Cannes 2013 Rundown: Nicholas Bell Best of Fest

1. Blue is the Warmest Color – Dir. Abdellatif Kechiche (France) Main Competition

2. Stranger By the Lake – Dir. Alain Guiraudie (France) Un Certain Regard

3. The Great Beauty –Dir. Paolo Sorrentino (Italy) Main Competition

4. A Touch of Sin Bazin – Dir. Jia Zhangke (China) Main Competition

5. The Bastards – Dir. Claire Denis (France) Un Certain Regard

6. Venus In Fur – Dir. Roman Polanski (France) Main Competition

7. Grand Central Bazin  - Dir. Rebecca Zlotowski (France) Un Certain Regard

8. Tip Top – Theatre Croisette – Dir. Serge Bozon (France) Directors’ Fortnight 

9. The Congress – Arcades  - Dir. Ari Folman (US/Israel) Directors’ Fortnight

10. Only Lovers Left Alive – Bazin – Dir. Jim Jarmusch (US) Main Competition

Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman’s locked lips haunted the Croisette at the 66^th Cannes Film Festival in what I’m told has been one of the wettest festivals in recent memory. A lineup that consisted of strange happenings and violent punctuations had little periods of reprieve in what was (mostly) a heady and exciting cluster of world cinema. In what happened to be this critic’s first Cannes experience, the surprises, both positive and negative, were aplenty. Nothing can quite prepare you for the rampant rudeness and consistent selfishness of fellow cinema lovers, those that are in and outside of the industry. Line cutting, chattering during screenings, and chronic texting happened at nearly every of the 40+ screenings I attended. And many seem to figure that when in France, why not smoke endlessly while captive in lengthy lines? But despite the setbacks involving self-centered individuals, luckily many of this year’s cinematic offerings were good enough to dispel the misanthropy brought about by such actions.

Despite several questionable entries, the main competition this year was impressive, including the much revered Palme D’or winning Blue Is the Warmest Color, which, despite its sexually explicit content, was awarded the respect it deserves. It stands at the forefront of a decidedly Queer year at Cannes. While Tunisian born actor turned director Abdellatif Kechiche should finally get the international attention he deserves, a variety of other auteurs switched it up a bit. The Coens, who took home the Grand Prix for Inside Llewyn Davisbrought a melancholic, understated tone to their latest, set in the folk music world of the early 60’s and featuring a nice lead performance from Oscar Isaac (some of the more distracting performances from Timberlake and a grating Cary Mulligan felt unnecessary), though I would have much preferred to see Paolo Sorrentino’s delightful The Great Beauty to have taken this prize, a magnificently intoxicationfilm that’s the closest anyone’s ever come to a Fellini homage as great as this. The Prix du Jury went to Hirokazu Koreeda’s elegant Like Father, Like Son, which is as good as everyone’s saying it is, but also feels a bit too similar to other fare from the director. Jia Zhangke’s excellent A Touch of Sin was my choice for this prize, though the filmtook home the Best Screenplay award, which usually goes to challenging material the jury can’t make room for in the top three. Likewise, Best Director usually goes to divisive material and this year is no exception, with Amat Escalante’s wonderfully flawed and utterly unforgettable Heli taking home that prize. If only its second half hadn’t left me so cold.

There were plenty of solid entries that are neither the best nor worst in their directors’ filmographies like Behind the Candelabra, Only God Forgives, The Past, and The Immigrant---all had one or more standout performances or striking stylistic flourishes that made them worthy of entry. However, some entries, such as Takashi Miike’s Shield of Straw or Michael Kolhaas, while not necessarily terrible, are done a disservice by being included in the Main Competition, forced to be judged not on the basis of their individual merit but also on why or how they were unnecessarily programmed here. Sadly, Mahamet-Saleh Haroun’s Grisgris felt like an ill executed project as well. On the lower end of the spectrum was the ridiculous inclusion of Valerie Bruni-Tedeschi’s A Castle In Italy, the only female in the main comp this year. Upon seeing Claire Denis’ The Bastards, one of her darkest, most brilliantly difficult films in years, one can only assume she’s being punished for some reason to explain why she’s been relegated to Un Certain Regard while Tedeschi’s pedestrian effort, which is basically a glossy re-do of her own feature debut from 2003, takes up space here. While it’s hard to imagine where else Desplechin’s Jimmy P. would have played, the auteur’s significant misstep has to be the worst thing I saw in the entire festival this year, completely wrong headed, an artistic stink bomb that’s devoid of drama, conflict, and enthusiasm of any kind.

Three other world class auteurs each brought fantastic new films to the fest, including Ozon’s Young & Beautiful, Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, Polanski’s Venus In Furs, and Alex Van Warmerdam’sBorgman.

The sidebars had some thrillingly good entries this year, most notably a fantastic film from Alain Guiraudie, Stranger By the Lake, which won Best Director. Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring opened this section to some strong reactions, but while I found her film a bit narrow and trite, its nevertheless a fascinating social commentary that unfortunately comes about a year late as Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers beats her to the punch. Denis’ The Bastards and Rebecca Zlotowski’s Grand Central were the other fantastic entries here in a sidebar heavily populated by female filmmakers. Lucia Puenzo’sWakolda is interesting, if lukewarm, while German filmmaker Katrin Gebbe (the only German entry in the fest) drew boos and cheers, a veritable torture-porn entry made for audiences with a masochistic streak. Equally difficult to watch was Mohammad Rasoulof’sManuscripts Don’t Burn, a grueling, soul deadening true story filmedsecretly in Iran.

The Director’s Fortnight opened with Ari Folman’s thrillingly intriguing The Congress, a film filled with exposition and philosophies that surely left many cold but displays a level of intelligence and daring that should have seen this in the Main Comp. And yeah, Robin Wright, right? And Serge Bozon’s very strange and very funny Tip Top is completely owned by a crazy Isabelle Huppert performance. Flawed but interesting new films from Alejandro Jodorowsky with The Dance of Reality and Anurag Kashyap with Ugly are certainly worth a look. And even as it won a prestigious award, Clio Barnard’s The Selfish Giant is a paltry follow-up to her inventive documentary effort, The Arbor. More exciting was the directorial debut of cinematographer Jeremy Saulner with Blue Ruin.

One of this year’s most hailed film experiences will undoubtedly be J.C. Chandor’s All is Lost, which is certainly grueling and undeniably difficult to sit through. Unfortunately, I missed the Critics’ Week entries, except for the unenthralling and out of competition opener,Suzanne, which is about as exciting as its title would connote.