The 63rd Cannes Film Festival is just over two weeks away as I’ll be touching down in Nice on May 11 and will be staying in Cannes through the 23rd. In preparation I am slowly beginning to piece together the films and have recently added a few images from three of the festival’s films and thought I’d share the information as I go along.
First off is Outrage from Zatoichi helmer Takeshi Kitano. I have only seen Kitano’s Zatoichi and Sonatine as I reviewed the double feature DVD back in 2004 is Miramax used the release of Kill Bill to build awareness. Sonatine didn’t impress me much, but Zatoichi was solid, though the CG blood was a bit of a distraction. However, Kitano is a big name and I am anxious to check out his latest feature.
Along with the image above I was also sent the official synopsis for the film which goes as follows:
In a ruthless battle for power, several yakuza clans vie for the favor of their head family in the Japanese underworld. The rival bosses seek to rise through the ranks by scheming and making allegiances sworn over saké. Their vengeful disputes over money, turf and betrayals are seldom settled without violence and death. Veteran yakuza henchman Otomo (Kitano) has seen his kind go from elaborate body tattoos and severed fingertips to becoming important players on the stock market. Theirs is a never-ending struggle to end up on top, or at least survive, in a world where there are no heroes… From the director of ZATOICHI, BROTHER and HANA-BI.
Also included is the Japanese trailer… sorry, no subtitles. You can get a full look at the above image right here.
Next is Hideo Nakata’s Chatroom, described as a psychological thriller about teenagers who encourage each other’s destructive behavior. Nakata is a name you should be familiar with as he directed Ringu, which ultimately spawned the American remake The Ring. His feature Honogurai mizu no soko kara was also remade into Dark Water starring Jennifer Connelly. His first English language feature was a return to the world of Ringu as he directed the American sequel The Ring 2, which if you ask me was downright awful.
Chatroom will hopefully be a turn for the better, though I hope it’s nothing like Cry_Wolf, another computer based thriller that surrounded deadly emails rather than chatrooms (are people still using those?). The film stars recent Kick-Ass star Aaron Johnson and Imogen Poots.
Above is one of the first stills from the film and you can get two more right here.
Finally we have Sang-soo Hong’s Ha Ha Ha (or HaHaHa depending on where you read about it). This one is a bit of a mystery to me. Han Cinema provided a synopsis, but even it doesn’t clear things up as the grammar is a bit off. Here is how I put the story together after reading what they wrote:
Moonkyeong (Kim Sang-kyeong) decides to move to Canada where he meets Joongsik (Yoo Joon-sang) only to learn they have a rather unusual connection. Moonkyeong wants to be a movie director and meets a tour guide Seongok (Moon So-ri) who wants to live a new life in Korea. Joongsik (also played by Yoo) is having an affair, but his wife and girlfriend are now taking a summer vacation together.
I am sure I will have a better synopsis soon once the official press kits are released, but that’s the best I can do for now.
There are four additional photos in the gallery right here and I attached the international trailer for your viewing pleasure.
You can stay up-to-date on all of my Cannes coverage right here and I will have an RSS feed set up for easier tracking soon enough.
