Cannes Film Festival Most Discussed Films
Every year, for the past 67 years, the international film community has gathered in the French Riviera for a week of sun, partying, and, last but not least, films. Of course, I’m talking about the Cannes Film Festival, which wrapped up on May 25th after another exciting year of promising films. Now that the festival has come to a close, let’s look at some of the most discussed films that were shown at this year’s Cannes.
This Turkish film, clocking in at just about 3 hours, emerged as the unlikely winner of the festival’s top award, the Palme d’Or. Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan has received rave reviews for his complex storytelling, with the Chicago Tribune’s Michael Phillips declaring, “He is an artist, rather than a commercial strategist, and although many of our greatest international directors are, and have been, a little of both, Ceylan is not.”
The film tells the story of Aydin (Haluk Bilginer) a former actor, who now manages a hotel and some properties in a quaint mountain top Turkish village. While the setting may be idyllic, Aydin himself is the dark cloud over the town as its arrogant, egotistical, self-proclaimed “king.” While most the town lives in poverty, Aydin is educated and wealthy, owning many of the residential properties that the townspeople occupy. Naturally, the townspeople all have an immense dislike of him, thanks in large part to his condescending weekly newspaper column. Joining in the dislike of Aydin is his young wife Nihal (Melisa Sozen), who appears to be on the verge of leaving him, and his divorced sister Necla (Demet Akbag). As the tourist season for the hotel dies down, true feelings regarding Aydin within the town begin to surface, much to his indifference.
This highly anticipated tale of Grace Kelly’s life as Princess of Monaco has been plagued by the highly publicized battles between director Olivier Dahan and producer Harvey Weinstein. The ending result was a widely panned film thats accuracy has been denounced by the royal family of Monaco in two separate statements and even sees its star Nicole Kidman apparently distancing herself from the project. Not surprisingly, then, The Guardian described it as a “breathtaking catastrophe” and “so awe-inspiringly wooden that it is basically a fire-risk.” Variety’s description of it was no better, saying that the film was a “cardboard and frequently cornball melodrama.” It’s clear that the film isn’t destined to go the route of Weinstein’s other critically and commercially adored films.
The film focuses on a very specific period in Kelly’s life, a period marked with marital tensions, political crisis, and an identity crisis. Instead of projecting Kelly as the image of sophistication and class that the world remembers today, the film shows her struggle with issues she was ill equipped for. As the late Princess, Kidman has earned generally positive reviews with the Daily Mail declaring, “[Kidman] rises regally to the occasion. She makes a wholly believable Grace, doubtless because she brings genuine wattage to her role as a genuine star.”
This is another film based on true events; Foxcatcher tells the story of Olympic wrestlers Dave and Mark Schultz and their mentor, the multi-millionaire John Eleuthère du Pont. After taking in the two athletes and providing them with money, housing, and training facilities, du Pont’s mentorship takes a dark turn which ultimately leads him to murder Dave.
The real star of the film is Carell, whose performance is being called “career changing” by the Hollywood Reporter and Digital Spy, who said it was“the definition of a career-redefinition performance.” In his role as the eccentric and paranoid schizophrenic du Pont, Carell had to transform both his mannerisms and looks, the latter of which was accomplished with prosthetics. His hard work has clearly paid off.
As you can see, this year certainly wasn’t short on any of the fantastic cinema that movie goers have come to expect from the festival. While it may not churn out the big films that cross the critical/commercial divide with ease, it’s still the top place for filmmakers to showcase their work.
About the Author: Spencer Blohm is a freelance entertainment, film, and lifestyle blogger for http://directtelevisionspecials.org/. Unfortunately this year he wasn’t able to make it to Cannes for the film festival (as opposed to never, which was the last time he attended). Instead he opted to host his own film festival and went to the Chicago River instead of the French Riviera.
What's Your Reaction?
