Cannes is a town of luxury, decadence, and of course, the home of the Festival de Cannes.  This year's festival, rumbling with talk about the "Indy 4" premiere and Angelina's two appearances on the red carpet, the fest did not disappoint....

Wrote By: Jenny Sung (Cannes Correspondent - France)

May 14^th - 25^th 2008

Cannes is a town of luxury, decadence, and of course, the home of the Festival de Cannes.  This year's festival, rumbling with talk about the "Indy 4" premiere and Angelina's two appearances on the red carpet, the fest did not disappoint in offering up either aspects of the coastal town and did the best they could to celebrate despite the mostly gloomy weather.  Starting off with a bang, Dreamworks pulled off their annual stunt with their animated feature "Kung Fu Panda", having 50 costumed pandas dancing along the pier with Jack Black and his antics, then closing with a French ovation for Palme D'Or winner "Entre les Murs".  However, with the strength of the US dollar waning, many feared the market would fall into a sludge (which it did, slightly), but IFC cleaned up, acquiring big name films such as "Une Conte de Noel" starring Catherine Deneuve and Korean thriller "The Chaser". 

But of course, despite what Cannes attracts its tourists for, the festival itself is dead set on creating an atmosphere for serious films and filmmakers.  The controversial Israeli film "Waltz with Bashir" caused quite a stir with its unabashed political comments while the Un Certain Regard jury prize winner "Tulpan" proved that dull films can garner loaded attention at the festival.  Documentary "The Third Wave" proved also to be a festival favourite, but with the jury president's name attached to it, who wouldn't be interested?  Following the efforts of four volunteers in helping re-develop a small Sri Lankan community after the devastating tsunamis of 2005; the documentary premiered to an eager crowd and a supportive audience including Michael Moore, U2 frontman Bono, and survivor Petra Nemcova.  Although not in competition, this humanitarian film showed at an eerily appropriate moment, as the earthquakes in China were devastating the country during the early part of the festival.

The festival also had a strong Canadian contingent, with the opening night film, "Blindness" a Canadian-Brazilian co-production, and Atom Egoyan's "Adoration" in official competition.  Although much of the response from "Blindness" was criticism, with most of the blame landing on the Canadian screenwriter, the film featured a praise-worthy performance from Julianne Moore and generated enough discussion to make the film a fatigued topic midway through the festival.  Egoyan's film was also met with critical confusion.  The film, a mix of Egoyan's auteurist qualities and contemporary issues was presented as almost too preachy for the intended audience - perhaps almost too "Canadian" in its approach. 

Other buzz makers at this year's festival was Woody Allen's latest work, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", an extended tourism commercial for the Spanish city, which was warmly received and praised for Allen's casting of Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem.  Kelly Reichardt's "Wendy and Lucy" was an underrated film also in competition for Un Certain Regard, which showed that even the simplest story could make a great film with the right script and smart casting.  "Synechdoche, New York" and "Che" were both films that, with all the hype prior to their premiers, seemingly failed to live up to expectation, but are in reality well constructed and well acted movies (If an army of press and market badge holders could endure all four long hours of Benicio del Toro engaging in guerrilla activity, there must have been a factor of some interest embedded into the film).

All in all, Cannes 2008 seemed to balance both Hollywood blockbusters and international cinema nicely, bringing in both national and auteurist films.  With a French film taking home the coveted prize, the festival solidified its status as a French festival, leaving the nation with a sense of "Finally!".  Although often clouded by rumours of celebrity appearances and parties, the films really did create the most excitement.  Perhaps the awards may have been questionably given, the calibre of films did not disappoint, projecting an exciting year for movies and film festivals starting with Toronto in September.