opening Ceremony, hosted by the star of last year's festival closer Thérèse Desqueyroux, French actress Audrey Tautou.

Tonight's ceremony will be followed by the European premiere of Out of Competition opening film, The Great Gatsby by Australian director Baz Luhrmann.

Mistress of Ceremonies: Audrey Tautou

Day 1 - Wednesday, May 15

Opening Film - Out of Competition

The Great Gatsby

directed by Baz Luhrmann

Australia, USA

Critical reception:

"The film has the undeniable power to enthrall and mesmerize with its opulent extravagance, but at the same time it’s so overwhelming and even headache-inducing."Ruth Maramis (FlixChatter)

"For all the pizzazz, the explosions of color and light and sound and the seemingly modernized aura of the film, Luhrmann often emphasizes the text more markedly than he needs to."Amir Soltani (Amiresque)

"While it does have some flaws, it is still a film that is engaging for exploring that world of 1920s decadence as well as a man’s desire to reclaim the past."Steven Flores (Surrender to the Void)

"Even the climactic moment of terror involving speeding automobiles is so artfully choreographed you are left ogling the visuals, feeling oddly empty inside."Nick Prigge (Anomalous Material)

The Great Gatsby is pretty much Batman if his parents never got shot.
— JRehling (@JRehling) May 11, 2013

A loud and colorful start to the festival, but the real competition begins tomorrow with a lineup that includes François Ozon's Jeune & Jolie, Amat Escalante's Heli, and opening up the Un Certain Regard section, Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring.

Be sure to check back for those updates and more!

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The Cremator (1969)

2013-05-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

The Cremator • Spalovač mrtvol (1969)

Genre: Horror • Drama • Comedy

Director: Juraj Herz

Starring: Rudolf Hrušínský, Vlasta Chramostová, Jana Stehnová, Miloš Vognič

Language: Czech

Duration: 95 min.

Rating: 8.6

Summary:

Prague, the late 1930s. A period of tense atmosphere and widespread fear. Where diligent and devoted family man Karel Kopfrkingl takes the opportunity to advance his career at the crematorium.

The Cremator is a film from the Czechoslovak New Wave directed by Slovak filmmaker Juraj Herz, adapted from a novel of the same name by Czech writer Ladislav Fuks. One of many films made during the Prague Spring of 1968 that were banned in Czechoslovakia soon after release. It screened at the 1972 Sitges Film Festival where it won Best Film, Best Actor (Rudolf Hrušínský), and Best Cinematography (Stanislav Milota).

The story is set at the dawn of WWII, taking place soon after Nazi Germany's annexation of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. It follows the opportunistic rise of crematorium employee Karel Kopfrkingl (played by Czech character actor Rudolf Hrušínský, who delivers one of the most unnerving performances you will ever see), a man who on the surface appears to be a devoted bourgeois family man and diligent worker, but whose words, actions, and demeanor reveal a very strange personality that is both captivating and repulsive. Especially noticeable are the odd timbre and cadence of his voice and his unusual personal tics. Traits of someone you are compelled to watch, but would never want to be alone in a room with.

As if Hrušínský's performance wasn't creepy enough on its own, Herz (who originally studied puppetry and theatre) uses various interesting techniques to blanket the screen with an unsettling aura. With camerawork by Stanislav Milota, scenes are often shot with an ultra wide angle lens to give deliberately distorted perspectives. Depth of field and extreme closeups are used to obscure and disorient, and they are frequently combined with clever editing to blur the transitioning of scenes and locations. Seamlessly making it appear as though Kopfrkingl begins speaking in one place and finishes somewhere completely different. Then of course, there's the equally eerie soundtrack from composer Zdeněk Liška, using haunting vocals to tie the visuals together.

Despite the film's deeply dark tone and its label as a horror, this isn't necessarily a one sided dreary and depressing watch. Within all the morbid scenery lies a pitch black sense of humor that is as hilarious as it is troubling. As can be seen in the little details of the characterization and script like Kopfrkingl's obsession with Tibetan Buddhism, or the way he uses his pocket comb.

There's also a political parable at play here. The Holocaust was a very common theme in the films of this era, as can be seen in the titles: Romeo, Juliet and Darkness (1960), The Boxer and Death (1963), Diamonds of the Night (1964), The Fifth Horseman is Fear (1965), The Shop on Main Street (1965), A Prayer for Katarina Horovitz (1965), Dita Saxova (1968). So there's no coincidence as to Kopfrkingl's distinct hairstyle or his highly charismatic public persona.

Undoubtedly different from the rest, Herz' work doesn't quite fit in with his contemporaries. (Even his first short film, originally commissioned for the Pearls of the Deep anthology, ended up being cut from the program). But all in all it's an unforgettable work that stands out as one of the most imaginative and atmospheric films around.

— Bonjour Tristesse

2013 Tribeca Film Festival: Award Winners

2013-04-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

The 12th Annual Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), announced the award winners of its competition categories yesterday (April 25, 2013) at an awards ceremony held at the Conrad New York Hotel in Downtown Manhattan.

Here are the winners for the World Narrative Competition Categories awarded by jury members, Bryce Dallas-Howard, Blythe Danner, Paul Haggis, Kenneth Lonergan, and Jessica Winter:

The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature

Rocket directed by Kim Mordaunt
Australia

Special Jury Mention (Best Narrative Feature)

Stand Clear of the Closing Doors directed by Sam Fleischner
USA

Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film

Sitthiphon Disamoe as Ahlo
in The Rocket, directed by Kim Mordaunt
Australia

Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film

Veerle Baetens as Elise Vandevelde
in The Broken Circle Breakdown, directed by Felix van Groeningen
Netherlands, Belgium

Best Cinematography in a Narrative Feature Film

Marius Matzow Gulbrandsen
in Before Snowfall, directed by Hisham Zaman
Germany, Norway

Best Screenplay for a Narrative Feature Film

Carl Joos and Felix van Groeningen
for The Broken Circle Breakdown, directed by Felix van Groeningen
Netherlands, Belgium

Best New Narrative Director

Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais for Whitewash
Canada

Special Jury Mention (Best New Narrative Director)

Emir Baigazin for Harmony Lessons
Kazakhstan, Germany, France

See the full list of winners including documentary and short film categories at the official TFF website.

Once again, films that premiered at the Berlinale in February (The Rocket and The Broken Circle Breakdown) had a strong showing at the Tribeca Film Fest. Last year's winner Rebelle ended up in contention for the Foreign Film Oscar, I think we can expect these two films to end up being submitted to the race.

Some comments from the jury:

“The Rocket is a spectacular achievement that is powerful and delightful in equal measures. Artfully structured and gorgeously shot, it chronicles the struggles of a displaced family while steering well clear of either sentimentality or despair. Complex in its tone and characterizations, the film takes an unflinching – and edifying – look at the suffering caused both by a legacy of war and the new status quo of economic globalization. And yet, while never losing sight of those grim realities, it also offers us a transcendent tale of hope and perseverance in a world that few Westerners ever have the chance to see.”

“The Broken Circle Breakdown is a true original, starting with the eclectic ingredients in its dynamic screenplay: a romance of opposites, a battle between spiritual faith and secular humanism, triggered by unthinkable tragedy, a Flemish bluegrass band. With dialogue that spans the sweetly flirtatious and the operatically confrontational -- and with dollops of humor and a pure, deep love of music – the film leaps nimbly back and forth in time to conjure vivid characters who face down literal life-or-death issues. They win both our rapt interest and our greatest empathy; they make us both think and feel.”

Which of the winners do you look forward to seeing the most?

The Grandmaster (2013)

2013-04-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

The Grandmaster • Yi dai zong shi • 一代宗師 (2013)

Genre: Action • Biography • Drama

Director: Wong Kar Wai

Starring: Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi, Cung Le, Hye-kyo Song, Chen Chang

Language: Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese

Duration: 130 min.

Rating: 7.7

Summary:

A chronicle of the life of Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man.

The Grandmaster is the tenth feature film from Shanghai-born, Hong Kong-based writer director, Wong Kar Wai. It is based on the life story of Ip Man, the martial arts grandmaster who is known for popularizing the Wing Chun style of Kung Fu, and for having taught the legendary Bruce Lee. It premiered out-of-competition as the opening film at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival.

Wong Kar Wai's first film in five years—one which took almost that long to shoot—is, as anyone who has seen his work before would expect, a visually breathtaking experience from the first frame to the last. Working once again with long time collaborator William Chang (editor and production designer on all of his features), and for the first time with cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd (who began his career with fashion commercials), the film is one glorious set-piece after another, captured with intensely stylized camera-work that emphasize its beautifully executed action sequences, precision choreographed by Yuen Woo Ping.

Veteran actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai (who spent several years in training for the role) plays the central character of the film, narrating and leading a meandering story that begins in Foshan (a city in the Guangdong province of Southern China) in the 1930s, and takes several detours in space and time, before following him as he flees the Communist regime to Hong Kong in the 1950s, where he would establish his first school.

Most biopics try to cram more than enough material for a trilogy into a two hour running time. In the midsection of the film, Wong takes that a step further. Making a curious narrative decision that splits the focus away from Ip Man, to that of Gong Er (Zhang Ziyi, in an excellent film-stealing performance). She's the highly skilled only-daughter of an aging master from the Northeast (Wang Qingxiang), whose story of honor and revenge proves to be even more interesting and emotionally gripping than Ip's. Then, before all is said and done, the storyline forks yet again to introduce another tangentially related character, the fascinating and enigmatic martial arts master, The Razor (Chang Chen), who makes a bone crunching impact that leaves you wanting more, due to his very little screen time.

Good or bad, the result of this fractured and complex storytelling, is a nostalgic and romantic film that breaks convention and ends up being less about any of its characters or their lives, but instead becomes a love letter to a vanished way of existence and a time gone by. The real story here is about Kung Fu, its practitioners, and the unique styles forever lost in a rapidly changing world. Many wonderful styles are put on display and it's very apparent that every sequence was rigorously rehearsed to perfection.

However impressive and exciting as it is for it's dazzling visuals and attention to detail. It lacks the emotional engagement found in his best works, such as In the Mood For Love (2000), and Chungking Express (1994), and we can't help but hope that there will one day be a redux that expands on some of its narrative dead ends. But as one character says near the end, "How boring would life be without regrets?".

