The 2010 Cannes Film Festival has been announced and there aren’t that many surprises. Very few American films (as we assumed) and so far, no cosmic relationship epic that everyone is salivating for.
The ‘On The Croisette’ Twitter feed says that Terrence Malick’s “Tree Of Life” is still incomplete, “Malick is NOT ready, although the committee saw a “copy.” Anything could happen in the coming weeks…” indieWire’s sources however say the film will not be completed in time; “An industry insider who is not connected with the film told the site last night that it is not finished and won’t screen at the festival.” Color us not entirely shocked.
As noted earlier in the week, the Cannes committee has had a tough time making decisions and screening all the films on time. Four in-competition slots are likely still open and will be announced at a later date as their are traditionally twenty in competition films and currently there are only sixteen, so you can bet they are still hoping for Malick to finish on time, no matter what is being said. The biggest key films announced — at least to us are Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu’s long-awaited “Biutiful” starring Javier Bardem, Doug Liman’s “Fair Game” starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts, and Mike Leigh’s “Another Year.”
Tim Burton is the previously announced jury President, and jurors include Kate Beckinsale, Italian actress Giovanna Mezzogiorno (“Vincere”), Italian director Alberto Barbera, French writer Emmanuel Carrere, Benicio Del Toro, Spanish director Victor Erice and Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. Venerable French cinema doyenne Claire Denis is the Un Certain Regard jury head.
The festival runs May 12th – 23rd and the opening film will be Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood” as previously announced, but of course it opens up two days later worldwide on May 14. Some surprises to us were the inclusion of Diego Luna’s “Abel” (not in competition) and the previously unannounced directorial effort by French actor Matthieu Amalric and his film titled, “Tournée,” which he also stars in. It ‘s also interesting to see Derek Cianfrance’s “Blue Valentine” starring Ryan Gosling and Michell Williams in the Un Certain Regard section considering it already debuted at Sundance earlier this year. Here’s the full line-up:
Cannes 2010: IN COMPETITION
Mathieu Amalric’s “Tournee”
Xavier Beauvois’ “Of Gods And Men”
Rachid Bouchareb’s “Hors La Loi”
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s “Biutiful”
Mahamat Saleh Haroun’s “A Screaming Man (Un Homme Qui Crie)”
Im Sang-soo’s “Housemaid”
Abbas Kiarostami’s “Certified Copy”
Takeshi Kitano’s “Outrage”
Lee Chang-dong’s “Poetry”
Mike Leigh’s “Another Year”
Doug Liman’s “Fair Game”
Sergei Loznitsa’s “You. My Joy”
Daniele Luchetti’s “La Nostra Vita”
Nikita Mikhalkov’s “Burnt By The Sun 2”
Bertrand Tavernier’s “La Princesse De Montpensier”
Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Loong Boonmee Raleuk Chaat (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives)”
Out Of Competition
Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”
Woody Allen’s “You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger”
Stephen Frear’s “Tamara Drewe”
Un Certain Regard
Hong Sang-soo’s “Hahaha”
Cristi Puiu’s “Aurora”
Xavier Dolan’s “Les amours imaginaires”
Jean-Luc Godard “Socialisme”
Ágnes Kocsis’ “Pál Adrienn”
Derek Cianfrance: “Blue Valentine”
Manoel de Oliveira: “O estranho caso de Angelica”
Lodge Kerrigan “Rebecca H. (Return to the Dogs)”
Ivan Fund and Santiago Loza: “Los Labios” (The Lips)”
Fabrice Gobert: “Simon Werner a Disparu…”
Christoph Hochhausler: “Unter Dir Die Stadt (The City Below)”
Vikramaditya Motwane: “Udaan”
Radu Muntean: “Marti Dupa Craciun (Tuesday, After Christmas)”
Hideo Nakata: “Chatroom”
Oliver Schmitz: “Life Above All”
Daniel Vega: “Octubre”
David Verbeek: “R U There”
Xiaoshuai Wa: “Rizhao Chongqing (Chongqing Blues)”
Special Screening
Diego Luna – “Abel”
Charles Ferguson: “Inside Job”
Sophie Fiennes: “Over Your Cities Grasss Will Grow”
Patricio Guzman: “Nostalgia De La Luz” (Nostalgia For The Light)”
Sabina Guzzanti Draquila: “L’italia Che Trema”
Otar Iosselini: “Chantrapas”
Midnight Screening
Gregg Araki’s “Kaboom”
Gustavo Hernandez: “The Mute House”
BTW, if you’re looking for the Director’s Fortnight picks, their website says the lineup will be announced in “late April.” We assume they wouldn’t announce their selections on the same day as Cannes as that’s probably a losing battle. Those who still think “Tree Of Life” will appear there are misguided, trust us.
Those curious about numbers, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu’s “Biutiful” is 2 hours and 18 minutes, Leigh’s “Another Year” is 2 hours and 9 minutes, and “Fair Game” is 1 hour and 44 minutes. Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street 2” is 2 hours and 16 minutes and Woody Allen’s “You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger,” is one hour and 38 minutes. Cristi Puiu’s “Aurora” is the longest film clocking in at 2 hours and 59 minutes.
BTW, this piece looks closer at snubs, surprises and Cannes-related bits of news like the fact that Julian Schnabel passed on his out-of-competition Cannes offer and took his film “Miral” to the Venice film festival instead.