From Variety:

U.S. fest flag flies
Cannes loading up on American fare

By DEREK ELLEY
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LONDON -- With less than two weeks to go before the official unveiling of the lineup, U.S. and American-set fare will share the spotlight at the 58th Cannes Film Festival (May 11-22).
After four years walking a tightrope between experimentation and conservatism, artistic director Thierry Fremaux appears to be aiming for safer ground, with heavyweight Croisette regulars dominating the official selection.

In fact, it's looking like a program with which former artistic director (now fest prexyprexy) Gilles Jacob, 74, would be comfortable.

Some 50% of the competition looks blocked out at this stage, with the following leading the main contenders:


Dimension's noirish drama "Sin City," helmed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez, with Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and Clive Owen.

Lars Von Trier's "Manderlay," the second part of his so-called U.S. trilogy, this time dealing with slavery in the South during the Depression. Willem Dafoe, Chloe Sevigny, Danny Glover and Lauren Bacall star.

Gus Van Sant's "Last Days," with Michael Pitt as a Kurt Cobain-like rocker holed up in his house during his final hours in the early '70s.

Wim Wenders' "Don't Come Knockin'," co-written by and starring Sam Shepard as an aging cowboy star on a journey of self-discovery; Jessica Lange, Tim Roth, Sarah Polley and Fairuza Balk co-star.

David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence," with Viggo Mortensen and Maria Bello, about the impact on a family when a father commits a murder in self-defense.

Jim Jarmusch's untitled pic, with Lange, Bill Murray, Sevigny and Sharon Stone.

The latest drama by Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.

Austrian helmer Michael Haneke's French-lingo "Hidden," with Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil, centered on a TV host threatened by videotapes featuring him and his family.

Patrice Chereau's chamber drama "Gabrielle," based on a Joseph Conrad story, with Isabelle Huppert and Pascal Greggory.

"Lemming," a two-couples ensembler by Dominik Moll ("With a Friend Like Harry""With A Friend Like Harry"), starring Charlotte Rampling, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Andre Dussollier and Laurent Lucas.


Fest's selection of French pics traditionally goes down to the wire, and other strong candidates for official selection include "Les poupees russes," by France's Cedric Klapisch, a follow-up to his ensembler "L'Auberge espagnole"; Nicole Garcia's male ensembler "Charlie Says," with Jean-Pierre Bacri; a first film by novelist Emmanuel Carrere, "La moustache"; plus, out of left field, Gallic vet minimalist Alain Cavalier's journal of his family and friends that's been five years in the making.

Already skedded as a special event is "Joyeux Noel," by Christian Carion ("One Swallow Brought Spring"), to be attended by French pols and notables. Pic is based on the true story of a Christmas truce arranged by soldiers during WWI.

Being mulled for a spot in the official selection is DreamWorks toontoon "Madagascar," set in GothamGotham's Central Park Zoo. Pic, which opens Stateside May 27, would be the third DreamWorks animated feature to appear in the Competition.

Noncompeting U.S. fare is led by "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith," inked for a special screening. Also, fest has invited Woody Allen's first U.K.-shot movie, "Match Point," starring Allen, Scarlett Johansson and Brian Cox, but pic's participation has not yet been confirmed by its producers.

Among strong contenders, but not yet invited, for the official selection are James Marsh's Deep South drama "The King," starring Gael Garcia Bernal and William HurtWilliam Hurt, and Italian Marco Tullio Giordana's "Once You're Born," a coming-of-ager set against a backdrop of illegal immigration. Giordana had a surprise hit at Cannes two years ago with his drama "The Best of Youth."

Universal's Ron Howard-helmed "Cinderella Man," about Depression-era boxer Jim Braddock (Russell Crowe), was originally thought likely for a noncompeting slot but is looking far less certain.

Looking wobbly for Competition is Ang Lee's gay Western "Brokeback Mountain," which is said to have underwhelmed the selection committee.

Dearth of options

Faced with an embarrassment of riches among U.S. and English-lingo fare, Fremaux has reportedly been struggling to find equivalent baubles from other regions, especially European territories such as Spain, Germany and Italy.

East Asia also is proving problematic, with many of the big names (such as South Korea's Hong Sang-soo and "Old Boy" helmer Park Chan-wook) looking more likely to show up at Venice with their latest work. However, already snagged for a spot in official selection is Zhang Ziyi starrer "Raccoon Princess," an exotic fantasy-cum-musical by cult Japanese vet Seijun Suzuki.

Under consideration is "The Bow," by South Korean maverick Kim Ki-duk ("Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring"), about a love affair on a remote island between an old man and a teen girl. This would be the first time one of Kim's pics has officially played the fest.

Still unseen by Cannes' committee but racing to meet its deadline is Zhang Yimou's contempo drama "Riding Alone for a Thousand Li" (literal translation), starring Japanese vet Takakura Ken and set in southwest China. Film is a deliberately smaller production after Zhang's martial-arts spectacles "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers."

East Asian fare looks to be more widely spread among the fest's sections.

Directors Fortnight opens with contempo drama "Be With Me," by Singaporean director Eric Khoo ("12 Storeys"), which was also offered a slot in Un Certain Regard. Other confirmed titles in the Fortnight include Im Sang-soo's "The President's Last Bang," a black comedy centered on the '70s assassination of South Korea's Gen. Park; Iranian drama "Iron Island"; Sundance title "Police Beat"; and Greg McLean's "Wolf Creek."