— Bonjour Tristesse

2013 Cannes Film Festival: Un Certain Regard

2013-04-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we posted a preview of the films in the Main Competition at the 66th Cannes Film Festival. Now we will take a look at the 15 18 films selected to the Un Certain Regard section of the festival.

This section always features a wide range of different styles and perspectives not seen in the main competition, and it also provides an opportunity for new or unknown directors to break through. Five of the fifteen are first films eligible for the Camera d'Or award; won last year by American director Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Danish director Thomas Vinterberg, is the Un Certain Regard jury president. Last year, his film The Hunt was presented in competition to great acclaim, winning the Best Actor award for Mads Mikkelsen, as well as the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.

It had been previously announced that Sofia Coppola's latest film, The Bling Ring starring Emma Watson, will be the section's opening film.

Read on for an overview of the rest of the films screening in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival:

Un Certain Regard (Opening Film)

The Bling Ring
directed by Sofia Coppola
USA

This is American director Sofia Coppola's fifth feature film. Her last trip to Cannes was with Marie Antoinette (2006), which screen in the main competition and received a divided reception from the tough crowd. Her latest effort is inspired from actual events and follows a group of Hollywood teens who rob the homes of celebrities. It stars Emma Watson, Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Claire Julien, and Taissa Farmiga.

Un Certain Regard Film

Anonymous
directed by Mohammad Rasoulof
Iran

In 2010, Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof was arrested and given a six year sentence for political reasons. Despite this, he was able to shoot a film and send it to Cannes. Goodbye (2011) screened in the Un Certain Regard section, winning the Jury Prize and Best Director award. Now he returns with another film shot in secret.

Un Certain Regard Film

Omar
directed by Hany Abu-Assad
Palestine

Dutch based Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad's sixth feature is the first film to be fully-financed by the Palestinian cinema industry. A story of three childhood friends and a young woman whose lives are torn apart in their fight for freedom. It stars Waleed Zuaiter, Adam Bakri, Samer Bisharat, Eyad Hourani, and Leem Lubany

Un Certain Regard Film

Death March
directed by Adolfo Alix Jr.
Philippines

34 year-old Filipino writer director Adolfo Alix Jr. was previously at Cannes with his film Manila (2009) presented Out of Competition as a Special Screening. His latest effort is set during WWII and tells the harrowing story of the Bataan Death March. The forcible transfer of nearly 80,000 American and Filipino POW's by the Japanese Imperial Army in 1942. It stars Sam Milby and Zanjoe Marudo.

Un Certain Regard Film

Fruitvale Station
directed by Ryan Coogler
USA

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winning debut film from American writer director Ryan Coogler. Based on the true story of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old who was shot to death by transit police in Oakland on New Year's Day in 2009. The film originally titled Fruitvale, stars Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O'Reilly, Kevin Durand, and Chad Michael Murray.

Un Certain Regard Film

Les Salauds (The Bastards)
directed by Claire Denis
France

Critically acclaimed French director Claire Denis, whose debut feature Chocolat (1988) premiered in competition at the 41st Cannes Film Festival; returns with a highly anticipated title that many expected to be selected to this year's main competition. The film stars Chiara Mastroianni, Vincent Lindon, Julie Bataille, Alex Descas, Grégoire Colin, and Lola Créton in a dark tale of family revenge.

Un Certain Regard Film

Norte, Hangganan Ng Kasaysayan (Norte, The End of History)
directed by Lav Diaz
Philippines

The second film from the Philippines in this section. Independent Filipino filmmaker Lavrente Indico Diaz, known for his extremely lengthy running times, presents his thirteenth feature film. A four hour long effort (short by his standards, as he has films that run for over twelve hours) that may scare away the Cannes critics. No plot or cast details could be found at this time.

Un Certain Regard Film

As I Lay Dying
directed by James Franco
USA

American actor director James Franco is everywhere right now, with four directing and ten acting credits alone this year, it is no surprise that one of them made it to Cannes. This one is an adaptation of the William Faulkner novel of the same name. The story of a woman's death, and her family's quest to honor her wish to be buried in a nearby town. It stars Franco alongside Logan Marshall-Green, Danny McBride, Tim Blake Nelson, Ahna O'Reilly, and Jim Parrack.

Un Certain Regard Film

Miele (Honey)
directed by Valeria Golino
Italy

Well known Italian actress Valeria Golino makes her directorial debut at this year's fest. A film shot in Italy and Mexico starring Jasmine Trinca. It is centered on a thirty-year-old woman who has decided to help terminally ill people in suffering. Also in the cast are Carlo Cecchi, Libero De Rienzo, Iaia Forte, Vinicio Marchioni, and Roberto De Francesco.

Un Certain Regard Film

L'Inconnu Du Lac (Stranger by the Lake)
directed by Alain Guiraudie
France

French writer director Alain Guiraudie, winner of the Prix Jean Vigo in 2001 for That Old Dream That Moves (2001) one of two of his films that have been presented in the Directors' Fortnight; he graduates to the Un Certain Regard section with his latest effort. A thriller set upon a lake that serves as a summertime cruising spot for men. It stars Patrick Assumçao, Christophe Paou, and Pierre Deladonchamps.

Un Certain Regard Film

Bends 過界
directed by Flora Lau 劉韻文
Hong Kong, China

The feature debut from Hong Kong writer director Flora Lau. Notably made with Wong Kar Wai regulars Christopher Doyle (Cinematography) and William Chang (Production Design). A story set along the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border that follows the unusual relationship between an affluent Hong Kong housewife and her Mainland chauffeur. It stars veteran actress Carina Lau and Chen Kun.

Un Certain Regard Film

L'Image Manquante (The Missing Image)
directed by Rithy Panh
Cambodia

Cambodian filmmaker Rithy Panh, a winner of the François Chalais Award for his documentary S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2003), was once previously in the main competition with his debut feature The Rice People (1994). No details about his latest film could be found at this time.

Un Certain Regard Film

La Jaula de Oro (The Golden Cage)
directed by Diego Quemada-Diez
Mexico

Spanish cinematographer turned director Diego Quemada-Diez known for his award winning short I Want To Be a Pilot (2006) makes his feature film debut. The story of two teenagers crossing a ruthless country in search of a better life across the Mexican border. It stars Ramón Medína, Rodolfo Dominguez, Brandon López, Carlos Chajon, and Karen Martínez.

Un Certain Regard Film

Sarah Préfère la Course (Sarah Would Rather Run)
directed by Chloé Robichaud
Canada

25-year-old Quebec director Chloé Robichaud was entered in the short film competition last year with Chef de meute (2012), and she returns this year with her feature film debut. The story of a young woman from rural Quebec who moves to Montréal to run on the McGill University track team. It stars Hélène Florent, Sophie Desmarais, Micheline Lanctôt, Geneviève Boivin-Roussy, and Benoît Gouin.

Un Certain Regard Film

Grand Central
directed by Rebecca Zlotowski
France

This is the second feature from French writer director Rebecca Zlotowski, who won the Prix Louis-Delluc for First Film with her debut Dear Prudence (2010). It is a romantic drama set in a nuclear plant where workers are exposed to dangerous radiation. It stars Léa Seydoux, Tahar Rahim, Denis Ménochet, Olivier Gourmet, and Johan Libéreau.

Un Certain Regard Film

My Sweet Pepperland
directed by Hiner Saleem هونه‌ر ساله‌م
France, Germany

The ninth feature from Iraqi-Kurdish director Hiner Saleem, who now lives in France. He was in the main competition in 2005 with Kilometer Zero (2005). His latest is a thriller set in a lawless region of Kurdistan near the Iraq-Turkey border. It stars Korkmaz Arslan, and Golshifteh Farahani

Un Certain Regard Film

Wakolda
directed by Lucía Puenzo
Argentina, Spain, France, Germany, Norway

The third feature from Argentinian author director Lucía Puenzo, winner of the Critic's Week Grand Prix for her debut XXY (2007). Based on her own novel of the same name, it tells the true story of an Argentine family who lived with wanted war criminal Josef Mengele, unaware of his true identity. It stars Natalia Oreiro, Diego Peretti, Àlex Brendemühl, Elena Roger, and Guillermo Pfening.

Un Certain Regard Film

Tore tanzt (Rising)
directed by Katrin Gebbe
Germany

The debut feature from German director Katrin Gebbe. Inspired by real events, the story is set in Hamburg and follows a young man who finds a sense of belonging with a group of religious punks. It stars Julius Feldmeier, Sascha Alexander Gersak, Swantje Kohlhof, Annika Kuhl, and Daniel Michel.

Another exciting slate of films to look forward to. What do you think about the Un Certain Regard lineup?

2013 Cannes Film Festival: Official Selection

2013-04-18T13:03:00.000-07:00

Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward from A New Kind Of Love (1963)

The Official Selection of the 66th Cannes Film Festival was announced Thursday, 15 April 2013 during a press conference held by festival president Gilles Jacob and artistic director Thierry Frémaux, in Paris at the UGC Normandie cinema.

This year's exciting lineup boasts three previous Palme d'Or winners, four American films, three Asian films, and the first Dutch film in competition in 38 years.

French actress, Audrey Tautou, star of last year's closing film (the late Claude Miller's final picture, Thérèse Desqueyroux) will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 66th Festival de Cannes. She takes over from actress, Bérénice Béjo, who hosted the Festival’s opening and closing ceremonies in 2012.

American filmmaker Steven Spielberg is the President of the Jury. ~~The remaining members of the jury will be announced at a later date~~. He is joined by Australian actress Nicole Kidman, French actor Daniel Auteuil, Indian actress Vidya Balan, Austrian-German actor Christoph Waltz, Japanese director Naomi Kawase, Taiwanese-American director Ang Lee, Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, and Scottish director Lynne Ramsay.

Read on for a full overview of the lineup of films in the running for the 2013 Palme d'Or:

Opening Film (Out of competition)

The Great Gatsby
directed by Baz Luhrmann
Australia, USA

Australian director Baz Luhrmann's fifth feature film and his third time on the Croisette: Strictly Ballroom (1992) screened in the Un Certain Regard section and won the Award of the Youth, and Moulin Rouge! (2001) opened the 54th Cannes Film Festival. His latest, is a big budget all-star production based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel of the same name. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Isla Fisher, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Jason Clarke, and Tobey Maguire.

