Cannes 2009 -- And The Winners Are:

Fresh off the press, here are the winners of this year's Cannes Film Festival:

Palme d'Or: The White Ribbon by Michael Haneke











Grand Prix: A Prophet by Jacques Audiard

Best Director: Brillante Mendoza, Kinatay





Jury Prize: Fish Tank by Andrea Arnold and Thirst by Park Chan-wook

Camera d'Or: Samson and Delilah by Warwick Thornton

Camera d'Or -- Special Distinction: Ajami by Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani

Lifetime Achievement Award: Alain Resnais

Best Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Actress: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Antichrist

Best Screenplay: Mei Feng, Spring Fever

Artist-Technician Prize: Aitor Berenguer, sound technician, Map the Sounds of Tokyo

Prix Un Certain Regard: Dogtooth by Yorgos Lanthimos

Un Certain Regard Jury Prize: Police, Adjective by Corneliu Porumboiu

Special Prize Un Certain Regard 2009: No One Knows About Persian Cats by Bahman Ghobadi and Father of My Children by Mia Hansen-Løve

Director's Fortnight Awards:

Prix SACD, Prix Regards Jeunes, Prix Art Cinema Award: I Killed My Mother by Xavier Dolan

Prix Europa Cinema: La Pivellina by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel

Prix SFR: Montparnasse by Mickael Hers

Mention Art Cinema Award: The Misfortunates by Felix van Groeningen

Coup de coeur d'Olivier Père: The Wolberg Family by Axelle Ropert and The King of Escape by Alain Guiraudie

Critic's Week Awards:

Critic's Week Grand Prix: Adieu Gary by Nassim Amaouche

SACD Award: Lost Persons Area by Caroline Strubbe

ACID/CCAS Support Award, OFAJ/TV5MONDE (Very) Young Critic Award, Prix Regards Jeunes: Whisper With the Wind by Shahram Alidi

Election Night 2008

The nearly two years-long presidential campaign has been a drama and spectacle against which any film I've seen recently pales in comparison. Populated by a cast of indelible (and sometimes frightening) characters, full of unexpected and unpredictable turns (remember when people thought it would be Hillary Clinton vs. Rudy Giuliani?), and including a third-act plot twist courtesy of the governor from Wasilla, Alaska, this real-life saga has never been less than fascinating to watch. And like the greatest of films, it had a logical, beautiful, and deeply satisfying ending.

For commentary on it all, I humbly defer to the ever eloquent and astute Tavis Smiley, who sums it up far better than I ever could:

And here is that ending (which, of course, is really a beginning):

New DVDs, 7/17/07

From Dave Kehr's column in today's New York Times: two films released by Eclipse (the no-frills, cheaper spinoff of the Criterion Collection), which sound very intriguing: forgotten French director Raymond Bernard's early 30's films Wooden Crosses and Les Miserables ("very likely the best adaptation of Hugo's novel"). Kehr describes Bernard as "a wonderfully impure filmmaker who mixed and matched styles, broke through fourth walls and enjoyed a grand, stentorian performance as much as a crafty little character turn." Then, from the sublime to the ridiculous, perhaps? Kehr also reviews five DVDs from Fox Home Video starring Joan Collins. Glenn Erickson also reviews the set for his "DVD Savant" column.

Also new this week:

Avenue Montaigne. Daniele Thompson's charming, and rather harmless, film is the sort of light comedy the French specialize in, with a frisson of class commentary, as its central character Jessica (Cecile de France), a waitress working in the titular theater district, becomes involves with the elite types who populate the area. A highlight of the film is director Sydney Pollack playing himself (sort of), auditioning actors for a film about Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. This film had the alternate English title Orchestra Seats, the title I saw it under at last year's French cinema series at the Walter Reade. Very light, but enjoyable.

Yo-Yo Girl Cop. Kenta (son of Kinji) Fukasaku adapts the popular anime. Screened at this year's New York Asian Film Festival.

Dynamite Warrior. This deliriously unhinged Thai film also screened at the New York Asian Film Festival.

Ace in the Hole. Alternatively titled The Big Carnival, this classic Billy Wilder film is perhaps his bitterest, and most caustic commentary on media exploitation, featuring one of Kirk Douglas' most riveting performances. Criterion has finally made this film available on video.

