Festival in Cannes

Henry Jaglom, who knows his way around movie deal-making from the inside, made a vicious thrust at the film industry, located at Cannes with an all-star cast and a wealth of cameos. Critics who panned this brilliant non-lampoon missed the point. If movie nuts (like myself) ever entertained fantasies of making a big time film, Henry Jaglom's satire will cure them.

Sorry that some fans didn't care for this film, I found it deliciously decadent and oh-so-painfully-truthful! It had all the schmaltz and flavor of a run down fan dancer. So delicate at one time, and now so abused. If you really desire to see the Festival as it is, then view this movie. Mr. Schell is excellent, as well as the gentleman that plays the sleeze-ball Kaz. Truly a remarkable film in that it makes you think/feel documentary. Ala Robert Altman and his unscripted dialogue. The audience in my theatre snickered half the film, and there were some real good laughs at some of the irony. Only drawback was the cameraman. He gave us a splitting headache whenever filming Ms. Aimee and Mr. Schell on the boardwalk. Otherwise, go see it. Enjoy!

In Cannes, the actress Alice Palmer (Greta Scacchi) wants to have her debut in the cinema industry as director and her two friends have written a screenplay to Gena Rowlands. However they are approached by the counterfeit crasher Kaz Naiman (Zack Norman) that convince them to rewrite the scrip to the famous French actress Millie Marquand (Anouk Aimée) that is in the festival; in return he would sponsor the feature with three million dollars. Millie loves the screenplay and promises to make the film. However, the powerful producer Rick Yorkin (Ron Silver) is producing a blockbuster with Tom Hanks and Simone Duvall and needs Millie Marquand and needs Millie Marquand to perform the role of Tom Hanks' mother. Millie's former husband, the director Viktor Kovner (Maximilian Schell) is in Cannes and Rick manipulates him to convince Millie to accept the part. Meanwhile the promising debutant star Blue (Jenny Gabrielle) becomes a hit in the festival but is divided between her lover and her career.

"Festival in Cannes" is almost a good movie. The idea of shooting in the backstage of the Cannes Film Festival 1999 like in a documentary is creative and interesting. However, the naiveness of the characters like Blue, Alice Palmer and Millie Marquand associated to the verbose screenplay are bothersome in the end of 100 minutes running time. Further, Maximilian Schell is awful and the ham Zack Norman is totally unconvincing. This movie was released on VHS by Paramount distributor in Brazil. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Um Festival em Cannes" ("A Festival in Cannes")

This is a fun movie, and a good behind-the-scenes-look at moviemaking, both indie and "big studio" productions. The plot is very simple and all of the players move in and out of "the deal" at different times. The "deal" even begins to take on a life of its own with most of the characters compromising their interests to be a part of it. Very good character studies. I think this movie should have used all of the actors real names, as it seemed contrived to have a fictional name for Anouk Aimee.

I saw Festival in Cannes this evening in my film class and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was far from a documentary (as was posted earlier), but rather an interesting insight into some of the things that can go on at this, or any other festival. The characters were fun to watch and to follow through their few days in Cannes. I found the film interesting and the end was extremely satisfying -- it all made sense. It was beautifully shot and made me wish I could see Cannes in person. Of course it showed how people can be wooed with simple words, but it showed so much more than that. The cast was superb. If you enjoy movies, see this one. It was a treat.