Official Selection Film

Un Château en Italie (A Castle in Italy)
directed by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
France

The sole female director in the Competition lineup, Italian born Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, already an accomplished actress, makes her Cannes debut with her third feature film as a director, and third film co-written with Noèmie Lvovsky (SACD Prize in the Directors' Fortnight last year for Camille Rewinds). A semi autobiographical story about a large Italian bourgeoisie family. It stars herself along with Louis Garrel, Xavier Beauvois, and Filippo Timi.

Official Selection Film

Inside Llewen Davis
directed by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
USA

No strangers to the Grand Théâtre Lumière; Palme d'Or winning American directors Joel and Ethan Coen (Barton Fink, 1991), return with their sixteenth feature film, and it's their eighth to premiere in competition. It follows a singer-songwriter in the 1960s New York-based folk music scene. It stars Oscar Isaac in the title role, alongside Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, and Garrett Hedlund.

Official Selection Film

Michael Kohlhaas
directed by Arnaud des Pallières
France, Germany

French director Arnaud des Pallières' fourth feature film, is his first to premiere in the main competition. An adaptation of an 1811 novella of the same name by German writer Heinrich von Kleist. The tale is set in the 16th century and tells the story of a rich horse trader who resorts to terrorism after suffering an injustice. It stars last year's Cannes Best Actor Mads Mikkelsen (The Hunt), alongside Bruno Ganz, Denis Lavant, Amira Casar, and Sergi Lopez.

Official Selection Film

Jimmy Picard
directed by Arnaud Desplechin
USA

French director Arnaud Desplechin returns to the main competition for the fifth time following: La sentinelle (1992), My Sex Life... or How I Got Into an Argument (1996), Esther Kahn (2000), and A Christmas Tale (2008), with this his eighth feature film. An adaptation of a real life account written in 1951 by psychoanalyst George Devereux. The English language production stars Benicio Del Toro and Mathieu Amalric.

Official Selection Film

Heli
directed by Amat Escalante
Mexico

Spanish born, Mexico based director Amat Escalante's third feature film. His first in the main competition after having his previous two films Sangre (FIPRESCI Award, 2005) and Los Bastardos (2008) both appear in the Un Certain Regard section. The only Latin American film in the competition; it is a story set in Guanajuato, Mexico where the local drug cartel has a major presence.

Official Selection Film

Le Passé (The Past)
directed by Asghar Farhadi
France

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, makes his Cannes debut with his sixth feature film; his highly anticipated followup to the Berlin Golden Bear and Academy Award winning A Separation (2011). It's a French language drama starring Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, and Ali Mosaffa, that tells the story of a failed marriage between an Iranian man and his French wife.

Official Selection Film

The Immigrant
directed by James Gray
USA

American writer director James Gray's fifth feature film, and fourth time in competition following The Yards (2000), We Own the Night (2007), and Two Lovers (2008). Previously titled Lowlife, this star studded picture (Jeremy Renner, Joaquin Phoenix, Marion Cotillard) is set in the 1920s and is centered on the shattered American dreams of a Polish immigrant.

Official Selection Film

Grigris
directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Chad

Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, previously a Cannes Jury Prize winner for A Screaming Man (2010); returns to the Croisette with a story set in capital city N'Djamena, centered on a partially paralyzed young man involved in the profitable but dangerous gasoline smuggling racket. It stars Soulémane Démé, Mariam Monory, Cyril Guei, Anaïs Monory and Marius Yelolo.

Official Selection Film

Only Lovers Left Alive
directed by Jim Jarmusch
USA

American cult filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, previous winner of the Camera d'Or for Stranger Than Paradise (1984), Best Artistic Contribution for Mystery Train (1989), Short Film Palme d'Or for Coffee and Cigarettes III (1995), and the Jury Grand Prix for Broken Flowers (2005), returns to Cannes with his eleventh feature. A romantic drama about two vampires who have been in love for several centuries, starring Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt, and Anton Yelchin.

Official Selection Film

Tian Zhu Ding 天注定 (A Touch of Sin)
directed by 贾樟柯 Jia Zhangke
China

Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke's seventh feature length film, and his third presented in the main competition following Unknown Pleasures (2002), and 24 City (2008). An action oriented tribute to King Hu's wuxia masterpiece, A Touch of Zen (1971) told with four interweaving stories. It stars Jiang Wu, Wang Bao Qiang, and Zhao Tao.

Official Selection Film

Soshite Chichi Ni Naru そして父になる (Like Father, Like Son)
directed by 是枝裕和 Kore-eda Hirokazu
Japan

Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda's ninth feature film, and his third to screen in competition, following Distance (2001), and Nobody Knows (2004). Tells the story of a successful businessman faced with a dilemma when he discovers that his biological son was switched with another child at birth. It stars Masaharu Fukuyama, Ono Machiko, Maki Yoko, and Lily Franky.

Official Selection Film

La Vie d'Adèle (Blue is the Warmest Color)
directed by Abdellatif Kechiche
France

Tunisian-French director Abdellatif Kechiche's fifth feature film is his first to premiere in the main competition. It's an adaptation of a graphic novel by French artist Julie Maroh that tells a love story between two young women in France at the turn of the 21st century. It stars Adèle Exarchopoulos, Léa Seydoux, Jeremie Laheurte, and Catherine Salée.

Official Selection Film

Wara No Tate 藁の楯 (Shield of Straw)
directed by 三池崇史 Takashi Miike
Japan

Prolific (in other words, too many titles to count) and controversial Japanese director Takashi Miike's second appearance in the main competition after Hara-kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011). He returns to Cannes with an adaptation of a novel of the same name by Kazuhiro Kiuchi. The second of two Japanese films in competition, it's an action thriller that revolves around a one-billion-yen bounty placed on the head of a suspected child-killer. It stars Nanako Matsushima, Tatsuya Fujiwara, and Takao Osawa.

Official Selection Film

Jeune et Jolie (Young and Beautiful)
directed by François Ozon
France

The fourteenth feature length film from French writer director François Ozon, but only his second time in the main competition, after Swimming Pool (2003). Billed as the portrait of a seventeen-year-old girl in four seasons and four songs. It stars Marine Vacth, Charlotte Rampling, Frédéric Pierrot, Géraldine Pailhas, Nathalie Richard.

Official Selection Film

Nebraska
directed by Alexander Payne
USA

American director and screenwriter Alexander Payne, returns quickly to Cannes after serving on the official jury in 2012; with his sixth feature film and second to premiere in the main competition after About Schmidt (2002). This latest effort is a road movie shot in black and white that follows an alcoholic father and his estranged son who travel together from Montana to Nebraska to claim a lottery prize. It stars Bruce Dern and Will Forte.

Official Selection Film

La Vénus à la Fourrure (Venus in Fur)
directed by Roman Polanski
France

Palme d'Or winning, veteran Polish director Roman Polanski (The Pianist, 2002), enters the competition for the third time with his twenty-first feature film. A French drama, adapted from the 2010 two-person stage play by American playwright David Ives. The plot follows the power struggle between a director and the actress who shows up at the last minute to audition for the lead role in his new play. It stars Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathieu Amalric.

Official Selection Film

Behind the Candelabra
directed by Steven Soderbergh
USA

American filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, who won the Palme d'Or with his debut film Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989); is invited back to the Croisette for the fourth time, the others being King of the Hill (1993), and Che (2008), with his made-for-HBO 'final film'. A biographical tale about the relationship between American pianist Liberace and his younger lover Scott Thorson. It stars Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Rob Lowe, and Dan Aykroyd.

Official Selection Film

La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty)
directed by Paolo Sorrentino
Italy, France

Italian director Paolo Sorrentino's sixth feature film, and fifth to premiere in the official selection; following The Consequences of Love (2004), The Family Friend (2006), Il Divo (Jury Prize, 2008), and This Must Be the Place (Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, 2011). It's an Italian-French co-production set in contemporary Rome and follows an aging writer who reflects bitterly on his lost youth. It stars Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, and Sabrina Ferilli.

Official Selection Film

Borgman
directed by Alex van Warmerdam
Netherlands

Dutch director Alex van Warmerdam's eighth feature length film and his first time in the official selection. It is also the first Dutch film in competition since Mariken van Nieumeghen (1974). He makes his Cannes debut with a dark modern day fairy tale that pits a middle class family against the Devil in suburbia. The ensemble cast includes Jan Bijvoet, Hadewych Minis, Jeroen Perceval, Eva van de Wijdeven, and Annet Malherbe.

Official Selection Film

Only God Forgives
directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
France, Denmark

Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn's ninth feature, and his second consecutive film in competition at the festival. He follows up his Best Director winning effort Drive (2011), with another intense crime thriller starring Ryan Gosling. This time set in Bangkok's seedy and violent criminal underworld. The cast also includes Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm, and Tom Burke.

Closing Film (Out of competition)

Zulu
directed by Jérôme Salle
France

French director Jérôme Salle's fourth feature is his Cannes debut, and his first English language film. Closing the festival with an apartheid era crime thriller, adapted from the Caryl Férey novel of the same name. It was shot on location in South Africa and stars Forest Whitaker (1988 Cannes Best Actor for Bird) and Orlando Bloom.

Which of these are you most looking forward to?

32nd (2013) Hong Kong Film Awards: Winners

2013-04-17T15:23:00.001-07:00

The 32nd annual Hong Kong Film Awards were presented on Saturday April 13th at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

Police thriller Cold War was the big winner, grabbing nine trophies including best film, best actor for Tony Leung Ka Fai, best director and screenplay for the duo of Longman Leung and Sunny Luk, and best newcomer for Alex Tsui.

Read on for the full list of winners.