Kon Ichikawa's 47 Ronin. This 1994 version of the oft-told tale was produced by Toho for its 100th anniversary. Available from Animeigo.

Factory Girl. George Hickenlooper's Edie Sedgwick biopic was a critical and commercial disaster upon its brief release earlier this year. This director's-cut DVD attempts to undo at least some of the damage.

Jeon Do-Yeon Wins Best Actress at Cannes!

A brief, hearty congratulations to Korea's best actress, Jeon Do-yeon, for winning the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival, which wrapped yesterday. She won for her role in Secret Sunshine, the new film from Lee Chang-dong, himself one of Korea's best directors. This is one film I am eagerly awaiting, as it is Lee's first film since he stepped down from his stint as Korea's Minister of Culture. Jeon costars with Song Kang-ho (of The Host) as a single mother who moves to a small town and is tested, Job-like, by horrendous tragedies.

Jeon Do-yeon is the rare actress who can truly transform herself in each role she takes on, whether it be the faithless wife in Happy End, the prim Chosun-era maiden in Untold Scandal, the wily gangster's moll in No Blood No Tears, the love-stricken country girl in The Harmonium in My Memory, or the HIV-infected bargirl in You Are My Sunshine, she never fails to astonish with the sheer force of her emotion and talent. Each film she makes is a master class in acting. And now hopefully the rest of the world will discover the great riches she has given us, and no doubt will continue to give us in the future.

Check out these articles on Jeon Do-yeon and her win, from the Chosun Ilbo and The Korea Herald.

For the rest of the Cannes winners, go to the festival website.

So, once again, I'd like to say to Ms. Jeon: 축하합니다!

NYC Happenings/New Releases 5/18/07 - 5/24/07

Once. I’ve said my piece on this beautiful film (see my earlier post). So go see it. Opens at the Landmark Sunshine.

Memories of Tomorrow. Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai, Memoirs of a Geisha, Letters from Iwo Jima) executive produced and stars as a driven businessman who is stricken with early Alzheimer’s. Directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi and based on the novel by Hiroshi Ogiwara, the material is quite familiar, from any number of TV dramas, and such recent films as the Korean film A Moment to Remember. Although weakened by such cliché moves as his doctor’s impassioned speech to prevent Watanabe from killing himself, and a few too many swirling camera shots to mirror his disorientation, the film benefits from Watanabe’s strong, impassioned performance, and subtle work from Kanako Higuchi as his wife. Also, it avoids wrapping it all up in a sentimental way, and the ending gains its poignancy by its retreat from hectic Tokyo to a more bucolic scene, which serves as a setting for the convergence of past and present. Opens at the Imaginasian.




Flanders. Bruno Dumont’s searing vision of war has also been reviewed here. Dumont returns to his usual rural setting, where a man is conscripted into a brutal, unnamed conflict, leading to a Bressonian epiphany. Opens at Cinema Village.

Herzog (Non) Fiction. This is where I’ll be spending most of my next three weeks. One of the masters of the 70’s German new wave, he alternated such masterpieces as The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser, Aguirre: Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo and others with these incredible documentaries, following extreme individuals (including Herzog himself) in dangerous environments. Herzog appears in person for some screenings this weekend; check here for the schedule. Among this week’s highlights: Little Dieter Needs to Fly, about a downed pilot who returns to the Vietnamese POW camp from which he escaped, tracing his harrowing experience (Herzog fictionalized this story as Rescue Dawn, which opens next month); The White Diamond, in which an explorer of the Amazon strives to continue the dream of his best friend who perished during an earlier mission; Sans Soleil, Chris Marker’s classic cine-essay on Japan, cats, and Hitchcock’s Vertigo, among other things, one of Herzog’s personal favorites (Herzog will introduce the 7pm screening on May 21); The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner, a short gem about the titular champion ski jumper/woodcarving artist. Herzog’s onscreen commentary is priceless. The series runs at Film Forum from May 18 – June 7.

