Still the biggest and most prestigious film festival in the world, despite fierce competition, Cannes is one of the major dates in the film lover's calendar. And more so than ever this year, there's been a great deal of speculation as to what the films in competition might be. We knew that Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" was opening the festival, and we knew, as of yesterday, that "Therese D," the last film from director Claude Miller, starring Audrey Tautou, would close it.
But beyond that, nothing's been certain, although all kinds of rumors have been circulating. Would we see Terrence Malick debut a new film for the second year in a row? Would Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" bow on the Croisette? Would Adam Sandler's "That's My Boy" finally see him gain festival love? (it's possible we made the last one up).
Well, the line-up's finally been unveiled, and as per our gut feeling late last night, though a lot of the speculation has centered around American films, the reality is something much different. That's not to say that it isn't an interesting line-up — this is perhaps its best in years. Leading the pack are the expected films, David Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis" starring Robert Pattinson, which was actually confirmed earlier this morning, Walter Salles' long-gestating "On The Road" starring Garett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart and many others and Jacques Audiard's latest drama, "Rust & Bone" starring Marion Cotillard. Other sure bets we expected, Michael Haneke's "Amour," and Abbas Kiarostami's "Like Someone In Love" will also be bowing in competition slots.
Three films seemingly tipped for competition spots that made the grade are some of this year's most anticipated, including John Hillcoat's "Lawless" starring Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain and many others, Lee Daniels' "The Paperboy" featuring Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron and Andrew Dominik's "Killing Them Softly," formerly known as "Cogan's Trade," starring Brad Pitt.
To no real shock, heavily-touted pictures like Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" and Terrence Malick's Untitled Romance (known as "The Funeral"), a drama starring Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams, were nowhere to be seen — for the former you'll have to wait 'til the fall, the latter, well, who knows. Without further ado, here's the entire 2012 Cannes Film Festival line-up:
In Competition:
"Amour" (dir. Michael Haneke)
"The Angel's Share" (dir. Ken Loach)
"Baad EL Mawkeaa (Apres La Bataille") (dir. Yousry Nasrallah)
"Beyond The Hills" (dir. Cristian Mungiu)
"Cosmopolis" (dir. David Cronenberg)
"Holy Motors" (dir. Leos Carax)
"The Hunt" (dir. Thomas Vinterberg)
"In Another Country" (dir. Hong Sang-Soo)
"Im Nebels (Dans La Brume)" (dir. Sergei Loznitsa)
"Killing Them Softly" (dir. Andrew Dominik)
"Lawless" (dir. John Hillcoat)
"Like Someone In Love" (dir. Abbas Kiarostami)
"Moonrise Kingdom" (dir. Wes Anderson)
"Mud" (dir. Jeff Nichols)
"On The Road" (dir. Walter Salles)
"Paradies: Liebe" (dir. Ulrich Seidl)
"The Paperboy" (dir. Lee Daniels)
"Post Tenebras Lux" (dir. Carlos Reygadas)
"Reality" (dir. Matteo Garrone)
"Rust & Bone" (dir. Jacques Audiard)
"Taste Of Money" (dir. Im Sang-Soo)
"Vous N'Avez Encoure Rien Vu" (dir. Alain Resnais)
Opening Film:
"Moonrise Kingdom" (dir. Wes Anderson)
Closing Film:
"Therese D." (dir. Claude Miller)
Un Certain Regard:
"Miss Lovely" (dir. Ashim Ahluwalia)
"La Playa" (dir. Juan Andres Arango)
"Les Chevaus De Dieu" (dir. Nabil Ayouch)
"Trois Mondes" (dir. Catheron Corsini)
"Antiviral" (dir. Brandon Cronenberg)
"7 Days In Havana" (dir. Benicio Del Toro, Laurent Cantet, Gaspar Noe etc)
"Le Grand Soir" (dir. Benoit Delepine & Gustave Kervern)
"Laurence Anyways" (dir. Xavier Dolan)
"Despues De Lucia" (dir. Michel Franco)
"Aimer A Perdre La Raison" (dir. Joachim Lafosse)
"Mystery" (dir. Lou Ye)
"Student" (dir. Darezhan Omirbayev)
"La Pirogue" (dir. Moussa Toure)
"Elefante Blanco" (dir. Pablo Trapero)
"Confession Of A Child Of The Century" (dir. Sylvie Verheyde)
"11.25: The Day He Chose His Own Fate" (dir. Koji Wakamatsu)
"Beasts Of The Southern Wild" (dir. Benh Zeitlin)
Out of Competition
"Une Journee Particuliere" (dir. Gilles Jacob and Samuel Faure)
"Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" (dir. Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath)
"Dario Argento's Dracula" (dir. Dario Argento)
"Io E Te" (dir. Bernardo Berolucci)
"Hemingway & Gellhorn" (Dir. Philip Kaufman)
"Ai To Makoto" (dir. Takashi Miike)
Special Screening:
"Der Mull Im Garten Eden" (dir. Faith Akin)
"Mekong Hotel" (dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
"Villegas" (dir. Gonzalo Tobal)
"A Musica Segundo Tom Jobim" (dir. Nelson Pereira Do Santos)
"Journal De France" (dir. Claudine Nougaret & Raymond Depardon)
"Les Invisbles" (dir. Sebastien Lifshitz)
"The Central Park Five" (dir. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon)
"Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir" (dir. Laurent Bouzereau)