Best Film

Vulgaria produced by Pang Ho-cheung and Subi Liang
Motorway produced by Johnnie To
The Viral Factor produced by Derek Yee, Mandy Law
Cold War produced by Candy Leung, Fung Ying, Albert Lee, Solon So, Wang Zhonglei
The Bullet Vanishes produced by Bill Kong, Matthew Tang, Ivy Ho, Catherine Kwan

Best Director

Soi Cheang Pou for Motorway
Pang Ho-cheung for Love in the Buff
Law Chi-leung for The Bullet Vanishes
Dante Lam for The Viral Factor
Longman Leung & Sunny Luk for Cold War

Best Screenplay

Pang Ho-cheung, Lam Chiu-wing, Luk Yee-sum for Vulgaria
Pang Ho-cheung, Luk Yee-sum for Love in the Buff
Law Chi-leung, Sin Ling Yeung for The Bullet Vanishes
Longman Leung, Sunny Luk for Cold War
Alan Mak, Felix Chong for The Silent War

Best Actor

Nick Cheung for Nightfall
Chapman To for Vulgaria
Ching Wan Lau for The Bullet Vanishes
Tony Leung Ka Fai for Cold War
Tony Leung Chiu Wai for The Silent War

Best Actress

Zhou Xun for The Great Magician
Miriam Yeung for Love in the Buff
Sammi Cheng for Romancing in Thin Air
Zhou Xun for The Silent War
Elanne Kong for Love Lifting

Best Supporting Actor

Ronald Cheng for Vulgaria
Liu Kai Chi for The Bullet Vanishes
Gordon Lam for Cold War
Chapman To for Diva
Alex Man for The Bounty

Best Supporting Actress

Siu Yam Yam for Vulgaria
Dada Chen for Vulgaria
Jiang Yi Yan for The Bullet Vanishes
Elaine Jin for The Viral Factor
Mavis Fan for The Silent War

Best New Performer

Zhang Lanxin for CZ12
Joyce Feng for The Last Tycoon
Jayden Yuan for Tai Chi
Alex Tsui for Cold War
Sammy Sum for Lan Kwai Fong 2

Best Cinematography

Andrew Lau Wai Keung & Jason Kwan for The Last Tycoon
Chan Chi Ying for The Bullet Vanishes
Kenny Tse for The Viral Factor
Jason Kwan & Kenny Tse for Cold War
Anthony Pun Yiu Ming for The Silent War

Best Editing

Yau Chi Wai for CZ12
David Richardson & Allen Leung Chin Lun for Motorway
Kong Chi Leung & Ron Chan for The Bullet Vanishes
Chung Wai Chiu for The Viral Factor
Kong Chi Leung & Wong Hoi for Cold War

Best Art Direction

Yee Chung-Man & Eric Lam Che Kiu for The Last Tycoon
Timmy Yip for Tai Chi
Lau Sai Wan for The Guillotines
Silver Cheung & Lee Kin Wai for The Bullet Vanishes
Man Lim Chung for The Silent War

Best Costume and Makeup Design

Yee Chung Man & Jessie Dai Mei Ling for The Great Magician
Yee Chung-Man for Tai Chi
Dora Ng for The Guillotines
Stanley Cheung for The Bullet Vanishes
Man Lim Chung for The Silent War

Best Action Choreography

Jackie Chan & He Jun for CZ12
Sammo Hung for Tai Chi
Chin Ka Lok, Wong Wai Fai, Ng Hoi Tong for Motorway
Dante Lam Chiu-Yin, Chin Ka Lok, Wong Wai Fai, Ng Hoi Tong for The Viral Factor
Chin Ka Lok & Wong Wai Fai for Cold War

Best Original Score

Chan Kwong Wing, Yu Peng for The Last Tycoon
Teddy Robin, Tomy Wai Kai Leung for The Bullet Vanishes>
Peter Kam Pui Tat for Cold War
Eman Lam & Veronica Lee Duen Han for Diva
Chan Kwong Wing for Silent War

Best Original Song

Ding Feng Bo - Composer：Leon Ko, Lyric：Chris Shum, Sung by：Jacky Cheung from The Last Tycoon
Face the Cold Blade - Composer：Jay Chou, Lyric：Vincent Fang, Sung by：Li Yuchun from The Gullotines
Do Re Mi - Composer：Lo Tayu, Lyric：Lin Xi, Sung by：Sammi Cheng from Romancing in Thin Air
Love Only Love - Composer：Charmaine Fong, Lyric：Lin Xi, Sung by：Leo Ku from Lan Kwai Fong 2
Zui Fing Zheng Dek Fung Zheng - Composer：Davy Chan & C.Y. Kong, Lyric：Lin Xi, Sung by：Joey Yung & Mag Lam from Diva

Best Sound Design

Kinson Tsang for The Guillotines
Benny Chu & Steve Miller for Motorway
Phyllis Cheng for The Bullet Vanishes
Kinson Tsang for The Viral Factor
Kinson Tsang for Cold War

Best Visual Effects

Han Young Woo, Victor Wong, Patrick Chui, Seong Ho Jang for CZ12
Chas Chau Chi Sing, Kim Ho Pui Kin, Ng Yuen Fai, A Law for Tai Chi
Victor Wong & Darkus Yu for The Guillotines
Law Wai Ho & Hellowing Cheung for Motorway
Cecil Cheng for Cold War

Best New Director

Chow Hin Yeung for Nightfall
Brian Tse for McDull: The Pork of Music
Fung Chih Chiang for The Bounty

Best Chinese or Taiwanese Film

Back to 1942 by Feng Xiaogang China
GF*BF by Ya-che Yang Taiwan
Love is not Blind by Teng Huatao China
Painted Skin: The Resurrection by Wuershan China
Love by Doze Niu Taiwan

Lifetime Achievement Award

Ng See Yuen Director, Producer

Professional Achievement Award

Ko Tin Chow
Olivia Lui Lai-wah

Larks on a String (1969)

2013-04-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

Larks on a String • Skřivánci na niti (1969)

Genre: Comedy • Drama

Director: Jiří Menzel

Starring: Rudolf Hrušínský, Václav Neckář, Jitka Zelenohorská, Vladimír Ptáček, Naďa Urbánková, Vlastimil Brodský

Language: Czech

Duration: 94 min.

Rating: 8.6

Summary:

In 1950s Czechoslovakia, a group of workers comprised of political dissidents and former bourgeois are 'voluntarily employed' in a scrapyard for the purposes of re-education.

Larks on a String is a film from the Czechoslovak New Wave directed by Jiří Menzel, adapted from selected short stories from the book Advertisement for a House I do not Want to Live in Anymore (Inzerát na dům, ve kterém už nechci bydlet) by Bohumil Hrabal. It was completed in 1969 and was immediately banned by the Communist regime before it could be screened. It finally had its premiere after the fall of Communism, screening at the 1990 Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Golden Bear ex aequo with Music Box by Costa-Gavras.

It is the third of six collaborations between Menzel and Hrabal, who previously worked together on the Academy Award winner Closely Watched Trains (1966), and the short-film anthology Pearls of the Deep (1966); and it's a brilliant, poetic, romantic, and sarcastic gem, full of all the humanity and hilarity that I've come to expect from Czech cinema.

Set mostly in a scrap-metal yard turned into a forced labor camp where various citizens are sent to work for re-education, the film follows a small group of characters who are there either for being part of the former bourgeoisie or for counter-revolutionary behavior. The men and women are separated and forbidden from contact, partitioned by a makeshift fence and watched over by a surprisingly well mannered guard (Jaroslav Satoranský), while they go about their days philosophizing and flirting, haphazardly working, and generally making the most of their situation despite the shadow of a grim and uncertain future which awaits them.

The film was shot by Menzel's regular cinematographer Jaromír Šofr, in a rare example of color photography from this era, but it is a decision that works very well. Here Šofr uses color to highlight the contrast between the outwardly grey and dreary backdrop of the yard, and the richly vivid prisoners (among them, Václav Neckář and Jitka Zelenohorská from Closely Watched Trains) caged within.

Menzel and Hrabal's wonderful screenplay balances its darkness and scathing satire (at the center of it, a masterful villainous performance from Rudolf Hrušínský, as the yard's overseer), with liberal sprinklings of lighthearted comedy and romance. All fused with some incredible visual poetry: piles of discarded typewriters and broken crucifixes; a bride in her white dress covered in red wine; and the film's most powerful sequence: with the guard absent, the men and women get together and stand around an oil-drum campfire to warm their hands in the rain, and rather than punish them upon his return, he walks up and joins them.

Because of some abrupt editing, and a story that isn't centered on any single plot-line, Larks doesn't quite match the same level of universal appeal as Trains had with its well focused charm and sensuality. However, it's still a remarkable picture that easily stands among the best of the Czechoslovak New Wave. This was a daring work with a direct political message, and it's amazing that the creators got away with it at all. But, even if you were to judge it without the political baggage or its subsequent censorship, it can be seen as an intelligent and accomplished example of style and lyricism. Breathtakingly beautiful and bittersweet.

— Bonjour Tristesse

Case for a Rookie Hangman (1969)

2013-04-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

Case for a Rookie Hangman • Případ pro začínajícího kata (1969)

Genre: Drama • Comedy

Director: Pavel Juráček

Starring: Lubomír Kostelka

Language: Czech

Duration: 102 min.

Rating: 7.7

Summary:

A surrealistic satire loosely based on the third book of Gulliver's Travels.

Case for a Rookie Hangman is a film from the Czechoslovak New Wave directed by Pavel Juráček. A modern adaptation based very loosely on the third book of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Perhaps best known for his screenwriting contributions, (among them a co-writing credit on Věra Chytilová's Daisies), this was Juráček's second and final feature film as a director. It was banned by the government shortly after completion and resulted in him being blacklisted from the Czechoslovak film industry. Sadly, he passed away a few short months before the end of Communist rule in 1989, never getting the chance to work again.

This film, much like his previous efforts: the short film Joseph Kilian (1965), and his debut feature Every Young Man (1966); is a sly Kafkaesque satire full of nonsensical surreal situations that not only pokes fun at the oppressive climate of the time, but also manages to display a timeless relevance in its themes. Lubomír Kostelka stars as the famed Lemuel Gulliver, who we follow in his absurd misadventures and encounters with strange characters in the town of Balnibarbi and the floating kingdom of Laputa.

Very light on plot but thick in atmosphere, Juráček weaves a fantastic dreamlike narrative, using some sleek camera work, inventive editing, and a greater display of stunt-work and special effects than typically seen in 1960's Czechoslovak cinema. It's a quickly paced film organized in titled chapters, sometimes a little too quick to follow if you are reading the subtitles, because there are many subtle complexities in the dialog and images that are impossible to absorb entirely in one viewing.

Throughout the confusion, there are moments of dread where the airy dream turns into a recurring nightmare, as Gulliver is haunted again and again by appearances from a dead lover (Klára Jerneková), and a well-dressed Carrollian rabbit. But it's also immensely funny at times, with its oddball characters, visual gags, and general sarcastic tone aimed at the futility of totalitarian control.

Viewers expecting a conventional story or a faithful adaptation should probably stay away from this one, but those who enjoy being a passenger on a bewildering and unpredictable experimental journey will surely find this a rewarding experience. What a terrible shame and loss for us all that Juráček's career ended here.

