Film Journey

Wang Bing’s He Fengming

CANNES 2007óTHE FINAL RANKINGS

By Robert Koehler

Below are my final rankings of the films across all sections that I saw before, during and just after Cannes, from best to worst. Given the importance of Cristian Nemescuís California Dreaminí, which won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard competition, I delayed this final ranking list until being able to see Nemescuís film at its first post-Cannes screening in the Cinevegas film festival. Six of these titles include the short films comprising the omnibus film, The State of the World, whose individual parts varied …

Go Go Tales

By Robert Koehler

So deep–and I mean deep–was the impression left by Abel Ferrara’s fabulous, ecstatic Go Go Tales and Asia Argento in particular, that I would suggest that Cannes introduce a new prize in honor of Asia’s oral hyperactivity, which effectively took over the festival for a few days running. I would suggest a Tongue d’Or. Not even Naomi Kawase’s mad, mad heroes trekking through woods and up a mountain in The Mourning Forest, nor the morally-haunted, white-gloved female executioner in Yinan Diao’s masterpiece, Night Train, nor the slow-motion flight of skateboarders in Gus …

Silent Light

By Robert Koehler

The Palmares were handed out Sunday night, in what was alternately a
respectable and nutty show (with Charlotte Rampling, Carole Bouquet
and Jane Fonda keeping things classy, and The Diving Bell and the
Butterfly director Julian Schnabel blabbering on like a fool). The
results could have been worse, and were in some categories striking
and even brave. Several of the recipients, happily enough, line up
with what I would argue were the few really worthy films in the
competition: A Jury prize for Carlos Reygadas’ Silent Light (shared
with Marjane Satrapi’s disappointing Persepolis); the …

The Mourning Forest

By Robert Koehler

First, a bit of housekeeping…..The challenges–and near-impossibilities (technical, logistical, and otherwise)–of regularly
posting from Cannes have proven nearly insurmountable during the
first year that we’re attempting this. I hope that the following
postings will help fill in the gap of time since the previous post.
Given that I was reporting on Cannes for the Christian Science
Monitor, reviewing films for Variety, and prepping material for
upcoming writing in Cinema Scope magazine, the blogging thing got a
bit overshadowed. I’ll try to manage this better next year, for
Cannes’ 61st edition.

Speaking of …

I’ve been holed up sick this past week, and just in time, Cinema Scope and Variety critic Robert Koehler–whose excellent posts from BAFICI 2007 we’re still referring to–will begin filing occasional posts from this year’s Cannes Film Festival. –Doug

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4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days

By Robert Koehler

The 60th anniversary of Cannes was meant to be a celebration, but by the end of day four, there’s been little to shout about. I wasn’t about to assume that Wong Kar-wai’s hopelessly banal opener, My Blueberry Nights, was going to be a precursor of the competition …