CANNES: THE CRITICS' FINAL ANALYSIS
The long awaited and much anticipated 70th Cannes Film Festival has concluded. It struck me this week that I get almost as obsessive about it as I do about Telluride. That Cannes obsession is a means to and as I have pointed out any number of times, the overlap of films between the two fests is substantial with an average of 7-8 films playing Cannes first and then following that with a Labor Day bow in the San Juans. Last year Bright Lights, Bernadette LaFont, Family Whistle, Graduation, Journey Through French Cinema, Neruda and Toni Erdmann (7 films) made an appearance at both.
In 2015 the list included: Carol, Son of Saul, Rams, Hitchcock/Truffaut, Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words and Sembene.
So it pays to note what makes noise in Cannes if you're trying to figure out possible films that could play three and a half months later.
To that end...the critics take from Cannes can be a useful tool. Let's look at some of that.
Screen Daily's Critics of Palme competition films:
1) (tie) Loveless 3.2
1) (tie) You Were Never Really Here 3.2
3) (tie) The Square 2.7
3) (tie) Wonderstruck 2.7
5) (tie) BPM 2.5
5) (tie) Good Time 2.5
5) (tie) The Day After 2.5
The complete Screen Daily final critics' grid is here.
Meanwhile, the Ioncinema critics panel weighed in as follows:
1) BPM 3.8
2) You Were Never Really Here 3.6
3) Loveless 3.5
4) (tie) Okja 3.3
4) (tie) The Meyerowitz Stories 3.3
4) (tie) The Day After 3.3
The complete Ioncinema final critics' grid is here.
Las Todas Criticas had these as the top five Palme competitors:
1) The Day After 7.62
2) Good Time 7.66
3) The Meyerowitz Stories 6.9
4) Wonderstruck 6.68
5) BPM 6.58
Las Todas Criticas also included critical collations for other segments of the fest.
Their top three in the Un Certain Regard section:
1) Western 8.05
2) Closeness 7.28
3) Barbara 6.81
Their top three from the Director's Fortnight section were:
1) A Fabrica de Nada (The Nothing Factory) 8.37
2) (tie) The Florida Project 7.83
2) (tie) Lovers for a Day 7.83
All of the results from Las Todas Criticas can be found here.
And the ultra-inclusive Reini Urban critical round up of Cannes (which includes all of the sources above and more)...
Top five in Palme competition:
1) BPM 7.08
2) Good Time 7.05
3) The Day After 6.91
4) The Meyerowitz Stories 6.68
5) You Were Never Really Here 6.56
Among the Un Certain Regard:
1) Western 7.54
2) Testota 7.36
3) A Man of Integrity 6.43
4) Barbara 6.39
5) The Workshop 6.31
Among the Directors Fortnight films:
1) The Nothing Factory 8.20
2) The Florida Project 8.05
3) Lovers for a Day 7.45
4) Nothingwood 7.29
5) Bright Sunshine In 7.29
Ultimately the best regarded films from Cannes regardless of what section they played:
1) Twin Peaks 9.12
2) The Nothing Factory 8.20
3) The Florida Project 8.05
4) Top of the Lake: China Girl 7.79
5) Visages/Villages (Faces/Places) 7.71
The complete Reini Urban compilation is here.
DAME JUDI MAKES A MOVE
Focus Features released the first trailer for Stephen Frears Victoria and Abdul earlier this week. We're going to keep an eye on it for a possible Telluride slot based on three factors: 1) Frears who was a tribute recipient in 1987 and returned to the festival in 2010 with Tamara Drewe. His 2013 Philomena was rumored to be in play for TFF #40. 2) Focus Features...despite a spotty record of T-ride plays over the last few years-Suffragette in 2015 and Hyde Park on Hudson in 2012 and 3) the release date is Sept. 22 so a TFF #44 play might well make sense.
Here's the trailer from YouTube:
Also, for your edification, a couple of articles related to the trailer release are here from Indiewire and here from The Playlist.
THREE FOR THE SHOW?
Now that the Cannes Fest is in the can, so to speak, I'm taking a moment to note three films that seemed to jump into Telluride consideration or, perhaps solidified my thinking in that regard.
The first is Sean Baker's The Florida Project. It has not been a film that I was seriously considering as a real T-ride possibility until its pickup for U.S. distribution by A24 and the glowing reviews that came from its Cannes appearance last week.
Baker, who made a big splash two years ago at Sundance with Tangerine (shot entirely on iPhones), is also getting the kind of notice that makes me think that A24 may want to push the film hard as they have had such success in the last two years with Room and Moonlight.
Indiewire's Anne Thompson wrote extensively on Tuesday about the film.
Both Variety's Guy Lodge and Deadline's Pete Hammond have suggested that the film could be an Oscar sleeper and I would think that if A24 has that plan that they're going to want the film to play Telluride.
The next film for this segment is Agnes Varda and JR's Visages/Villages (or Faces/Places if you prefer) whcih I probably should have been taking more seriously as a TFF possibility from the very beginning simply because of Varda.
The fact that the film was nearly universally adored and that many think it may be Varda's swan song also suggest the potential for a SHOW slot.
The third film in that seemed to me to jump into serious Telluride consideration was BPM or 120 BM or 120 Beats Per Minute or whatever it's going to ultimately be called. The film's title seemed to mutate throughout the festival.
Its claim to Telluride consideration comes from its critical reception, its winning of the Grand Prix and its pickup for distribution by The Orchard (TFF #43-Neruda) and the fact that it is being bandied about in the foreign language film Oscar conversation depending, of course, on what film France decides to put forth for consideration.
Maybe all three make the TFF #44 lineup. Maybe none of them do but all three are more serious players today than they were two weeks ago.
That's it for this Thursday...more on Monday...
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com
TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)
FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page