— Bonjour Tristesse

The Most Beautiful Age (1968)

2013-03-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

The Most Beautiful Age • Nejkrásnější věk (1968)

Genre: Comedy

Director: Jaroslav Papoušek

Starring: Hana Brejchová, Jan Stöckl, Josef Šebánek, Milada Ježková, Vladimír Šmeral, Jiří Sýkora, Ladislav Jakim, Věra Křesadlová

Language: Czech

Duration: 80 min.

Rating: 7.5

Summary:

A humorous look at the lives of people from different generations hired to model for a sculpting class.

The Most Beautiful Age (sometimes translated as The Best Age), is a film from the Czechoslovak New Wave, written and directed by Jaroslav Papoušek. This was Papoušek's first directorial effort, having previously been a key collaborator on the groundbreaking films by his good friends Miloš Forman and Ivan Passer.

The film brings together many of the now familiar faces, amateurs turned actors, who made their first appearances in those previous films: Hana Brejchová (Loves of a Blonde); Věra Křesadlová (Talent Competition, Intimate Lighting); Milada Ježková, Josef Šebánek, and Josef Kolb (Loves of a Blonde, The Firemen's Ball); Ladislav Jakim (Talent Competition, Black Peter); and Jan Stöckl (The Firemen’s Ball).

It takes place primarily in the sculpting studio of a fine-arts academy, (a setting likely chosen because Papoušek originally studied sculpting before entering filmmaking), and depicts a scenario in the same signature freewheeling observational style of the previously mentioned films. Where a tricky balance is maintained between non acted realism and scripted drama, and the focus freely shifts from one character to the next.

All of the pieces are in place: the simple setting, the unconventional narrative, and a variety of characters from all walks of life; however, watching it did not evoke quite the same wondrous spirit as when seeing Forman's Loves of a Blonde, or Passer's Intimate Lighting, for the first time. This time, the result and the performances lean towards that of watching an acting troupe instead of the natural almost documentary feel that those other films managed to depict so well, and it's more of a philosophical piece without much of an overt social or political bite. Still, there is plenty of amusement and wonder to be found here.

The central theme of the picture is an ongoing argument about 'what age is the best age in life?', and this is examined through the sometimes comical, sometimes poignant interactions between the art students and the three very different life models hired to pose for them. Hanzlík, an amicable narcoleptic grandfather (Jan Stöckl, who played the retiring chief from The Firemen's Ball); Vránová, a young stay-at-home mom who fears that she is squandering the prime of her life, agreeing to pose nude despite the objections of her highly jealous husband (Hana Brejchová, the titular blonde from Loves of a Blonde); and then there is Vosta, a middle aged charcoal burner who suffers from a serious head injury (Josef Šebánek, who appeared in both Loves of a Blonde and The Firemen's Ball, and would go on to star in Papoušek's later Holmolka Family trilogy).

It can be argued that this film was a signal of the coming end of the Czech New Wave, as it is the last true example of the distinct cinematic style we picture in our minds when thinking about this era. Both Forman and Passer would soon flee for America and go on to enjoy careers with vastly different degrees of future success, while Papoušek would remain behind and become known for his 1970's trilogy about a privileged Communist family.

So it's fitting that Papoušek assembled a reunion of sorts of all those actors for one last hurrah. Even if the magic isn't quite there, it manages to put a smile on your face and today serves as a reminder and a nod of respect to the pioneers of that brief and unforgettable golden age of Czechoslovak cinema.

— Bonjour Tristesse

2013 LAMMY Awards Eligibility List

2013-03-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Earlier today, the Full Eligibility List for the 6th Annual, 2013 LAMMY Awards was published.

The LAMMYs (not to be confused with the Lammys), are awards held annually by the Large Association of Movie Blogs'—of which this blog is a proud member—to honor and recognize the best it has to offer in 18 different categories.

Currently, the rapidly growing organization represents over 1,000 active blogs, of which a total of 297 were made eligible for this year's awards via a three week long open submission process.

Although this is the third year that my blog is eligible for participation, and I have one previous nomination. This will be the first time in which I'll be actively taking part throughout the entire process.

It's a big personal step, because I'm not at all the type to stand on the podium and campaign for myself. That, and up till now I've never really felt that I was 'the best' out of any of the available categories. But, now that I'm a little more established and comfortable with my place in the blogosphere; and seeing the many positive changes made to the rules and organization of this year's awards, I figure it will be fun to give it a go. At the very least, it will be an excellent opportunity to discover a few blogs I may have overlooked, and maybe get some new readers too.

First I would like to give a huge thank you to my fellow peers who graciously submitted me for consideration:

Lisa of Lisa Thatcher
Keith of Keith & The Movies
Courtney of Big Thoughts from a Small Mind
Nika of The Running Reel
Andy of The Film Emporium
David of Never Too Early Movie Predictions

If you aren't familiar with their blogs, please check them out before you cast your ballots.

Thanks mostly to the names above, Bonjour Tristesse the blog, as well as my blogging alter ego, are in contention for a nomination in seven different categories:

Best Blog (78 eligible, 10 nominees)
Best Design (35 eligible, 5 nominees)
Best Film Festival and Convention Coverage (19 eligible, 5 nominees)
Best Awards Coverage (19 eligible, 5 nominees)
Best Movie Genre Blog (24 eligible, 5 nominees)
Most Knowledgeable Writer (46 eligible, 5 nominees)
Best Community Builder (28 eligible, 5 nominees)

Obviously my chances are better for some of these than in others:

The long list for Best Blog has an intimidating lineup of 78 names with some real powerhouses included, I have no illusions or aspirations for that one; I'm just happy somebody out there felt my blog was worthy of inclusion. I feel the same way about Most Knowledgeable Writer. That's an attribute of mine that is strong in certain places but overall I feel is currently no match for most of the other brainiacs in the list.

The ones I'm most confident about are Best Film Festival and Convention Coverage and Best Awards Coverage. I was the runner-up last year, when these two awards were combined into a single category, and I feel my overall coverage has improved since then, especially my comprehensive coverage of VIFF 2012, and my unrivaled look at the Oscars Foreign Film contenders. Additionally, last year's winner, Never Too Early Movie Predictions, is ineligible this year because he is now one of the official LAMMY moderators. The mathematical chances also look pretty good here with only 19 blogs in each category. However, they are certainly not a lock, because there are still several impressive blogs in the running for both categories.

Best Movie Genre Blog is a brand new award this year, and it's an eclectic and unpredictable mix of blogs with a main focus on a specific genre that is not Horror and not Classic Films. I like the concept of this award because it gives all us niche blogs that don't fit into the other more popular categories a chance and also hopefully gain some new like-minded readers.

Best Design is the only award out of all eighteen, where I think there is one clear front runner: Sati's Cinematic Corner. A popular and absolutely gorgeous looking blog that deserves all the praise and more. The list is also full of other blogs (including last year's winner French Toast Sunday) where it's immediately noticeable, the impressive amount of time and effort put into their layout and design. Nevertheless, design is an aspect of my blog that I am proud of; the unique overall look and feel, the ease of navigation, and particularly the amount of custom widgets and functionality I have implemented to go beyond the limits of a Blogger powered blog.

The final award I am eligible for is Best Community Builder or the "Burman Award", as it has been unofficially dubbed, in honor of The LAMB's Shepherd, Joel Burman. This award is one that's open to a very broad range of interpretation. How do you really quantify and compare community building in a meaningful way? Still, I guess I can list the deeds I've done to help the greater good over the past twelve months while asking and expecting nothing in return:

I've donated my time to design and implement the current LAMB site, migrating it from Blogger to a self hosted WordPress installation, and I voluntarily maintain it as well as troubleshoot any problems that may arise.
A less visible contribution, but one I think is even more important: I created the database behind the LAMBTable, an application that helps Joel manage the ever growing membership, and frees up his time to improve and promote the LAMB instead of tedious bookkeeping.
I also regularly make myself available and try my best to assist any and all who ask for help or advice of a technical nature, whether it be via email, on Twitter, in the LAMB forums, or on my auxilliary blog Stupid Blog Tricks.

In closing I'll leave you with this, my very first FYC poster:

Now get out there, read some blogs, and VOTE!

2013 SXSW Film Awards

2013-03-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

The 2013 SXSW Film Festival concluded this weekend. The annual festival held in Austin, Texas, with the goal of showcasing new and independent directing talent.

Winners of the audience awards were announced Saturday evening, and earlier in the week, awards were presented by juries in several categories including: Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, Shorts, and even Poster Design.

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize was Short Term 12, directed by Destin Cretton. A film starring Brie Larson, as a supervisor at a group foster home for teenagers, who has her own troubled past.

Read on for the full list of 2013 SXSW Film award winners:

Feature Film Jury Awards

Grand Jury Prize

Short Term 12
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
USA

Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Cast

Burma
Actors: Christopher Abbott, Gaby Hoffmann, Christopher McCann, Dan Bittner, Emily Fleischer, Jacinta Puga, Matt McCarthy, Kelly Aucoin
USA

Special Jury Prize for Acting

The Retrieval
Actor: Tishuan Scott
USA

Narrative Feature Audience Awards

Winner

Short Term 12
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
USA

Narrative Spotlight

Zero Charisma
Directed by Katie Graham, Andrew Matthews
USA

Documentary Feature Jury Awards

Grand Jury Prize

William and the Windmill
Directed by Ben Nabors
USA, Malawi, South Africa

Special Jury Prize for Cinematography

Touba
Director of Photography Scott Duncan
USA, Senegal

Special Jury Prize for Directing

We Always Lie to Strangers
Directors: AJ Schnack, David Wilson
USA

Documentary Feature Audience Awards

Winner

The Short Game
Directed by Josh Greenbaum
USA

Narrative Spotlight

An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story
Directed by KAl REinert
USA

Short Film Jury Awards

Narrative Short Winner

Ellen is Leaving
Directed by Michelle Savill
USA

Narrative Short Honorable Mention

Sequin Raze
Directed by Sarah Gertrude Shapiro
USA

Narrative Short Honorable Mention

SKIN
Directed by Jordana Spiro
USA

Documentary Short Winner

SLOMO
Directed by Josh Izenberg
USA

Midnight Short Winner

The Apocalypse
Directed by Andrew Zuchero
USA

Animated Short Winner

Oh Willy...
Directors: Emma De Swaef, Marc James Roels
USA

Music Video Winner

Vitalic, "Stamina"
Directed by Saman Keshavarz

Texas High School Short Winner

The Benefactress
Directed by Alina Vega

SXSW Film Design Awards

Excellence in Poster Design Winner

Kiss of the Damned
Designed by Akiko Stehrenberger, Gravillis Inc.

