Cannes 2016: A Look at the Schedule and What's That About Closing Night?
Yesterday, the full schedule for the 69th Cannes Film Festival was unveiled and as expected, there wasn't many shocks or exclusions from this years slate. However, there were a few nice inclusions and a slight twist on closing night.
Many of the predicted films made the cut. Steven Spielberg's 'The BFG' will screen out of competition alongside Jodie Foster's 'Money Monster' which stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts (her first time at Cannes), and Shane Black's 'The Nice Guys' starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe which nabbed a spot, too. In competition films included Cannes regular Pedro Almodovar's 'Juliete', Dardeene brothers 'The Unknown Girl' and Nicolas Winding Refn's much-anticipated 'The Neon Demon', which will complete a hat-trick of appearances at the festival for the critically acclaimed director. The biggest surprise of the slate came in the form of Amazon gaining five inclusions —Cafe Society, Paterson, Park Chan-wook's The Handmaiden, Gimme Danger and The Neon Demon. Those five movies are very Cannes-like but until now it was feared the prestigious festival wouldn't include releases that are made for streaming devices.
Cannes veteran Woody Allen will open the festival with his latest offering 'Cafe Society' that's reportedly a welcome throwback to classic Allen but with a contemporary twist. The cast includes Blake Lively, Steve Carrell and Kristen Stewart, who is on double duty this year. Her other film is Oliver Assayas' 'Personal Shopper' which screens in competition. Stewart has a strong reputation in France after the success of 'Clouds of Sils Maria' which landed an unprecedented Cesar Award.
Sean Penn will return to Canes with his competition film 'The Last Face', starring many stars including Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem. This will be Penn's second directed competition film at Cannes after his 2001 entrant, 'The Pledge.' Jeff Nichols will also have an entrant in competition with his much anticipated 'Loving.' It stars Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga in a story about an interracial couple who are sentenced to prison in Virginia in 1958 for getting married. It's an early favourite for the Palme d'Or and is expected to roll out in other festivals later in the year. It also has a November 4 release and is expected to be a contender come awards season.
To add to an already stacked in competition category, Cannes included Jim Jarmusch's latest offering, 'Paterson'. The movie stars Kylo Ren, also known as Adam Driver, and it has been described as "very Jarmusch." The indie helmer has another film screening, this time in the Midnight Screening category, with the documentary 'Gimme Danger' which examines the life and times of music icon Iggy Pop.
Acclaimed British director Andrea Arnold returns to competition at Cannes with her new movie 'American Honey' starring Shia LaBeouf. Arnold has previously won two Jury Prizes at Cannes in 2006 for 'Red Road' and again in 2009 for 'Fish Tank'.
Marion Cotillard will also be in town as she returns alongside Xavier Dolan and his new release 'It's Only The End of the World.' This is Dolan's second film after the success of his debut 'Mommy' in 2014, when the Canadian director shared the Jury Prize with lengendary auteur Jean-Luc Godard. Speaking of legendary filmmakers, Ken Loach will return with his drama 'I, Daniel Blake' which will mark Loach's thirteenth attempt at trying to land a Palme d'Or. He's previously won the award with 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' in 2006.
WHAT'S THIS ABOUT CLOSING NIGHT?
Festival organisers announced a new "experiment" regarding the Closing Night film. The closer instead this year will be a screening of the Palme d'Or winner, which will be announced the night before. In years gone by, many believed the final movie of the festival has been cursed, never really leading to much commercial or box office success after its screening. To say it's cursed is a little out there. 'E.T. Extra Terrestrial' and 'Thelma & Louise' both closed the festival in decades gone by and they most certainly found commercial and box office success. In the modern era of Cannes, Quentin Tarantino hosted a special screening of 'A Fistful of Dollars' which went down a treat. Being the closing film of any festival isn't as coveted as festival organisers would like you to believe. After all the screenings and awards have been handed out, many festival-goers are ready to head home after a long week of watching, after parties and press commitments. It's a nice idea to end the festival with the film deemed the best of the fest, but it's hardly going to revolutionise the idea of closing nights.
For a full list of selections, click here: http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/article/62135.html
