Sunday was our last full day in Cannes (technically we fly out Monday afternoon, but as we have to get packed, get to the airport, check-in and what-not we don’t have time to do anything in the morning, which is annoying as X-Men 3 premieres on Monday, first screening at 11:30 am — I just checked and tickets are still available) and we had a couple of movies in the morning but nothing much grabbed us for the afternoon.
First off the films from Saturday. We only saw An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary about a presentation former Vice President and presidential candidate Al Gore gives on global warming. Gore actually attended the event along with the film-makers. I knew it was going to be popular, it was the only screening at the festival, and we were there an hour in advance. It was at one of the smaller cinemas (though still big) in the palais. It all kicked off when we turned up and found there wasn’t much of a line, just a bunch of people sitting about. When we just took an empty spot (having been to this cinema a few times before, we knew that by the time of the screening the whole landing in front of the doors would be full and that queuing would be a moot point). Then some American guy decided to point out we should be behind him, as he was there before us and they’d formed a queue (we had to be told before we could see it that was how vague a queue it was). We knew that there was no way anyone else would follow that line, so I pointed that out and told them to move into the big space in front of us (they were only where they were so they could sit down against a wall and save standing). An English woman in his group pointed out the same (they obviously are not aware this is the continent and they don’t do queuing here) and told us ‘well, you’re not going in before me.’ Then a French guy appeared and stood in front of us, they went nuts, called the guys in suits over, who just told everyone to stand up and move forward. Such was the madness created by Gore. We also saw Mark Kermode (BBC film critic) waiting in the press line. As the time approached, we ended up being crammed together like sheep before the (flood) gates were opened. Then the battle for seats started. We got in, got seated. Some people were reserving seats, not an uncommon habit, for friends. Which is fine, provided they turn up, but there were people hunting for seats and nobody could sit down because some people had reserved four seats, as it turned out, for no one. Some guy decided to ignore a woman saying she was holding the seats, sat down, caused a huge ruckass and nearly got himself thrown out. This is the ugly side of Cannes (and it always seems to be the Americans who speak out and make a fuss about the queuing and seating). Anyway, we clapped as the production crew were introduced and Al arrived to give a quick speech, first in French, then in English (with translation by the compere). He was well received.
The film itself focuses on followng Gore around as he gives the same presentation on global warming, with statistics abound and evidence to show. I wasn’t so convinced, I’m well aware statistics can be used in a variety of ways to support both sides and that scientific data can be interpretted differently by different people. I’d like to have seen a more balanced argument, showing both sides. Hopefully it’ll hit home with the right people though, as in Joe Public, I’m afraid that only the greenies will see it and that it’ll have little impact. There are some asides about Gore’s life littered throughout the movie too, and these kind of take you off message, not sure they’re necessary or worthy of inclusion. Maybe it’ll make us think greener, maybe it’ll start some grass roots changes in the US, maybe they’ll all trade in their gas-guzzling SUVs, I’m not so sure.
The screening was packed with Gore fans, who clapped every political statement raised in the film (he introduces himself as “I used to the next president” and tells a tale about a teacher he had who told a friend that continents didn’t move and who later went on to be scientific advisor to the Bush administration).
You can’t really escape politics in Cannes, not only are the movies often packed with controversial topics, but there are usually demonstrations and all sorts. While we were in the An Inconvenient Truth screening it seems we missed the fun outside, where the police were using tear gas to quell protestors (not sure what they were protesting about). Before that we’d seen the police protesting over pay (we think), a demonstration for or against quotas to maintain cultural identity and the Chinese ministry has been telling people not to write about Summer Palace because they haven’t approved it (despite the fact that it passed all their guidelines for production, they need to get another certficate for overseas exhibition it seems). Not to mention some people who climbed up and hung on to the side of some buildings during The Da Vinci Code premiere (using climbing gear).
That brings us to Southland Tales and Over the Hedge. We were up at 6:45 (that’s AM!) to get to the 8:30 screening of Southland Tales on Sunday morning (you need to be there at least 20 minutes before according to the tickets, plus some time to beat the queue to get a reasonable seat). We were all eagerly anticipating the movie. Donnie Darko left a lot of people wondering what it meant, it confused them. If Donnie Darko confused you, don’t go and see Southland Tales, it baffled the hell out of all of us. The main characters — Boxer Santaros (The Rock), Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Officer Roland Taverner (Sean William Scott) — are all part of the narrative, if you can call it that. It had overtones of the Christ story, but generally was just a weird mess that served to call attention to many of the western world’s concerns: renewable fuel (a new, clean power source called Blue Karma is invented), state control (there are sniper posts everywhere, everyone has ID cards and the state can monitor anyone), celebrity, sex (Krysta, an adult movie star, starts her own daytime TV show, drinks line, launches a CD, etc), racism and terrorism (the marxist groups try to frame a cop by getting his twin brother to dress up and shoot a black guy with blanks on camera). It’s a confusing tale without a real plot thread running through it and when you get to the end you scratch your head and wonder what that was all about. We think it’ll be better on subsequent viewings, but it definitely didn’t have the instant appeal of Donnie Darko.
Over the Hedge was a lot more straight-forward. In fact, it was down-right generic, like it had come off of some production line of 3D animated films for most of it, with little to pull it above anything else. It starts with a hungry racoon (RJ, voiced by Bruce Willis) trying to steal food from a bear, he gets caught, the huge pile of food gets destroyed and RJ has one week to get it all back or else he gets eaten. Meanwhile, Verne (a tortoise) and family (made up of a bunch of other animals), come out of hibernation to find most of their forest has been replaced by a housing development and a huge hedge keeping nature out. RJ arrives to teach them about the human world and uses them to collect the food he needs to placate the bear. Needless to say it all ends happily.
The moments to saviour are some touches of comic brilliance. The groups get their first sugar rush, Verne and RJ end up waking a dog up, who only says one thing, all the time: “Play?” Needless to say he thinks they’re toys. The arrival of the Verminator (especially when he leaps out of the truck into a commando roll and takes out a pink flamingo statue, then utters “So lifelike, damn you plastic mold makers”). There’s RJ showing the locations of traps the Verminator has set in one of the gardens that goes on forever (”Here, here, here… here, here… here, here, here… here, here, here…”). The best of all is when they give the hyperactive, super fast Hammy the squirrell a can of caffeine energy drink. The world goes into slow motion and Hammy wanders around while leaves remain stationary and everyone freezes mid-motion, very funny.
Sadly, that was our last film on this trip. Maybe we’ll go back and do it again sometime.
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