Excellence in Poster Design Special Jury Recognition

We Always Lie to Strangers
Designed by Erik Buckham, PALACEWORKS

SXSW Film Design Audience Awards

Excellence in Poster Design Winner

Kiss of the Damned
Designed by Akiko Stehrenberger, Gravillis Inc.

Excellence in Title Design

Chasing Shakespeare
Designed by Lucky Post

Visions Audience Award

Winner

Maidentrip
Directed by Jillian Schlesinger

Midnighters Audience Award

Winner

Cheap Thrills
Directed by E.L. Katz

24 Beats Per Second Audience Award

Winner

A Band Called Death
Directed by Mark Christopher Covino, Jeff Howlett

SXGlobal Audience Award

Winner

The Punk Syndrome
Directed by Jukka Kärkkäinen, J-P Passi

Festival Favorites Audience Award

Winner

The Crash Reel
Directed by Lucy Walker

SXSW Special Awards

SXSW Chicken & Egg Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award

A Teacher
Directed by Hannah Fidell

SXSW Chicken & Egg Special Mention

Zero Charisma
Directed by Katie Graham

Louis Black "Lone Star" Award

Loves Her Gun
Directed by Geoff Marslett

Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship

Presented to: Jim Hession

A Hijacking (2012)

2013-03-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

A Hijacking • Kapringen (2012)

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Director: Tobias Lindholm

Starring: Søren Mallin, Johan Philip Asbæk

Language: Danish, English, Somali

Duration: 99 min.

Rating: 7.5

Summary:

A Danish cargo ship headed for Mumbai is hijacked for ransom by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean.

A Hijacking, is a film written and directed by Denmark's fast rising Tobias Lindholm (he also co-wrote The Hunt), derived from real events but not based on any incident in particular. It premiered in the Orizzonti section of the 2012 Venice International Film Festival. Earlier this month, it surprised everyone at the 2013 Robert Awards (the Danish Oscars), beating the odds-on favorite A Royal Affair for Best Danish Film.

The film chronicles the hijacking of Danish cargo ship MV Rozen, intercepted by Somali pirates armed with AKs, while en-route to Mumbai through the Indian Ocean. It has a split narrative, showing the progressively deteriorating conditions aboard the ship, centered mostly on the experiences of the ship's cook, Mikkel Hartmann (Johan Philip 'Pilou' Asbæk); and the ongoing negotiations taking place back home in Copenhagen, headed by company CEO, Peter C. Ludvigsen (Søren Malling, winner of Best Actor at the Robert Awards).

Working with a limited budget, Lindholm wisely forgoes the temptation of staging any high seas action sequences that may end up half-assed. Instead, he focuses on escalating the dramatic tension with a strong screenplay that efficiently conveys the psychological effects of the situation in both of the narrative threads.

The stand out here is the character of Peter, played impressively by Malling. Introduced as steely presence in the boardroom, he doesn't hesitate to place the situation upon his shoulders. The emotional and psychological burden becomes intense, but he's a man who is determined to see it through till the end, whatever the personal cost.

Asbæk (who looks a bit like Ewan McGregor), also gives a compelling performance in his role as Mikkel. He begins the film as a family man only a few days away from returning home, an overall cheery, well liked figure aboard the ship. As the days pass, and the negotiations drag out, we see how the general helplessness of the traumatic ordeal gradually takes its toll on his mind and body.

One interesting note of trivia about the cast, Gary Skjoldmose Porter, who plays Connor Julian, an outside expert hired to assist with the negotiations, is a non-actor who actually is a corporate security consultant in real life.

It's a tense watch that is skillfully written and economically directed by a filmmaker who maximizes the resources available to him. A Hijacking won't become a classic, but with it, Lindholm has suddenly and undeniably emerged as another exciting Danish talent to watch out for.

— Bonjour Tristesse

The End of a Priest (1968)

2013-03-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

The End of a Priest • Faráruv konec (1968)

Genre: Comedy

Director: Evald Schorm

Starring: Vlastimil Brodský, Jan Libícek, Jana Brejchová, Zdena Salivarová, Jaroslav Satoranský

Language: Czech

Duration: 96 min.

Rating: 7.4

Summary:

A bumbling sexton mistaken for a priest, takes over a vacant post in a remote mountain village, to the dismay of the local teacher, a proud atheist.

The End of a Priest is a film directed by Evald Schorm, from a screenplay written by Josef Škvorecký. It screened in competition at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival. However, it was one of a number of Schorm's films that were banned and got him labeled as a 'political undesirable' in Czechoslovakia. A black mark that ultimately prevented him from working in cinema again until the fall of the Iron Curtain.

It's a moral comedy centered on a sexton (Vlastimil Brodský), who passes himself off as a priest, and disturbs the status quo in a remote Bohemian village, where a portly, atheist and Communist teacher (Jan Libícek), rules the roost. Although he is at first reluctant to take on the duties and responsibilities of a priest, he is quickly swayed by the predominately traditional and superstitious locals, who welcome him with open arms, not realizing he is an imposter. It isn't long until these men of opposing beliefs find themselves butting heads, leading to an inevitable violent conclusion.

The film's satirical narrative is broken up by short amusing interludes foreshadowing upcoming events, which are performed by costumed musical players on a carnival stage. There are aspects of the bible strongly hinted at, and Schorm also uses a good measure of outrageous comedy to illustrate the absurdity of the contemporary political situation. All of the characters serve as symbols and representations of 1950's Czechoslovak society as a whole.

There are some really funny performances, especially from the leads Brodský and Libícek, as well as a welcome turn from the stunning Jana Brejchová (who was at the time married to Brodský), as the town floozy who falls for the priest.

The humor is sharp at times, blunt at others, and leaves us with something of an ominous swan song to the Czech New Wave (it premiered right before the Soviet invasion began). Realistically though, this film offers very little to relate to, for anyone not already familiar with, or especially keen on, that period of history. So not the best place to start, but a solid place to continue, for those looking for more.

— Bonjour Tristesse

2013 Canadian Screen Awards: Winners

2013-03-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

The inaugural edition of the Canadian Screen Awards, a merging of two awards ceremonies formerly known as the Genie Awards (film) and the Gemini Awards (television), were held Sunday, March 3 at Toronto's Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.

Kim Nguyen's internationally acclaimed drama Rebelle swept the film section of the ceremony, taking home 10 awards including Best Motion Picture, from its 12 nominations.

Read on for the full list of 2013 Canadian Screen Awards (Film) winners:

Motion Picture

L'Affaire Dumont producer Nicole Robert
Inch'Allah producers Luc Déry, Kim McCraw, Stephen Traynor
Laurence Anyways producers Nathanaël Karmitz, Lyse Lafontaine
Midnight's Children producers David Hamilton, Doug Mankoff, Steven Silver, Neil Tabatznik, Andrew Spaulding
Rebelle producers Pierre Even, Marie-Claude Poulin, Kim Nguyen
Still Mine producers Jody Colero, Avi Federgreen, Tamara Deverell

Direction

Xavier Dolan for Laurence Anyways
Michael Dowse for Goon
Bernard Émond for Tout ce que tu possèdes
Deepa Mehta for Midnight's Children
Kim Nguyen for Rebelle

Actor in a Leading Role

James Cromwell in Still Mine
Patrick Drolet in Tout ce que tu possèdes
Marc-André Grondin in L'Affaire Dumont
David Morse in Collaborator
Melvil Poupaud in Laurence Anyways

Actress in a Leading Role

Évelyne Brochu in Inch'Allah
Geneviève Bujold in Still Mine
Marilyn Castonguay in L'Affaire Dumont
Suzanne Clément in Laurence Anyways
Rachel Mwanza in Rebelle

Actor in a Supporting Role

Jay Baruchel in Goon
Kim Coates in Goon
Stephan James in Home Again
Serge Kanyinda in Rebelle
Elias Koteas in Winnie

Actress in a Supporting Role

Seema Biswas in Midnight's Children
Fefe Dobson in Home Again
Alice Morel Michaud in Les Pee Wee 3D
Gabrielle Miller in Moving Day
Sabrina Ouazani in Inch'Allah

Original Screenplay

Blackbird writer Jason Buxton
Laurence Anyways writer Xavier Dolan
Tout ce que tu possèdes writer Bernard Émond
Rebelle writer Kim Nguyen
Still Mine writer Michael McGowan

Adapted Screenplay

Cosmopolis writer David Cronenberg
Goon writers Jay Baruchel, Evan Goldberg
The Lesser Blessed writer Anita Doron
Mars et Avril writer Martin Villeneuve
Midnight's Children writer Salman Rushdie

Feature Length Documentary

Alphée des étoiles - Eric De Gheldere, Hugo Latulippe and Colette Loumède
Indie Game: The Movie - Lisanne Pajot, James Swirsky
Over My Dead Body - Virginie Dubois, Stéphanie Morissette, Brigitte Poupart
Stories We Tell - Sarah Polley, Anita Lee
The World Before Her - Ed Barreveld, Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe

Short Documentary

The Boxing Girls of Kabul - Annette Clarke, Ariel Nasr
The Fuse: Or How I Burned Simon Bolivar - Igor Drljaca
Keep a Modest Head - Deco Dawson, Catherine Chagnon
Let the Daylight Into the Swamp - Anita Lee, Jeffrey St. Jules
Three Walls - Zaheed Mawani, Andrea Bussman

Live Action Short

Chef de Meute - Fanny-Laure Malo, Sarah Pellerin, Chloé Robichaud
Frost - Lauren Grant, Jeremy Ball, Robert Munroe
Le future proche - Sophie Goyette
Première neige - Michaël Lalancette
Throat Song - Miranda de Pencier, Stacey Aglok MacDonald

Animated Short

Bydlo - Julie Roy, Patrick Bouchard
Demoni - Theodore Ushev
Edmond Was a Donkey - Richard Van Den Boom, Franck Dion, Julie Roy
Paula - Julie Roy, Dominic Étienne Simard

Art Direction and Production Design

L'Affaire Dumont - André Guimond
Antiviral - Arvinder Grewal
Laurence Anyways - Anne Pritchard
Midnight's Children - Dilip Mehta
Rebelle - Emmanuel Fréchette, Josée Arsenault

