Festival des Cannes, the most glamorous film festival of them all, set on the French riviera, opens May 14th, 2014. The star studded lineup promises to be unbeatable. Here are the films that are topping the list for the coveted Palme d’Or.
#1 Grace of Monaco
The 67th Cannes Festival opens with one of the most highly anticipated films of the decade, ‘Grace of Monaco’ from Warner Bros.. Nicole Kidman stars as Grace Kelly, Hollywood screen siren, fashion icon, woman with a fairytale romance (or not) and Tim Roth as Prince Rainier 111, Prince of Monaco, powerful head of a dynasty. It promises to have all the elements that make a film superb. Set in some of the world’s most elegant and exclusive domains such as the Royal Palace in Via Balbi, Genoa, Italy, where the Hall of Mirrors replicate the residence of the royal court of Monaco. Monaco itself and Paris, it will be a delight for this alone. The story revolves around one of the most intriguing romances, played out in an inflexible old world political dynasty, where modern ideas and feminist movements did not exist by a ravishingly beautiful Hollywood screen star and a Prince of unfathomable wealth and influence. The Royal family has already denounced the film for historical inaccuracies and unnecessary ‘Hollywood glamorization’. So we know it should be good. This one is at the top of my list.
#2 Maps to The Stars
David Cronenberg’s ‘Maps to The Stars’ certainly gets the number 2 spot. Starring Julianne Moore, Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska we can expect another complicated psychological drama from the king of venereal horror, who has always drawn gasps from the audience as he delves into the dark recesses of the human psyche, sometimes with help from Freud and associates.
#3 The Homesman
Tommy Lee Jones “The Homesman” an American western, based on the novel by Glendon Swarthout, sees Jones returning to a genre he is very familiar with, joined by an award winning cast including Meryl Streep, Hilary Swank, Hailee Steinfeld and William Fitchner. A strange story and a journey that is “long, difficult and dangerous”. Jones directs, stars in and co-wrote the movie. Drop everything and watch this. Even if you are not a fan of westerns, this one looks like a winner.
#4 Foxcatcher
Producer Megan Ellison (Annapurna Pictures) has an impressive record for backing powerful stories and “Foxcatcher” to be distributed by Sony Pictures Classics’ is no exception. Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo and Vanessa Redgrave star in the movie based on Olympic wrestling gold medalist Mark Schultz’s autobiography. The story traces the tragic circumstances surrounding the murder of his brother Olympic Champion Dave Schultz. The Schultz brothers established an unbeaten record in world wrestling and won Olympic Gold in 1984. Multimillionaire, philanthropist John duPont, the founder of “Team Foxcatcher” became friends with the brothers. He descended into paranoid schizophrenia and murdered his friend Dave. Bennett Miller twice been nominated for a Best Pic Oscar for ‘Capote’ (2005) and ‘Moneyball’ (2011) directs the movie.
#5 The Search
The Search, written and directed by Oscar winner Michel Hazanavicius is a remake of the Fred Zinnemann’s Oscar winning 1948 post war drama. The original starred Montgomery Clift and young Ivan Jandl and was about a nine-year old Czech boy, who had survived Auschwitz and was rescued by an American GI after fleeing a refugee camp. His mother, the sole survivor of the family is also looking for him. Hazanavicius can be counted on to bring something new to the screen after shaking things up with the black and white international winner ‘The Artist’. Starring Annette Bening, Bérénice Bejo, Nino Kobakhidze.
#6 Deux Jours, Une Nuit (Two Days, One Night)
DEUX JOURS, UNE NUIT (Two Days, One Night) Jean-Pierre DARDENNE, Luc DARDENNE stars Marion Cotillard, co starring Fabrizio Rongione and Olivier Gourmet in what may be one of the Dardenne brothers most contemporary films. It will strike a deep chord everyone touched by the economic crisis. A woman struggles to keep her job with the help of her husband but she needs her to convince her colleagues to give up their annual bonuses to do so.
#7 The Captive
Atom Egoyan returns to Cannes with a horrifying thriller ‘The Captive’ dealing with the most demoniacal tail of kidnapping, voyeurism and insanity. Written by Atom Egoyan and David Fraser, starring Ryan Reynolds, Scott Speedman and Rosario Dawson this one will leave us with a few nightmares.
#8 Clouds of Sils Maria
Clouds of Sils Maria from writer/director Olivier Assayas stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Kristen Stewart and Juliette Binoche. Maria Enders (Binoche) has a successful acting career and a loyal assistant Valentine (Stewart) but when a young actress (Moretz) interpreted a role in a new movie – the same role which had made Enders famous – her world starts to crumble. Haunted by her past life, she withdraws herself along with her assistant in Swiss town of Sils Maria. Filmed in Switzerland, the script is written like a play and according to Chloë Grace Moretz examines a clash between the two worlds of older actors and younger actors.
#9 SAINT LAURENT
Fashion savants eagerly await the definitive expose on SAINT LAURENT from Bertrand BONELLO which has been tightly guarded until its premier at Cannes. Tracing Saint Laurent’s life from 1965, the heady days of his stardom forward into his personal decline in 1976, Gaspar Ulliel plays the role of the famous French fashion designer. and an all star cast including Louis Garrel, Léa Seydoux, Louis Garrel and Jérémie Renier.
The 9 member jury headed by Jane CAMPION includes Carole BOUQUET, Sofia COPPOLA, Leila HATAMI, JEON Do-yeon, Willem DAFOE, Gael GARCIA BERNAL, JIA Zhangke, Nicolas Winding REFN. The jury which has been carefully balanced this year in favour of females and will vote on the winner of the coveted Palme d’Or.
Many of the films not featured have very little information available at this time and are being carefully guarded before their World Premieres at Cannes. These include veteran of Cannes Canadian Xavier Dolan, who has ‘Mommy’ in competition. More spotlight features on Cannes will follow.
Moira Romano