Nicholson among Cannes standouts
By Angela Doland
Associated Press
CANNES, France — The 55th annual Cannes Film Festival began with a shower of love for Woody Allen, who made the trek for the first time in his long career to show "Hollywood Ending" and receive a lifetime achievement award.
Associated Press
Once Allen was gone, movie-lovers saw a satisfying slate of films by festival veterans like Mike Leigh, Ken Loach and Roman Polanski, or Cannes newcomers Paul Thomas Anderson and Alexander Payne. On the star circuit, Jack Nicholson showed up with one of his best performances in years, and Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz came with Martin Scorsese for a peek at the long-awaited "Gangs of New York." But it was a small Finnish film that seemed to win the most hearts.
Actress, Faye Dunaway, waves as she arrives at the Festival Palace to attend the screening of the film "The Pianist,"directed by French director Roman Polanski, which is in competition, at the 55th International Film Festival in Cannes, southeastern France Friday.
Here are some highlights:
BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE: Michael Moore's film so impressed festival organizers that they put it in the main competition — the first time a documentary was included since 1956. The film takes a scathing look at the gun culture in the United States, using the 1999 Columbine High School massacre as a launching point. Charlton Heston, president of the National Rifle Association, makes a cameo appearance he's sure to regret.
ABOUT SCHMIDT: Alexander Payne's third movie benefits from a stellar performance by Jack Nicholson as a depressed, repressed Nebraska retiree. The script and the supporting cast are just about as good. Payne's darkly comic essay on a man at life's crossroads is enhanced by a very funny Kathy Bates as an uninhibited mom and Dermot Mulroney as a mediocre waterbed salesman.
THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST: Finnish writer-director Aki Kaurismaki's modern fairy tale about a man with amnesia was the surprise hit of the festival. The amnesia victim moves into an abandoned trailer, befriends Helsinki's poor and disenfranchised, and woos a woman who works at a soup kitchen. Kaurismaki doesn't try for a realistic look at the lower class — he says real life is too depressing.
SWEET SIXTEEN: British director Ken Loach picked a 17-year-old soccer player who'd never acted before to star in his poignant film set in working-class Scotland. Martin Compston is a natural as a goodhearted juvenile delinquent who gets in over his head when he tries to earn quick money. Touches of adolescent humor and hope keep the movie from being too grim.
PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE: Adam Sandler at Cannes? Most critics said thumbs-up to Sandler's darkly quirky performance as a troubled guy who falls punch-drunk in love with Emily Watson in the latest film by Paul Thomas Anderson. Philip Seymour Hoffman is deliciously menacing as the excitable phone-sex entrepreneur who tries to blackmail Sandler's character.
THE PIANIST: Roman Polanski returned to the Poland of his youth to make this stirring Holocaust film. Polanski, who lost his mother in a death camp, tells the story of a brilliant Polish pianist who escaped the Warsaw ghetto and survived with the help of a German officer. The soulful Adrien Brody is a standout in the leading role.
SPIDER: David Cronenberg's movie about a schizophrenic is more restrained and traditional than most of his films. Ralph Fiennes is Spider, a vacant-eyed madman who mutters constantly to himself as he wanders around a surreal, moonlit London. Miranda Richardson won raves for her performance as Spider's doting mother plus two other very different characters.
GANGS OF NEW YORK: Martin Scorsese made a quick visit to the Croisette to screen 20 lively minutes of his long-awaited 19th-century drama, set for release at Christmas — a year after it was originally scheduled to hit theaters. All signs point to an exciting, vivid portrayal of gang warfare in lower New York City, with a standout performance by Daniel Day-Lewis. Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz also star.
DIVINE INTERVENTION: This Palestinian film takes the risk of using humor to depict a tragic situation. The first Palestinian movie to be shown in the main competition at Cannes, Elia Suleiman's work won fans for its poignant vignettes on the absurdities of life under Israeli occupation. But the film neglects to recognize that there may be suffering on the other side, too, unlike Amos Gitai's Israeli entry ``Kedma'' — albeit a much less successful film.
THE ADVERSARY: Daniel Auteuil gives a subtle performance as a family man who makes a gradual descent into despair and violence. French director Nicole Garcia's movie is based on the true story of a man who tricked everyone he knew into believing he was a successful doctor; when his story started unraveling, he killed his whole family.
ALL OR NOTHING: Mike Leigh looks at dysfunctional families in a British housing project. Timothy Spall's wistful, jowly face and faltering manner give soul to his character, a depressed taxi driver. He and his wife have a tearful confrontation that's so raw it's painful to watch. The performances are great, but viewers have to work hard to find the characters appealing.
IRREVERSIBLE: The festival's shocker, this French film was so violent that many people walked out early, some shaking. At its heart is a rape scene that lasts more than 10 minutes. Director Gaspar Noe's attempts at edginess seem overdone: the story is told backward, most lines were improvised, and the camera is constantly jostling or spinning.
