Disappointments, I’m ready for them. I’ll probably suffer through “the Woody Allen film” (as they say on the croisette — a.k.a. “Café Society”) just because Woody probably (hopefully) doesn’t have many more films left in him. Hell, the film isn’t even in competition for the Palme.
Let’s get to the good stuff.
ELLE
VERHOEVEN, VERHOEVEN, VERHOEVEN!
How many words for “juicy” are there?
In “Elle,” "Michèle (Isabelle Huppert) seems indestructible. Head of a successful video game company, she brings the same ruthless attitude to her love life as to business. Being attacked in her home by an unknown assailant changes Michèle's life forever. When she resolutely tracks the man down, they are both drawn into a curious and thrilling game-a game that may, at any moment, spiral out of control.”
MAL DE PIERRES (FROM THE LAND OF THE MOON)
Nicole Garcia (“La Petite Lili”) enters the competition with a period drama led by the always-fascinating Marion Cotillard.
The picture is an adaptation of Milena Agus' novel “set after WWII which spans 20 years, following the destiny of a passionate, free-spirited woman who is in a loveless marriage and falls for another man.”
I, DANIEL BLAKE
Ken Loach, my favorite leftist filmmaker (not that there are many around to begin with) is delivering the last film of his career “I, Daniel Blake.” Loach won the Palme d’Or for “The Wind That Shakes the Barley,” which was written by Loach’s frequent collaborator Paul Laverty.
“Daniel is a 59-year-old man who has worked as a joiner most of his life in the North East of England and needs help from the State for the first time ever following an illness.”
“He crosses paths with a single mother Katie and her two young children, Daisy and Dylan. Katie’s only chance to escape a one room homeless hostel in London is to accept a flat some 300 miles away.”
“Daniel and Katie find themselves in no-man’s land caught on the barbed wire of welfare bureaucracy now played out against the rhetoric of “striver and skiver” in modern day Britain.”
AQUARIUS
"Clara, a 65 year old widow and retired music critic, was born into a wealthy and traditional family in Recife, Brazil. She is the last resident of the Aquarius, an original two-story building, built in the 1940s, in the upper-class, seaside Avenida Boa Viagem, Recife. All the neighboring apartments have already been acquired by a company which has other plans for that plot. Clara has pledged to only leave her place upon her death, and will engage in a cold war of sorts with the company, a confrontation which is both mysterious, frightening and nerve wracking. This tension both disturbs Clara and gives her that edge on her daily routine. It also gets her thinking about her loved ones, her past and her future."
THE NEON DEMON
Nicolas Winding Refn just finished editing “The Neon Demon” in time for Cannes. There were those who doubted he could finish in time. I knew better. Hoping to bounce back from the TKO he suffered during his last Cannes outing with “Only God Forgives,” Refn has something to prove.
“When aspiring model Jesse moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will take any means necessary to get what she has.”
AGASSI (THE HANDMAIDEN)
South Korean-born Chan-wook Park (“Oldboy”) returns to the Palais with an adaptation of version of Sarah Waters's novel “Fingersmith,” in which an heiress falls in love with a petty thief. You can bet this picture will have style and drama to spare.
BACALAUREAT
Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu returns to Cannes (who could forget “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”) with “Bacalaureat.” I don’t know anything about the film yet, but I like walking in cold.
LOVING
Jeff Nichols flopped with “Midnight Special” (what a dog), but I’m willing to give him a second chance based on “Mud” and “Take Shelter.”
“Richard (Joel Edgerton) and Mildred Loving (Ruth Negga), an interracial couple, are sentenced to prison in Virginia in 1958 for getting married.” Michael Shannon also stars. The South, still just as fucked up as it ever was.
LA FILLE INCONNUE
The Dardenne Brothers are a reliable pick for Cannes. “La Fille Inconnue” “tells the story of a female medical doctor who sets out to find the identity of an unknown young woman who died after she was refused surgery.” I’ll be in my regular seat in the Palais at nine in the morning for this one.
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
Longtime actor and relative newbie director Matt Ross finds his place amid the Un Certain Regard section with “Captain Fantastic” starring Viggo Mortensen and Frank Langella — two actors that I could listen to if they were reading a phone book.
“In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, challenging his idea of what it means to be a parent.”
THE LAST FACE
Sean Penn promises to make an appearance on the Riviera with “The Last Face.” “A director (Charlize Theron) of an international aid agency in Africa meets a relief aid doctor (Javier Bardem) amidst a political/social revolution, and together face tough choices surrounding humanitarianism and life through civil unrest.” Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem star. That’ll be a good Q&A to catch.
MA LOUTE
Bruno Dumont’s “Ma Loute” (“Slack Bay”) is a comedy with Fabrice Luchini and Juliette Binoche. Count me in.
PATERSON
“Paterson” is Jim Jarmusch’s first film since “Lovers Left Alive.” The “critics” love Jarmusch, so I’m told. I wonder what the “scientists” think.
GIMME DANGER
Jarmusch doubles down at Cannes this year with his documentary about IGGY. Did I mention it’s about Iggy and the Stooges? Well, it is. "Gimme danger little stranger."
I'm sure there will be many other cinematic discoveries for me at the 69th Festival De Cannes. I can hardly wait to be on the Riviera again! Hey! Ho! Let's Go! — Wait a minute that's the Ramones. Let's try, "Dance to the beat of the living dead, lose sleep baby, stay away from bed, Raw Power it's sure to come a runnin' to you." —Iggy Pop
