4.
Lawless
(dir. John Hillcoat)
This is one of two high profiled Weinstein Co. releases playing the festival and the only reason I can even think they would premiere them at Cannes is because Harvey has the utmost confidence in their quality. Last year the company snatched up The Artist before the festival and it went on to win Best Picture, the year before that they had Blue Valentine and in 2009 it was Inglourious Basterds so with a release date set why would they jeopardize their box-office returns with a dud of a film? They wouldn’t.
The last time John Hillcoat had a film with the Weinstein’s it was The Road and they showed a lot less confidence in that film (rightly so if you ask me), which tells me this time Hillcoat knocked it out of the park with Lawless. And it doesn’t hurt he has a star on the rise in Tom Hardy starring along Shia LaBeouf in this story of the infamous Bondurant Brothers (Hardy, LaBeouf and Jason Clarke): bootlegging siblings who made a run for the American Dream in Prohibition-era Virginia. Inspired by true-life tales of author Matt Bondurant’s family in his novel “The Wettest County in the World”, the loyalty of three brothers is put to the test against the backdrop of the nation’s most notorious crime wave.
Co-starring in the film are Jessica Chastain, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman, Mia Wasikowska and Dane DeHaan and following its Cannes premiere it will hit theaters on August 31, a date targeted by the Weinstein Co. to take full advantage of rising star Tom Hardy after he’ll be seen as the chief villain in this summer’s The Dark Knight Rises and hopefully a rousing applause from Cannes audiences.
SCREENING: Saturday, May 19 at 8:30 AM CET
3.
Killing Them Softly
(dir. Andrew Dominik)
Here we have our second Weinstein feature and it will be interesting to see what kind of film Andrew Dominik delivers after Warner Bros. had no idea to do with his excellent sophomore feature The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Based on the novel by George V. Higgins, I’ve heard Killing Them Softly is less the shoot ’em up the title may suggest, and more a cerebral crime thriller, which if you ask me is just fine.
The story is set in New Orleans and follows professional enforcer, Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt), who investigates a heist that occurs during a high stakes, mob-protected, poker game. The film also features Scoot McNairy (Monsters), Ben Mendelsohn (Animal Kingdom), Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins, with James Gandolfini, Vincent Curatola, Max Casella, Sam Shepard and Bella Heathcote among others.
Like Lawless, this one too has a release date and will hit theaters on September 21.
SCREENING: Tuesday, May 22 at 8:30 AM CET
2.
Love (Amour)
(dir. Michael Haneke)
Considering this if from Michael Haneke, I am putting very little stock in the synopsis and expecting to be blindsided by greatness. Here’s the plot as provided by the studio:
Georges and Anne (Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva) are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter (Isabelle Huppert), who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has an attack. The couple’s bond of love is severely tested.
For anyone that has seen any of Haneke’s films you already know what’s on the surface is only the start of where to begin examining the narrative. The blessing, however, with his films is his ability to tell a compelling story even for those uninterested in digging further. His last film, The White Ribbon, won Cannes’ Palm d’Or in 2009 and went on to be nominated for Best Foreign Language and Best Cinematography and I named it my second favorite film of that year. Here’s to hoping this one is equally compelling.
SCREENING: Sunday, May 20 at 8:30 AM CET
1.
Rust & Bone
(dir. Jacques Audiard)
The White Ribbon was my second favorite film of 2009 only because Jacques Audiard‘s A Prophet was my #1 and the fact both Haneke and Audiard are back at the festival this year, each with two films that look nothing like their previous features makes things all that more exciting and gives easy reason as to why they are my #1 and #2 most anticipated films of this year’s festival.
Audiard’s feature has more going for it than the helmer’s history of engaging films, whcih also includes The Beat that My Heart Skipped, but the talent he’s chosen to star in Rust & Bone. Only a few months ago was I first admiring the talents of Matthias Schoenaerts in the excellent Oscar-nominated feature Bullhead and I think you are all familiar with someone named Marion Cotillard… right? Well these two have teamed with Audiard to bring to life a story adapted from Craig Davidson’s 2005 collection of short stories.
Here’s the newly released English-language synopsis:
It all begins in the North of France. Ali suddenly finds himself with a five year-old child on his hands. Sam is his son, but he hardly knows him. Homeless, penniless and friendless, Ali takes refuge with his sister in Antibes. There things improve immediately. She puts them up in her garage, she takes the child under her wing and the weather is glorious.
Ali first runs into Stephanie during a night club brawl. He drives her home and leaves her his phone number. He is poor, she is beautiful and self-assured, a princess: his complete opposite.
Stephanie trains killer whales at Marineland. When a performance ends in tragedy, a call in the night again brings them together. When Ali sees her next, his princess is confined to a wheel chair: she has lost her legs and quite a few illusions. He simply helps her, with no compassion or pity. And she comes alive again.
Now I understand my top two aren’t the sexy picks, but when I can’t ignore the bonafide excitement I have when I think about the chance to see two new films from these two filmmakers on the big screen in the South of France. If you want sexy, I don’t think it gets much sexier for a film fan.
SCREENING: Thursday, May 17 at 8:30 AM CET
So there you have it. Beginning on May 16, I will see my first film at 11 AM Central European Time (CET) and will be rushing back to my apartment to write and post the review and as you can see from this top ten and Part One of my Cannes Preview, there is plenty else that will keep me busy through the 24th.
If you haven’t yet read click here to give it a look and stay tuned as I will be bringing you pictures, news and most of all, reviews from the 2012 Cannes Film Festival from now through next Friday. It’s going to be fun.
