Thursday, May 13, 2010

Thin Cannes

There has to be something seriously wrong with a festival whose best work appears to be from directors over 60.

Cannes has increasing blipped off my radar; among the few things I'd like to see from this year is:

Manoel de Oliveira's The Strange Case of Angelica (aren't you in awe of a filmmaker who still makes films at a 101?)

Abbas Kiarostami's The Certified Copy (I've been hungering for a Kiarostami. He's not just palate-cleansing, he's pristine and joy-giving.)

Takeshi Kitano's Outrage (more yakuza = more, better gorgeousness).

and finally, finally (though it breaks my heart to see some think it will be his last), Godard's Film Socialisme.
In Cannes next week, Godard, now 79, will be presenting what many believe will be his final feature: Film Socialisme. In advance of the premiere, the arch-provocateur has made a subversive trailer, which lasts under two minutes and shows not just highlights but the entire film speeded up. In the frenetic digital age, Godard is telling us, audiences don't have the time or the patience to go to festivals to watch 35mm prints of art-house movies in cinemas. They want instant 90-second gratification on YouTube. 
I don't know that Godard is 'telling us' anything as straighforward as 'In the frenetic digital age, [...] audiences don't have the time or the patience to go to festivals to watch 35mm prints of art-house movies in cinemas',  but we'll let that pass. The whole trailer here.

God knows what horrors the Woody Allen holds, so I'm not even going there.

7 comments:

km said...

They want instant 90-second gratification on YouTube.

Sorry, Grandpa Goddard, 5 seconds is all I have for films.

km said...

And by the way, THIS is a Cannes pic.

Cheshire Cat said...

When Abbas Kiarostami turns 101, he'll make a movie titled "The Strange Case of Abbas Kiarostami"

Space Bar said...

km: ooh, thanks! that was lovely.

cat: :D at any rate, if he lives to 101, i certainly hope he'll still be making films!

JP said...

Not that I know from films, but there's something inherently ageist about the statement this post begins with. Why shouldn't age and experience lead to exceptional work?

Space Bar said...

JP: not really. only a way of asking where all the new auteurs are.

Aditi said...

@ KM

I had no idea Louis Malle was so creepy looking!

@ SB

I can't be bothered checking out Cannes movies. They are getting to be like the Oscars. So I treat Cannes the only right way to treat it: as a red carpet event. Still dying over Cate Blanchett's Alexander McQueen gown.