Details on the Cannes Lineup
Thursday, April 16, 2015 at 12:40PM 
The Cannes Competition Lineup (and more) was announced in the wee wee hours of the morning -- not so wee for France mind you -- and here's what we're looking at. A lot of French and Asian films, a few foreign giants doing their first English language films and at least three directors we haven't had a film from in 7 or 8 years.
International beauties we can safely expect to see walking that Cannes red carpet include but are not limited to: Cate Blanchett, Qi Shu, Marion Cotillard, Diane Kruger, Emily Blunt, Natalie Portman, Sienna Miller, Isabella Rossellini, Sophie Marceau, Catherine Deneuve, and Maîwenn. ANNOUCEMENT: Friend of TFE Diana Drumm will be reporting for us a bit from the festival like last year. If we've written about any of these films before, the links will take you there. Included after the jump are descriptive bits of each film that we know anything about.
Competition Films
The Coen Bros are Jury Presidents
Dheepan (France) dir: Jacques Audiard
A Sri Lankan flees to France, works as caretaker. Dheepan is a working title so it could change before the festival. Marc Zinga from May Allah Bless France stars
A Simple Man (France) dir: Stéphane Brizé
Starring familiar French actor Vincent Lindon.
Marguerite and Julien (France) dir: Valérie Donzelli
Donzelli, you may recall, directed the cinematically restless and emotionally impactful Declaration of War, an autobiography of sorts about a married couple and their ill child, a few years back which was France's Oscar submission. Her ex Jérémie Elkaïm headlines again though she stays behind the camera this time.
The Tale of Tales (Italy/France/UK) dir: Matteo Garrone
The Gomorrah director returns with an English language film which a strange cast of royals that includes Salma Hayek , Toby Jones, Vincent Cassell and John C Reilly. It's actually a collection of fairy tales by 17th century author Giambattista Basile
Carol, (US) dir: Todd Haynes
Eight years (eight years!) after I'm Not There, the great director finally returns to the silver screen with his greatest Bob Dylan (Cate) in tow for this lesbian drama based on the Patricia Highsmith novel "The Price of Salt"
Qi Shu headlines the martial arts picture The Assassin
The Assassin (Taiwan) dir: Hou Hsiao Hsien
Another eight year absence from features! the director of gorgeousities like Flight of the Red Balloon and Three Times returns with the latter's impossibly attractive movie star pair Qi Shu & Chen Chang. Qi Shu plays a ninth century assassin who is ordered to kill the man she loves.
Mountains May Depart (China) dir: Jia Zhang-Ke
The celebrated director of Still Life and A Touch of Sin is back with a triptych that's set in the past, present and future
Our Little Sister (Japan) dir: Hirokazu Koreeda
The director of Nobody Knows and Like Father Like Son returns with this female driven story of three sisters, their half sister, and their grandmother. I've also heard this one referred to as "Kamakura Diary"
Macbeth, (UK/USA/France) dir: Justin Kurzel
Fassbender tries to ascend while Cotillard tries to wash out that damn spot. Will they pull it off in this adaptation of one of Shakespeare's finest tragedies?
The Lobster (Greece) dir: Yorgos Lanthimos
I'm not even going to attempt to explain this one from the Dogtooth director. See that link for more! It's his first English language film. But check out this great poster (hat tip: George)
Mon Roi (France) dir: Maïwenn
Ubiqutious French faces Louis Garrel and Vincent Cassel star in the latest from Maîwenn, that blue opera diva from the Fifth Element, who has long since reinvented herself as a director. It's a love story but not between the two men. Sorry. Didn't mean to excite you.
Mia Madre (Italy) dir: Nanni Moretti
Cannes regular Moretti is back with what is said to be a tragicomedy. Margherita Buy headlines as a filmmaker in crises. Co-starring John Turturro.
