Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th May

So here I am. All of a sudden I am sat on the TGV travelling North back to Paris, then London, and then back to Cambridge. As I said goodbye to Falila and Tony at Gare de Cannes, Tony made a very astute comment: “It’s always better to leave on a high, wanting more – particularly on your first visit to Cannes.”

His is a very true statement. I have left Cannes feeling cinematically fulfilled (and ever-so-slightly sunburnt). True, Ryan Gosling, Matt Smith, and Ben Mendelsohn are rocking up this evening for the premiere of LOST RIVER, and George MacKay revisits Cannes on Friday for the premiere of his new film PRIDE. It would have been fantastic to see these two films, alongside the new Studio Ghibli, THE TALE OF PRINCESS KAGUYA on Friday evening, but you know what, I’ve been exposed to so many new directors and actors these past six days, that I feel really rather blessed from the great God Marcello (that can be his name for this year). I feel it would almost be greedy to want to consume any more films for the next few days.

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the 8.30am screening of FOXCATCHER in the Grand Theatre Lumiere with Becky. It was cold outside for the first time, so I put on my jumper. Only when we got to the screen and were walking up the (now soggy) red carpet, did I realise I was wearing my fox jumper. Team Foxcatcher!! Becky was about to leave after this screening, so it was lovely to sit down and catch at least one film with her for her stay in Cannes. She was last down on the south coast of France almost ten years ago. I am proud to be able to watch a film with her and be part of this continuation of people from the Cambridge Film Festival travelling down and sharing their collective cinema experiences.

I never thought I would ever expect to hear an Oscar buzz around either Carrell or Tatum…

FOXCATCHER is the third feature from American director Bennet Miller (you may have seen his other two offerings: 2005’s CAPOTE and 2011’s MONEYBALL). This is a strong whiff of Palme d’Or and Oscars nominations around this film. Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, and Steve Carell are simply brilliant in this tale of wrestling, family relationships, and the power that money can bring you or deny you. If truth be told, I didn’t even realise Steve Carell was in this film, as the promotional photos reveal a Carell that has, shall we say …had some work done to his face. The effect of transforming him into the character of John duPont, however, is unnervingly similar to the real-life photos of the man who inspired the film. I never thought I would ever expect to hear an Oscar buzz around either Carrell or Tatum, but this looks set to be the film to do it. Quite astounding!

I said goodbye to Becky and dashed out the back of the Palais to Salle de 60, for a screening of Tommy Lee Jones’ new film THE HOMESMAN. This is a quite different style of Western to the Danish offering of THE SALVATION I had seen two days ago. Set in the Nebraska Territories, which don’t look too dissimilar to some of the panoramic black and white shots from last year’s arthouse gem NEBRASKA, despite a two hundred year difference, I found this to be an enjoyable film; dominated by the wonder that is Hilary Swank, and with some rather unexpected narrative twists and turns along the way. I left the screen feeling thankful to be alive now rather than then, for it seems the only way to be independent and happy in those days was to be a racist, sexist, violent, white man. I’ll allow myself the white man part, but I’d like to steer clear of all other areas if you please.

My final film of the Cannes Film Festival was a Greek film by director Panos Koutras – a complete unknown to me, but another instance of where Un Certain Regard comes into its own to expose the work of talented filmmakers from around the world to silly billies like me. XENIA turned out to be the perfect farewell film for me at Cannes. Its lead actors, Kostas Nikouli and Nikos Gelia had me hypnotised to the screen for the duration, in a film which throws everything at them – singing; fighting; hugging a giant imaginary rabbit. I don’t want to sound flippant about the film – it was wonderfully camp in parts, only to be followed by alarming scenes of testosterone-filled, far-right brutalism on the streets of Athens. I felt a real thrill to see the cast in the screen afterwards, and share the experience of seeing their film projected to an audience of 1000+ people in Salle Debussy on a Monday evening.

… my first visit to the Cannes Film Festival will hold a very special place in my heart …

This morning has been spent shopping for the arrival of more CFF team members, Sarah, Tim and Alex, later on today. I’ve made sure they have fruit juice, cereal and booze for their first day or two in Cannes. Verena is flying back to Berlin later on, whilst I am writing this on the train travelling back up to Paris. I couldn’t resist buying a large poster, from the boutique officielle, of Marcello and his fabulous sunglasses; as well as a t-shirt displaying each presidente of the festival in a swirling, vortex fashion. I guess I’m a bit of sucker for these type of things, but I think in years to come, my first visit to the Cannes Film Festival will still hold a very special place in my heart, wherever I end up in the British Film Industry. I hope you have enjoyed reading my diary entries for these past six days, and that I have elucidated somewhat my experiences of this magical film festival. It most definitely now holds un certain regard pour moi.