Cinematography

Goon - Bobby Shore
Inch'Allah - Philippe Lavalette
Midnight's Children - Giles Nuttgens
Rebelle - Nicolas Bolduc
Still Mine - Brendan Steacy

Costume Design

Laurence Anyways - Xavier Dolan, François Barbeau
Mad Ship - Patricia Henderson
Rebelle - Wendy Partridge
Resident Evil: Retribution - Wendy Partridge
Silent Hill: Revelation 3D - Éric Poirier

Editing

L'Affaire Dumont - Valérie Héroux
Blackbird - Kimberlee McTaggart
Inch'Allah - Sophie Leblond
Rebelle - Richard Comeau
Still Mine - Roderick Doegrades

Overall Sound

Antiviral - Philip Stall, Ian Rankin, Lou Solakofski
The Disappeared - Zander Rosborough, Allan Scarth
Mars et Avril - Olivier Calvert, Pascal Beaudin, Luc Boudrias
Midnight's Children - Sylvain Arseneault, Steph Carrier, Lou Solakofski, Don White
Rebelle - Claude La Haye, Daniel Bisson, Bernard Gariépy Strobl

Sound Editing

L'Affaire Dumont - Pierre-Jules Audet, Michelle Cloutier, Thierry Bourgault D'Amico, Nathalie Fleurant, Cédrick Marin
The Disappeared - Allan Scarth, Bob Melanson, Zander Rosborough, Cory Tetford
Laurence Anyways - Sylvain Brassard, Stéphane Cadotte, Isabelle Favreau, Philippe Racine
Rebelle - Martin Pinsonnault, Jean-François Sauvé, Simon Meilleur, Claire Pochon
Resident Evil: Retribution - Stephen Barden, Steve Baine, Kevin Banks, Alex Bullick, Jill Purdy

Original Score

Antiviral composer E.C. Woodley
Cosmopolis composer Howard Shore
Laurence Anyways composer Noia
Mars et Avril composer Benoît Charest
Still Mine composer Don Rooke, Hugh Marsh, Michelle Willis

Original Song

Wanting from Rufus written by Erland and the Carnival
Out of Sight from Rufus written by Erland and the Carnival
Long to Live from Cosmopolis written by Emily Haines, James Shaw, Howard Shore

Makeup

L'Affaire Dumont - Marlène Rouleau, André Duval
Antiviral - Cathie Davies-Irvine, Trason Fernandes
Goon - Brenda Magalas, Lori Caputi
Laurence Anyways - Colleen Quinton, Kathy Kelso
Silent Hill: Revelations 3D - Katie Brennan, Karola Dirnberger, Paul Jones

Visual Effects

Mars et Avril - Carlos Monzon, Martin Belleau, Dominic Daigle, Nathalie Dupont, Gaël Hollard, Benoît Ladouceur, Viviane Levesque Bouchard, Jérémie Lodomez, Anie Normandin, Alexandra Vaillancourt
Midnight's Children - Ralph Maiers, Debora Dunphy, John Fukushima, Patrick Kavanaugh, Bill Martin, Chris Philips, Jeremy Price, Kenton Rannie, Lauren Weidel
Rebelle - Ève Brunet, Marc Morissette, Alexandra Vaillancourt
Resident Evil: Retribution - Dennis Berardi, Jason Edwardh, Matt Glover, Trey Harrell, Leann Harvey, Jo Hughes, Ethan Lee, Scott Riopelle, Eric Robinson, Kyle Yoneda
Silent Hill: Revelations 3D - Dennis Berardi, Keith Acheson, Michael Borrett, Wilson Cameron, Michael DiCarlo, Tom Nagy, Britton Plewes, Scott Riopelle, Matt Whelan, Wojciech Zielinski

Claude Jutra Award (Best Debut Film)

Blackbird directed by Jason Buxton

Golden Reel Award (Highest Box Office Gross)

Resident Evil: Retribution directed by Paul W.S. Anderson

Further details available at the official Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television website.

The Cry (1963)

2013-03-01T00:00:00.001-08:00

The Cry • Křik (1963)

Genre: Drama

Director: Jaromil Jireš

Starring: Eva Límanová , Josef Abrhám

Language: Czech

Duration: 77 min.

Rating: 7.6

Summary:

A day in the life of a young couple; a significant day in which their first child enters the world.

The Cry is the first feature film from Czechoslovak New Wave director Jaromil Jireš, who previously contributed a segment for the Pearls of the Deep anthology, and would go on to direct two other important films during this era, The Joke (1969), and Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970). Based on a collection of writings by Ludvík Aškenazy, The Cry was shot in 1963 (IMDB lists the year incorrectly as 1966), and premiered in competition at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival alongside Jacques Demy's Palme d'Or winner, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

This is yet another beautifully rendered portrait of life that serves as a fascinating preserved time-capsule from this magical period of cinema. It captures a brief moment in the lives of young couple Slávek (a fresh faced Josef Abrhám, before becoming one of the most well known Czech actors of all time) and Ivana (Eva Límanová, in her first of her only two screen roles). Chronicling their day, with Ivana waiting for her turn in the maternity ward, and Slávek making his way around the city on his job as a television repairman.

The narrative proceeds without a standard plot, focusing instead on how Slávek and Ivana spend their time apart, reflecting on the ups and downs of their lives together: past, present, and future; represented onscreen via a stylish blend of flashback memories, fantasy sequences, still frames, unscripted documentary, and newsreel footage. This experimental mix comes together, aided by a Bach organ fugue, and colorful fills from composer Jan Klusák, to form a cohesive whole.

It's interesting how these sequences mesh together, they are often presented in a way where you aren't exactly sure in who's mind a particular scene is taking place. But it's not something meant to be puzzled out, rather just an inventive method (in a time of unparalleled invention) for Jireš to tell the story.

The other point of fascination here is the semi realism and spontaneity in many of the scenes. We get to see the goings-on in an elementary school classroom during one of Slávek's repair calls, and hear each one of them explain the benefits of being invisible. In addition to a lot of on-the-street footage; some sights still very familiar today (a crowd of tourists taking photos of Prague's landmarks), others now a pure novelty (people lined up outside a telephone booth).

All in all, a very strong first effort from one of the pioneers of the movement. Perhaps not a groundbreaking essential piece, but well worth seeking out if you have more than a passing interest in the Czech New Wave.

— Bonjour Tristesse

2013 César Awards Winners

2013-02-22T14:59:00.000-08:00

The 38th César Awards (the French Oscars) were held Friday, February 22 at the Theatre du Châtelet in Paris, in a three-hour ceremony presided by Jamel Debbouze and presented by Antoine de Caunes.

As expected by all, the big winner was Michael Haneke's Amour with 5 wins (Original Scenario, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Film).

Other multiple winners were Jacques Audiard's De rouille et d'os (Rust and Bone) with 4 wins: (Best Adaptation, Most Promising Actor, Best Music, Best Editing); Benoît Jacquot's Les adieux à la reine (Farewell My Queen) with 3 wins: (Cinematography, Production Design, Costume Design); and Alexandre de La Patellière & Matthieu Delaporte's Le Prénom (What's in a Name?) with 2 wins: (Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress).

Noémie Lvovsky's Camille redouble (Camille Rewinds), which came into the night with 13 nominations (the most of any film), and Leos Carax's Holy Motors (9 nods) both went home empty handed.

Read on for the full list of 2013 César Awards winners:

Best Film

Les adieux à la reine directed by Benoît Jacquot
Amour directed by Michael Haneke
Camille redouble directed by Noémie Lvovsky
Dans la maison directed by François Ozon
De rouille et d'os directed by Jacques Audiard
Holy Motors directed by Leos Carax
Le Prénom directed by Alexandre de La Patellière & Matthieu Delaporte

Best Debut Film

Augustine directed by Alice Winocour
Comme des frères directed by Hugo Gélin
Louise Wimmer directed by Cyril Mennegun
Populaire directed by Régis Roinsard
Rengaine directed by Rachid Djaidani

Best Director

Jacques Audiard for De rouille et d'os
Stéphane Brizé for Quelques heures de printemps
Leos Carax for Holy Motors
Michael Haneke for Amour
Benoît Jacquot for Les adieux à la reine
Noémie Lvovsky for Camille redouble
François Ozon for Dans la maison

Best Actor

Jean-Pierre Bacri in Cherchez Hortense
Patrick Bruel in Le prénom
Denis Lavant in Holy Motors
Vincent Lindon in Quelques heures de printemps
Fabrice Luchini in Dans la maison
Jérémie Renier in Cloclo
Jean Louis Trintignant in Amour

Best Supporting Actor

Guillaume de Tonquédec in Le prénom
Samir Guesmi in Camille redouble
Benoît Magimel in Cloclo
Claude Rich in Cherchez Hortense
Michel Vuillermoz in Camille Redouble

Most Promising Actor

Felix Moati in Télé Gaucho
Kacey Mottet Klein in L'enfant d'en haut
Pierre Niney in Comme des frères
Matthias Schoenaerts in De rouille et d'os
Ernst Umhauer in Dans la maison

Best Actress

Marion Cotillard in De rouille et d'os
Catherine Frot in Les saveurs du Palais
Noémie Lvovsky in Camille Redouble
Corinne Masiero in Louise Wimmer
Emmanuelle Riva in Amour
Léa Seydoux in Les adieux à la reine
Hélène Vincent in Quelques heures de printemps

Best Supporting Actress

Valérie Benguigui in Le prénom
Judith Chemla in Camille redouble
Isabelle Huppert in Amour
Yolande Moreau in Camille redouble
Edith Scob in Holy Motors

Most Promising Actress

Alice De Lencquesaing in Au galop
Lola Dewaere in Mince alors!
Julia Faure in Camille redouble
India Hair in Camille redouble
Izïa Higelin in Mauvaise fille

Best Foreign Film

À perdre la raison directed by Joachim Lafosse
Argo directed by Ben Affleck
Bullhead directed by Michaël R. Roskam
Laurence Anyways directed by Xavier Dolan
Oslo, 31 August directed by Joachim Trier
The Angels' Share directed by Ken Loach
A Royal Affair directed by Nikolaj Arcel

Best Original Scenario

Bruno Podalydès & Denis Podalydès for Adieu Berthe - L'enterrement de mémé
Michael Haneke for Amour
Maud Ameline, Noémie Lvovsky, Pierre-Olivier Mattei & Florence Seyvos for Camille redouble
Leos Carax for Holy Motors
Stéphane Brizé & Florence Vignon for Quelques heures de printemps