Son of Saul (Hungary) dir: Laszlo Nemes
A Holocaust drama set in Auschwitz about a man burning corpses. (This one, a first film, is eligible for the Camera D'Or as well)
Youth (Italy) dir: Paolo Sorrentino
Just discussed - click the link - from the director of the Oscar winning The Great Beauty (but in English). IMDb is calling this "The Early Years" so there must have been a title change at some point.
Our favorite Norsk director on set with Gabriel Byrne
Louder Than Bombs (Norway) dir: Joachim Trier
I've been singing his praises since Reprise (2006) and the world seemed to catch up with Oslo August 31st (2011). But here is yet another foreign great making their first English language film with American stars. This makes me sad a bit because I love hearing multiple tongues at the cinema.
The Sea of Trees (USA) dir: Gus Van Sant
A suicidal man (Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey) befriends a Japanese man (Oscar nominee Ken Watanabe) near Mount Fuji. The suicidal man's wife (Oscar nominee Naomi Watts) figures in somehow too but you know how it goes at the cinema: always about the men.
Sicario (USA) dir: Denis Villeneuve
FBI Agent Emily Blunt vs. a Mexican Cartel. Well, if anyone can take down a cartel it's the Full Metal Bitch. Villeneuve is on a roll and so is Blunt so cross your fingers!
WHICH OF THESE FILMS ARE YOU HOPING ARE GREAT GREAT GREAT? Which will the Coen Bros led jury warm to? We shall know in a month or so.
OPENING NIGHT FILM
La Tete Haute (France) dir: Emmanuel Bercot
The first female-directed film to open Cannes since the 1980s. Catherine Deneuve stars as a judge trying to help a juvenile delinquent. Bercot, the director, is also an actress and co-stars in the competition entry Mon Roi from another actress/director.
UN CERTAIN REGARD
Isabella Rosellini will preside over this jury
Madonna dir: Shin Suwon
Maryland (France) dir: Alice Winocour
Matthias Schoenarts is a soldier suffering PTSD and Diane Kruger his wife in this French Riviera-set thriller that's also referred to as "Close Protection"
The Fourth Direction (India) dir: Gurvinder Singh
Set during the 1980s Sikh separatist movement
Masaan / Fly Away Solo (India) dir: Neeraj Ghaywan
The screenplay won a Sundance Institute/Mahindra Global's Filmmaking Award which apparently generated interest in making it into a movie.
Hruter / Rams (Iceland) dir: Grimur Hakonarson
From the director of Summerland
Journey to the Shore
Kishibe No Tabi/Journey to the Shore (Japan) dir: Kurosawa Kiyoshi
A husband supposedly drowned at sea three years earlier returns to his wife. International star Tadanabou Asano (Mongol, Thor: The Dark World), who is currently filming Martin Scorsese's Silence, headlines as the missing man.
Je Suis Un Soldat /I Am a Soldier (France) dir: Laurent Larivere
With Jean-Huges Anglade. It's eligilbe for the Camera d'Or (first film)
Zvizdan /The High Sun (Croatia | Serbia | Slovenia) dir: Dalibor Matanic
The Other Side dir: Roberto Minervini
One Floor Below (Romania) dir: Radu Muntean
From the director of the devastating Tuesday, After Christmas
Shameless dir: Oh Seung-Uk
The Chosen Ones dir: David Pablos
Nahid dir: Ida Panahandeh
Eligible for the Camera d'Or
The Treasure (Romania) dir: Corneliu Porumboiu
Alias Maria dir: José Luis Rugeles
Gracia Taklub dir: Brillante Mendoza
Lamb (Ethiopia) dir: Yared Zeleke -it's a debut film so eligible for the Camera d'Or
Cemetery of Splendour (Thailand) dir: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
AN dir: Naomi Kawase
OUT OF COMPETITION
Mad Max: Fury Road, dir: George Miller
Irrational Man dir: Woody Allen
A philosophy professor enters a relationship with his student. Of course he does - it's a Woody Allen film. Starring Joaquin Phoenix & Emma Stone (Let's hope she steps up her game after her weirdly off work in her first Woody Allen picture last year)
Inside Out(US) dir: Pete Docter and Ronaldo del Carmen
Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince), dir: Mark Osborne
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Natalie Portman directs herself!
