In 2004, Quentin Tarantino will Kill Cannes

The press conference for the 57th Festival de Cannes was held today. Before getting to the official selection of films in competition, there was the customary prologue from the President of the jury -- who happens to be Quentin Tarantino this year. Some snippets: When it comes to memos, who could ever hope to come close to the skill of Otto Preminger? [Here Filmbrain's eye started to twitch.] The principles that the Board of Directors of the Festival de Cannes wished to see respected are as follows: a mouth-watering menu with an inventive cuisine that is neither too traditional nor too pretentious; a selection that is the most international in the world, open to all film genres and without forgetting the foremost among them - the film lover genre. . . [Here, the headache began.] Filmbrain has mixed feelings about Mr. QT being the President of the jury. One the one hand, he is indeed a lover of film. On the other hand, he has been extremely vocal throughout his career about his dislike and disdain for quiet, "arty" films. Maybe he'll ignore all the selections in competition and just give the Palme D'or to Mr. Majestyk. Then there is the jury makeup -- while Tsui Hark and Jerry Schatzberg are interesting choices, Kathleen Turner, Emmanuelle Beart, Edwidge Danticat, and Benoît Poelvoorde leave Filmbrain with a sense of unease. As to the films in competition -- there are only eighteen this year -- five or six less than usual, which makes it even more disturbing to announce that Shrek 2 is in the list. Let me repeat that -- Shrek 2 is being considered for a Palme D'or. Sigh. Some highlights of the films in competition: 2046, by Wong Kar Wai: A reuniting of Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung - need any more be said? Clean, by Olivier Assayas: Maggie Cheung and Béatrice Dalle -- need any more be said? Fahrenheit 911, by Michael Moore: Right on time for the elections. Woman is the Future of Man, by Hong Sang-soo: This is Filmbrain's current favorite director. He's made four films prior to this, each one a minor masterpiece. Old Boy, by Park Chan-wook: maybe this is Korean cinema's year at Cannes? Zivot Je Cudo, by Emir Kusterica Of the others, certainly the aforementioned Shrek 2, along with The Ladykillers (a remake in the competition?) and The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (directed by Stephen "Predator 2" Hopkins) make Filmbrain wonder -- how and why? The complete list of films can be found here. Filmbrain is going to go out a limb here and make some predictions. Either 2046 or Woman is the Future of Man will win the Palme D'or, with Best Director going to either Wong Kar Wai or Hong Sang-soo. Check back on May 23rd to see if he was wrong. . .

Comments

[Sean]

Well, to give the devil his due, I saw an interview with Abbas Kiarostami on the Criterion edition of his Taste of Cherry where he recounts a time where he and Tarantino shared duties as jurors in some film festival. While he admitted that Tarantino's work was not at all interesting or appealing to him, he did respect his love of film, and admired Tarantino's championing of some small quiet Central Asian film, instead of some flashier, bigger budgeted thing. Maybe he was bowing to the older Kiarostami's influence (his superior in so many ways it's not funny). But that was a while ago, during the wake of Pulp Fiction, and QT's ego has grown exponentially since then. And, likewise, I feel his sensibilities have regressed as well.

[Ratzkywatzky]

Edwidge Danticat seems a more interesting choice than the director of No Small Affair and The Seduction of Joe Tynan. She's been a crony of Jonathan Demme for a while now. For whatever that's worth. But she's smart and reflective and she could probably intimidate Quentin.

[FIlmbrain]

Fair enough about Danticat, but what's an author doing on the jury at a film competition? Would a film director ever be found on the jury at any of the major book awards?

[blackmail is my life]

Speaking of Schatzberg: is Panic in Needle Park available anywhere? It was my understanding that Pacino kept this film under wraps.

[FIlmbrain]

Don't think it's on DVD, but it does show up from time to time on the Fox Movie Channel.

[Bob Denard]

There's a British (I think) edition of Needle Park on DVD if you have one of those all region DVD players and a good video store (e.g. Vidiots in Santa Monica, where I spied it.)

Why not a novelist on the Cannes jury? Good to bring a variety of experience to the table. If book award juries discriminate against filmmakers, that's their loss.