Best Adaptation

Lucas Belvaux for 38 témoins
Benoît Jacquot for Les adieux à la reine
François Ozon for Dans la maison
Jacques Audiard & Thomas Bidegain for De rouille et d'os
Alexandre de La Patellière & Matthieu Delaporte for Le prénom

Best Cinematography

Romain Winding for Les adieux à la reine
Darius Khondji for Amour
Stéphane Fontaine for De rouille et d'os
Caroline Champetier for Holy Motors
Guillaume Schiffman for Populaire

Best Editing

Luc Barnier & Nelly Ollivault for Les adieux à la reine
Nadine Muse & Monika Willi for Amour
Annette Dutertre & Michel Klochendler for Camille redouble
Juliette Welfling for De rouille et d'os
Nelly Quettier for Holy Motors

Best Production Design

Katia Wyszkop for Les adieux à la reine
Jean-Vincent Puzos for Amour
Philippe Chiffre for Cloclo
Florian Sanson for Holy Motors
Sylvie Olivé for Populaire

Best Costume Design

Christian Gasc for Les adieux à la reine
Pascaline Chavanne for Augustine
Madeline Fontaine for Camille redouble
Mimi Lempicka for Cloclo
Charlotte David for Populaire

Best Music Written for a Film

Bruno Coulais for Les adieux à la reine
Joseph Dahan & Gaëtan Roussel for Camille redouble
Philippe Rombi for Dans la maison
Alexandre Desplat for De rouille et d'os
Rob & Emmanuel D'Orlando for Populaire

Best Sound

Brigitte Taillandier, Francis Wargnier and Olivier Goinard for Les adieux à la reine
Guillaume Sciama, Nadine Muse and Jean-Pierre Laforce for Amour
Antoine Deflandre, Germain Boulay and Éric Tisserand for Cloclo
Brigitte Taillandier, Pascal Villard and Jean-Paul Hurier for De rouille et d'os
Erwan Kerzanet, Josefina Rodriguez and Emmanuel Croset for Holy Motors

Best Documentary

Bovines ou la vraie vie des vaches directed by Emmanuel Gras
Duch, le maître des forges de l'enfer directed by Rithy Panh
Les Invisibles directed by Sébastien Lifshitz
Journal de France directed by Raymond Depardon & Claudine Nougaret
Les nouveaux chiens de garde directed by Gilles Balbastre & Yannick Kergoat

Best Short Film

Ce n'est pas un film de cow-boys directed by Benjamin Parent
Ce qu'il restera de nous directed by Vincent Macaigne
Le cri du homard directed by Nicolas Guiot
Les Meutes directed by Manuel Schapira
La vie parisienne directed by Vincent Dietschy

Best Animated Feature

Edmond était un ane directed by Franck Dion
Ernest et celestine directed by Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar & Stéphane Aubier
Kirikou et les hommes et les femmes directed by Michel Ocelot
Oh Willy directed by Emma de Swaef & Marc James Roels
Zarafa directed by Rémi Bezançon & Jean-Christophe Lie

Honorary César

Kevin Costner

In the House (2012)

2013-02-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

In the House • Dans la maison (2012)

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Thriller

Director: François Ozon

Starring: Fabrice Luchini, Ernst Umhauer, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emmanuelle Seigner, Denis Ménochet

Language: French

Duration: 105 min.

Rating: 7.9

Summary:

A high-schooler insinuates himself into the house of a fellow classmate and writes about his family in essays that blur the lines between reality and fiction for his jaded literature teacher.

In the House is a film directed by François Ozon, adapted from the play The Boy in the Last Row by Juan Mayorga. It premiered in the Special Presentations section of the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI award. It also screened in competition at the 2012 San Sebastián International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Seashell for Best Film and the Prize of the Jury for Best Screenplay. It is nominated for 6 awards, including Best Film, at the 2013 César Awards.

Prolific and eclectic French director François Ozon has built a career on twisting and subverting genres to great effect. His films cover everything from extreme dark thrillers to comedic musical murder mysteries. This latest film subtly navigates across all the genre boundaries, deftly following the intriguing creative relationship between Germain (Fabrice Luchini), a long jaded high school French teacher, and his new found protege Claude (Ernst Umhauer), a quiet student who sparks Germain's zest for teaching with his imaginative essays about a classmate's family.

It's an intelligent, self aware, and ironic script that constantly blurs the storytelling lines, and draws some inspiration from his own previous films, especially Swimming Pool. Using Claude's, is it fact or is it fictional, story about his fellow classmate Rapha's (Bastien Ughetto) family as a central thread, Ozon strings the audience along on a densely layered mystery ride full of surprises and wit.

This is the kind of film where there is always a second or third meaning behind the dialog and imagery. Fortunately Ozon has it perfectly under control, never letting things get convoluted; and unlike some other recent films that take this route of fiction vs meta-fiction, this one doesn't ever make you feel like it's trying too hard to be clever.

Casting is spot on: with Luchini brilliant as the mentor who is irresistibly drawn into his student's web of ink; and young Umhauer is a great find, playing it with just the right amount of creepiness and charm at the same time; Kristin Scott Thomas makes a welcome appearance as Germain's, close to her wit's end, wife Jeanne; While Emmanuelle Seigner as Rapha's bored housewife mother Esther, serves delectably as the would-be author's object of desire.

Overall it's perhaps a little too tempered, lacking any of the sort of shocking material I like to see from Ozon, but it's still a highly enjoyable effort that's smart, razor sharp, and detailed enough to give a second watch.

— Bonjour Tristesse

What's in a Name? (2012)

2013-02-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

What's in a Name? • Le prénom (2012)

Genre: Comedy

Director: Alexandre de La Patellière, Matthieu Delaporte

Starring: Patrick Bruel, Valérie Benguigui, Charles Berling, Guillamue de Tonquedec, Judith El Zein

Language: French

Duration: 109 min.

Rating: 7.5

Summary:

An innocuous dinner party of childhood friends goes south when a father-to-be announces the controversial name he plans on giving his child.

What's in a Name? is a film by screenwriting turned directing duo Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte, adapted from their own 2010 stage play and starring most of the original cast members. It is nominated for 5 awards at the 2013 Césars including Best Film and Best Adaptation.

Much like Roman Polanski's Carnage, except much wittier and funnier, it's a tale set almost entirely within the walls of an upper-middle class apartment where a group of 40 somethings are gathered for a dinner party that quickly devolves into an ugly affair.

The film begins on clever footing, as the opening credits list only the cast and crew's first names (Le prénom is French for 'the given name'). A nice little touch that's followed by a Jeunet inspired cheeky introductory sequence for each of the main characters, which gives this otherwise stagey production some cinematic flair.

The hosts of the evenings festivities: Elizabeth (Valerie Benguigui), an elementary school teacher, and her Sorbonne professor husband Pierre (Charles Berling, the only new cast member). Elizabeth's realtor brother Vincent (Patrick Bruel), his pregnant wife Anna (Judith El Zein), and Elizabeth's childhood best friend Claude (Guillaume de Tonquedec), an accomplished orchestra trombonist.

The acting is solid all around, and the pure chemistry and clockwork timing exhibited by this group is wonderful to watch. No doubt aided greatly by already being familiar with their roles and each other, but also by the brilliant script that shifts the atmosphere from amicable to hostile and everywhere in between, in a truly natural manner. Making the way these people conduct themselves, as well as how all the events unfold during the course of the evening, entirely believable.

With its singular setting and the simple editing and camerawork, it never quite shakes off its theatrical origins. However, the drama never feels forced, even the sudden unexpected twists that come up, only help to move the film enjoyably along, rather than drag out the ordeal. The dialogue is also frequently hilarious, full of laugh-out-loud rapid fire quips and retorts that sadly I can't imagine a subtitled version being able to accurately convey or keep up with.

It's a simple yet skillfully executed film that probably won't win any awards, but is a fun little farce that's good for more than a few laughs. I've not paid much attention to La Patellière and Delaporte's careers up till now, but I will be following them with interest from now on.

— Bonjour Tristesse

Camille Rewinds (2012)

2013-02-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

Camille Rewinds • Camille redouble (2012)

Genre: Comedy

Director: Noémie Lvovsky

Starring: Noémie Lvovsky, Samir Guesmi, Yolande Moreau, Michel Vuillermoz

Language: French

Duration: 115 min.

Rating: 6.6

Summary:

40-year-old struggling actress Camille awakens in a hospital bed as her 16-year-old self, and vows to save herself from the heartache that awaits her in the future.

Camille Rewinds is a film by writer, director, and actress Noémie Lvovsky, from an original screenplay co-written with Maud Ameline, Pierre-Olivier Mattei, and Florence Seyvos. It premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Prix SACD, for Best French Language Film. It received 13 nominations for the 2013 César Awards, the most of any film this year.

Though the film's concept, of a character who finds themselves transported back in time for another go is nothing new, in fact it seems heavily inspired by Francis Ford Coppola's Peggy Sue Got Married (1985), and the revelations and situations presented are readily predictable, there remains something about the way the prolific Lvovsky handles it here that makes the film interesting to watch.

She plays Camille, a struggling actress who drinks and smokes too much, and is in the midst of a divorce. After getting wasted at a New Year's Eve party hosted by an old high-school friend, she faints and wakes up in 1985 where everyone sees her as a teenager. Lvovsky does an excellent job, with convincing body language. Visibly having great fun with her role, but never going over the top, as Camille suddenly has to adjust back to teen-age life.

What follows is the expected ample displays of nostalgia, awkward comedic moments, and even more awkward romantic episodes. Including a couple of moving supporting performances from Yolande Moreau and Michel Vuillermoz as Camille's parents (probably the film's best and only chances for taking home a César), along with a couple of overacted cameos from Jean-Pierre Léaud as a wacky watchmaker, and Matthieu Amalric as a perverted French teacher.

But aside from the easy laughs, the film also takes an inward philosophical direction that contemplates the inevitability and acceptance of one's fate, and does so lightly, without blatantly pulling on the audience's strings. This aspect was handled quite well. Unfortunately, the screenplay has a few slow sections and repetition that could have been left out. There were for example, too many scenes of Camille running away from and trying to avoid Éric (Samir Guesmi), the proverbial love of her life.

All in all, it's an enjoyable and lively effort that's worth seeing if you're into French comedies, but perhaps not entirely rewarding enough to leave any lasting impression.

— Bonjour Tristesse