Eve and the Firehorse. Asian Cinevision’s ongoing series continues with Julia Kwan’s gentle and charming film set in 1970’s Vancouver, about a little girl’s experiences with religion and spirituality. The period detail and child’s point of view is spot on, and features great performances from the entire cast, especially Phoebe Jojo Kut as Eve, and Vivian Wu as her mother. Kwan will be on hand to introduce and answer questions. The film screens at MOMA Friday and Saturday.




Lee Marvin: The Coolest Lethal Weapon. This essential series continues at the Walter Reade Theater with screenings of such classics as The Big Red One, Seven Men From Now, The Professionals, and The Killers.

News & Notes, 2/19/07

From Variety Asia: intriguing details on John Woo's upcoming film, The Battle of Red Cliff, an adaptation of the classic Chinese epic "The Romance of Three Kingdoms," which will be released in two different versions -- in Asia as a two-part film, four hours in total, and everywhere else as a single two-and-a-half hour film. Hopefully, when this film is finally made, it will lessen the damage to Woo's filmography wrought by films such as Paycheck and Windtalkers.

Also from Variety Asia: The latest film to run afoul of Chinese censors, Li Yu's Lost in Beijing, screened in its uncut version at the Berlin Film Festival, which just wrapped this past weekend; also, some Berlin deals, including Hou Hsiao-hsien's new film Ballon Rouge ("Red Balloon"), a French-language remake, and expansion, of Albert Lamourisse's 1956 film of the same name, which won the Oscar in 1957 for best screenplay, a remarkable and unusual achievement considering the original was only 34 minutes in length and had no dialogue. Definitely something to eagerly look forward to.

Speaking of Berlin, some of the notable winners included: the top prize (Golden Bear) going to Wang Quanan's Mongolia-set "Tuya's Marriage"; Park Chan-wook's new film I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK won the Alfred Bauer Prize for "innovative film." Also, Taiwanese filmmaker Zero Chou won the Teddy Award, which honors gay and lesbian cinema, for Spider Lilies. I saw her earlier film Splendid Float, which I quite liked, two years ago at the New York Asian-American International Film Festival. You can read about the rest of the winners here.

Also in Korean cinema news, there has been a rather disturbing number of high-profile celebrity suicides, the latest being actress Jeong Da-bin, best known for the 2003 TV drama Cat on the Rooftop, whose popularity had apparently waned in recent years. The method of suicide (by hanging) eerily echoed the 2005 suicide of actress Lee Eun-ju (Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Bungee Jumping of Their Own). Even more unsettling, these suicides have inspired copycats. You can read the full story here, in Joong Ang Daily.

The World of Cinema Is Flat

I'd like to call your attention to A.O. Scott's excellent Sunday New York Times piece on the waning profile of foreign language films in the U.S. Scott, along with his colleague Manohla Dargis, has over the past few years become essential reading for me, offering consistently witty, intelligent, and often quite brilliant (for example, Dargis' recent piece on Inland Empire) commentary, which is quite a rarity these days in the landscape of mainstream film reviewing.

Scott's piece is a quite sobering and thorough assessment of the low box office returns and increasing marginalization of foreign-language releases. I can certainly relate to the often lonely situation of having seen a great film from Korea, Japan, China, Indonesia, Roumania, Mali, or wherever, and being met with blank stares when I mention them. Or even worse, not even bothering to bring them up because of the impossibility of having any sort of meaningful discussion about them. However, I'm not quite as pessimistic about the situation as Scott is, which perhaps has to do with the fact that I am of a younger generation that wasn't around for the halcyon cinephilic days of the 60's and 70's. The idea of cinema as primarily a theatergoing experience is very quickly disappearing. And while definitely something is being lost, and obviously a beautiful new celluloid print of a great classic work is to your video IPod as Nobu is to McDonald's, there are some definite gains as well. I enjoy the fact that I can enjoy the latest works of say, Johnnie To, Kim Ki-duk, E J-yong, Peter Chan, or classics such as the lovely Naruse box set from Masters of Cinema without being subject to the whims, fashions and financial pressures of distributors.

Film companies are starting to wake up to this changing cinema landscape, as Manohla Dargis reports in her piece in the same issue. Films such as Hou Hsiao-hsien's Three Times have at least the potential to reach far more people through cable than any small distributor. And perhaps in the end, all of this will come out to a net positive, as audiences become more savvy to the endless variety of world cinema, in all forms, that is available around them, and is as close to them as their laptop, television set, or local film festival. One can only hope.

