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The scene in Cannes
This year’s festival has been one of the most crowded ever.
There are reportedly a record number of journalists at the 60th anniversary edition of Cannes, and there are an extraordinary number of tourists as well. Pair that with almost picture-perfect blue skies, and you have a recipe for logjam on the Croisette.
By 9 p.m., it’s almost impossible to walk from one screening to another along the main boulevard. People are everywhere, and the streets are closed off. It’s also remarkable that the French seem to have no hesitation to bring out the baby buggies with crying infants and plunge into the crowd. You’d think they wouldn’t want to expose the kids to such germs and put them at risk with all the pushing and shoving. But at least a dozen baby carriages were being maneuvered through the madness Friday night.
Oh yeah. They like to walk their dogs in the crowds, too.
During the nightly red-carpet arrivals, the festival typically has huge speakers blaring music, adding to the so-called drama of it all. But the festival tends to feature electronica and disco.
I suppose organizers think such music is more glamorous than other types, but it doesn’t seem appropriate in many circumstances. For instance, at a party for “My Blueberry Nights,” starring Norah Jones, the music was all disco. No jazz, nothing funky, nothing folkie, nothing even remotely Norah Jones-ish. Just disco. And this is for a movie that revolves, in part, around Ry Cooder tunes and Memphis blues. Huh?
The crush to get in to see Savage Grace this afternoon was stunning. Part of the problem: The movie was premiering in Directors’ Fortnight, which isn’t as controlled as the main screenings at the Palais. (The Fortnight is held at the Noga Hilton and other theaters in the area.) And it didn’t help that an official Cannes vehicle decided to park in front of one of two main entrances to the theater, thus making hundreds try to form an orderly single-file line.
But enough whining. It has been a great festival so far, in spirit and tone. Some of the early movies have been a bit disappointing, but “No Country for Old Men” more than makes up for the early disappointments. So does “U2 3D.”
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