'Hustle' in

Linked to the annual MTV party but not part of the official fest selection will be a screening of Stephen Chow's Asian smash "Kung Fu Hustle," opening Stateside on Friday.

Fremaux's biggest problem seems to be finding an opening movie.

Originally keen to have Sydney Pollack's "The Interpreter," Fremaux has now expressed interest in Tsui Hark's martial-arts fantasy "Seven Swords," the first film in a planned hexalogy by the Hong Kong helmer (and last year's jury member).

But doubts over whether the pic, still in post, can meet the May 11 opening date, and memories of last year's nail-biting over Wong Kar Wai's "2046," are casting doubts on this option.

(Adam Dawtrey, Alison James, Sharon Swart, Gunnar Rehlin and Nick Vivarelli contributed to this story.)
Date in print: Thurs., Apr. 7, 2005, Cannes Daily

Of course they don't notice that Bryce Howard Dallas is the lead in this. And since Lars Von Trier tends to turn his leading ladies crazy as well as produce some of the best female performances of the last ten years (yes, Bjork, Nicole Kidman, Emily Watson) I don't see why we shouldn't expect less from Dallas here.


Michael Pitt... he's so pigeonholed.


That's all that needs to be said, I'm there.


I hope this film isn't too mainstream. I hope it's challenging. I really want Viggo success outside of LOTR.


Jim, just cut to the chase and call it "The Pretentious Dull Crap Movie".


Juliette, my love.



I hope this plays right before Manderlay.


I wonder why? The first thought that came to my mind that is that it "isn't that great". They filmed this for potential release last Christmas, so I don't buy that they aren't done with it.


Brokeback Mountain is going to be a disaster. An epic disaster.


Excellent for Zhang... I would like to see him tackle something smaller and maybe modern.


...because trilogies aren't good enough anymore.

BTW, because it's Cannes, and Cannes helps aim the Oscar season, the films to watch the radar for are:

01 A History of Violence
02 Manderlay
03 Last Days

and maybe The Bow for Foreign considerations.

Definately A History of Violence has a lot of Oscar potential, but except for the commercial prospects (Star Wars and Madagascar are likely nominees in tech and animation, and maybe Sin City in a cinematography) I don't see a lot there this year in this list that looks that grand or would grab the attention needed at this early date.

Looks like I need to edit the article a little. Don't know why there are so many duplicate names.

Probably links

Lol you know I'm sad when Manderlay is my most anticipated sequel of the year.



Early word is that Dallas is not quite as good as the last three female lead performers in Lars Von Trier films...then again, it's prety hard to top Kidman, Bjork and Emily Watson's performances. But still good.

Is this movie filmed in a "conventional" method?

Lol you know I'm sad when Manderlay is my most anticipated sequel of the year.



Early word is that Dallas is not quite as good as the last three female lead performers in Lars Von Trier films...then again, it's prety hard to top Kidman, Bjork and Emily Watson's performances. But still good.

Is this movie filmed in a "conventional" method?

No, it's just like Dogville.

Except the thing is ivory with black building outlines.

Hehe so much for any awards then :wink:


I thought maybe if it only dealt with slavery, as opposed to Dogville which dealt with just about every issue...political and non political...and got every single point right, even if it knew too well it did (does that make sense?) which turned too many people off probably...

If Dogville missed out on awards, I can't see Manderlay having much potential unless it's for Bryce. And that doesn't sound likely. I'm looking forward to it even though I still have very mixed emotions about Dogville.

Maybe I'll rewatch Dancer In The DArk in anticipation. :pop:

Manderlay might not even get US distribution this year.

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Maverick Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier will cut scenes of a donkey being butchered from his film about slavery in the U.S. South after protests from animal rights activists who said he killed the animal for entertainment.


Von Trier's experimental style and affection for dark and disturbing themes have made him a hero to some moviegoers and a menace in the eyes of others. He is notoriously secretive about projects in production.

In an open letter to "animal lovers" released on Thursday, the award-winning eccentric thanked the activists for the large number of letters and said the donkey had been put down as compassionately as possible.

"The meat from the donkey was passed on to take its place in the food chain the way donkey meat happens to do in our part of the world," he said in the unusual public comment.

"I cut all the scenes showing the dead donkey out of the film," the 48-year-old director said in the letter.

Von Trier denied the donkey was killed for entertainment. He said the political and social content of the film, "Manderlay," was so important that it would be unfortunate if it was rejected or ignored because of the donkey.

"My personal feeling is that I acted conscientiously, and I don't suppose we'll ever agree on that."

"Manderlay," the second film in a trilogy called "USA - Land of Opportunities." It is a story of slavery set in the 1930s American South starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Willem Dafoe (news) and Danny Glover (news). Release is expected this year.

The first film in the trilogy was his 2003 picture, "Dogville," starring Nicole Kidman.

Von Trier co-founded the Dogme 95 movement, which among other things decreed that filmmakers should use only natural light and sound, no sets, and hand-held cameras, but has strayed from the manifesto in later films.

His "Dancer in the Dark" won the Palme d'Or for Best Picture at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival


Except the donkey would have been slaughtered anyway, so blah...I don't know.