Growing Pains

One of my favorite Korean actresses is Moon Geun-yeong, an incredibly cute and engaging young woman I first encountered in Kim Jee-woon's creepy tour-de-force A Tale of Two Sisters, but who gained her greatest popularity in light, romantic comedies such as My Little Bride and Innocent Steps. For me, Moon possessed an irresistible charisma that almost single-handedly redeemed substandard and hackneyed plots, which was certainly the case with Innocent Steps. As Moon turns 20, and pursues her college studies, her career unfortunately seems to have hit a rough patch. Her latest film, Love Me Not, in which she essayed a more serious role as a blind heiress, was a resounding flop upon its release this past November. A television commercial she made shortly after the film's release in an abrupt attempt to sex up her image (see below) also encountered negative reaction, even opening her up to charges of plagiarism, both of her dance moves and the song she sang in the commercial. Moon recently gave an interview to Reuters in which she seems to express frustration with the constant scrutiny of her every move. (Note on the Reuters piece: Moon plays a Korean-Chinese woman in Innocent Steps, not a North Korean as stated in the article.)

My unsolicited career advice to Ms. Moon is simply this: material, material, material. Korea is home to some of the world's most brilliant and provocative writers and directors. Hook up with one of them. For example, I would love to see how someone like Hong Sang-soo would use you. Lee Myung-se, Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho, Lee Chang-dong, Kim Ki-duk (now that would be a pairing!), E J-yong ... the list goes on and on. Another good idea would to be to work with a female director, since there are so few of them, and lending your star power to one of their projects would be a great advancement. Directors such as Jeong Jae-eun, Byun Young-joo, or Yim Soon-rye would be a nice match for you. Get on the phone with your agent or manager and demand material that is worthy of your gifts.

You can thank me later.

A.I. Bezzerides, 1908-2007 R.I.P.

One of the great Hollywood screenwriters, of some of the best films by such auteurist gods as Nicholas Ray (They Drive By Night, On Dangerous Ground), Jules Dassin (Thieves' Highway), and Robert Aldrich, whose greatest work provides the image you see above: Kiss Me Deadly (1955), a major formative film experience for me. This film took the term noir more literally than any other I can think of. The backward credits ("Deadly Kiss Me"); the off-the-wall apocalyptic plot; Ralph Meeker's brutal cynicism; the oddball gallery of characters who made more of an impression in a minute of screen time than many others made in entire films; Cloris Leachman in a trench coat and nothing else ... they truly don't make 'em like that anymore.

Link:

New York Times obituary

Banquet of the Fearless Golden Flying Daggers

An interesting piece today in Variety on the Chinese film industry's seemingly insatiable appetite for lavish period martial-arts themed extravaganzas such as Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower (above), Feng Xiaogang's The Banquet (below), Ronny Yu's Fearless, and surely many more to come. Censorship is surely a culprit in this trend, since clearly fantasies of China's distant past are much safer for producers and investors, than say, films by such directors as Jia Zhangke who offer incisive, and often quite critical portraits of contemporary China. Jia's latest, the Venice Golden Lion-winner Still Life, found it impossible to get a screen in edgewise with Golden Flower dominating the market.

Peter Ho-Sun Chan, a great director who made one of my favorite Hong Kong films, indeed, one of my favorite films period, Comrades: Almost a Love Story, as well as the haunting "Going Home," a section of the horror anthology Three, is also getting into the game, following up his musical Perhaps Love with This Violent Land, a $40 million epic to star Jet Li, Andy Lau, and Takeshi Kaneshiro.

These expensive epics, with more lushly decorated sets and star power than you could throw a million flying daggers at, certainly make for a financially robust industry, but at what cost? For me, the genre reached a nadir with Chen Kaige's laughable contribution The Promise. I do look forward to seeing both Golden Flower and The Banquet, and hope to post reviews of both these films here soon. But it is rather a shame that such filmmakers as Jia, Wang Xiaoshuai (whose Shanghai Dreams was one of the best films I saw last year), Zhu Wen (Seafood, South of the Clouds), and others who are responsible for one of the most creatively fertile periods in Chinese film history, can't get their films shown in their own country.