I’ve Loved You So Long came into Telluride with a lot of buzz about this being Kristen Scott Thomas‘ soon-to-be Oscar winning performance. Like Forrest Whittaker in The Last King of Scotland two years ago, it was the performance not to miss. So, I didn’t. And if Kristen Scott Thomas wins an Oscar it’s because there are very few actresses who can hold an audience for two hours alternating between chain smoking with a million-mile-stare and delivering long, expository monologues about her backstory. I mean that as a compliment to Ms. Thomas and a criticism to director, Philippe Claudel.
Juliette (Kristen Scott Thomas) sits in an airport in France smoking. Her face is a map of heartache. In fact, it looks more dead than alive, which is probably the most impressive moment of the movie. (Why do directors insist that great actors talk so much?) Her sister, Léa (Elsa Zylberstein) arrives late. The ride to her sister’s country home is icy. They haven’t seen each other in a long time and they want to discuss anything but why. That’s how I’ve Loved You So Long begins. …Read more
Interview with Chris Bell who made Bigger, Stronger, Faster –opening tonight. A doc going way beyond body building into the essence of an unspoken American pastime: Cheating. Karina reports back on Cannes and everything the media missed that it shouldn’t have: Tyson, Frontier of Dawn and Everything is Fine.
FilmCouch #72 - Karina on Cannes, Kevin on steroids [31:03m]:
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FilmCouch #72 - Karina on Cannes, Kevin on steroids
Bigger, Stronger, Faster; Tyson; Frontier of Dawn; Everything is Fine
The lineup for next month’s Cannes Film Festival has been announced, and it’s excellent timing, because I just found out yesterday that I’m going to be attending the festival for the first time. Some notes on the lineup:
- Contrary to previous reports, both Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Steven Soderbergh’s two-part, four hour epic Che will screen at the fest, although both will premiere out of competition.
- As expected, Charlie Kaufmann’s Synechdoche, New York will compete against new films from Philippe Garrel and Nuri Bilge Ceylan, but it’s not the only American film in competition anymore, thanks to the unexpected inclusion of Clint Eastwood’s The Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie.
- A modified version of Wong Kar Wai’s Ashes of Time will screen in the Special Screenings section, as will a new film by Terrence Davies and Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.
- Wendy and Lucy, Kelly Reichardt’s follow-up to Old Joy, will screen in the Un Certain Regard section, alongside James Toback’s documentary on Mike Tyson, and Tokyo!, and omnibus with sections directed by Bong Joon-ho, Michel Gondry and Leos Carax.
- The Dardenne Brothers, who won the Palme D’Or in 2005 with L’Enfant, will return to competition with The Silence of Lorna.
- Only one Chinese film will screen at the festival, Jia Zhangke’s 24 City, due to ” a current bottleneck in the Chinese censorship process, which includes authorizing overseas travel.”