Oka dir: Souleymane Cisse
Not to be confused with Oka! currently on iTunes
Sipur Al Ahava Ve Choshech (A Tale of Love and Darkness), dir: Natalie Portman
This Hebrew language biopic about the youth of Amos Oz, a journalist/writer who advocates a two state solution, stars and is directed by Portman herself (in her feature directorial debut though she's made shorts before). She'll be eligible for the Camera D'Or which is given to one promising new director.
Hayored Lema’ala dir Elad Keidan
Amnesia (Switzerland | France) dir: Barbet Schroeder
Barbet Schroeder? Haven't heard from him in a long time!. This one stars German actor Max Riemelt who you might recognize from the gay drama Free Fall (available on Netflix and it's really good) and Martha Keller, the enduring Swiss star. It's set on thw Spanish island of Ibiza.
Panama (Serbia) dir: Pavle Vuckovic
Asphalte (France) dir: Samuel Benchetrit
With Isabelle Huppert, Michael Pitt, and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
Don't Tell Me the Boy Was Mad dir: Robert Guediguian
MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS
O Piseu (Office) dir: Hong Won-Chan
Eligible for the Camera D'Or
Amy (UK) dir: Asif Kapadia
The director of Senna has a new documentary. This one is also known as "Raw: The Amy Winehouse Story"
Love (France) dir. Gaspar Noé
The story of a girl and a boy and another girl. Sexually explicit and in 3D
Reader Comments (26)
Of the competition films, I'm most excited for The Lobster, Youth, Macbeth, Carol, and Louder than Bombs (I liked Reprise a lot). I hope they are all great. And I'm excited for Mad Max: Fury Road, The Little Prince, and, as always, anything starring Isabelle Huppert.
Kurasawa Kiyoshi!!! Jia Zhanke!!!! Those would be the definite Do Not Misses for me (besides Carol, of course). So exciting!
-YOUTH looks simply stunning.
-Huge fan of Joachim Trier, the first great filmmaker ever to emerge from Norway, even though he's half-Danish --- can't frickin' wait to see LOUDER THAN BOMBS. So many foreign filmmakers fall on their asses when they go to America to make their first film but I have no doubt Trier will one of the few who makes it, kills it.
-Seeing as Gus Van Sant is one of my favorite filmmakers, Sea Of Trees is a no brainer. And something really cool from a Danish perspective, the DoP is the really talented Danish DoP, Kasper Tuxen, who also shot Beginners for Mike Mills.
-And LOBSTER: Lanthimos is a genius. My only worry: Colin Farrell. I hope I'll be able to stand him.
CAROL. Off course.
I love the 50s, I love 50s clothes, 50s cars, 50s hair, love everything about that period.
+ I love Cate Blanchett and I admire Todd Haynes.
THE CHERRY OF THE CATE BLANCHETT CAKE WOULD BE THE BEST ACTRESS PRICE AT CANNES FOR CAROL...
Yay, Cannes announcement day! One of my favorite movie-centric days of the year :)
Nothing from Apichaptong Weerasethakul, Gaspar Noe, Andrej Zulawski or Miguel Gomes?! I sure hope those are among the titles they'll be announcing later. I mean, it doesn't *really matter - I'm not going to Cannes, and all four will likely be in play for fests later in the year that I *will* be going to - I just like the idea of some of those guys competing for the Palme D'Or again.
That said, there's a lot to look forward to. Top 6 most anticipated of the competition titles: Mountains May Depart, The Lobster, Carol, Our Little Sister, Sea of Trees, and The Assassin.
The rest of the competition titles have big question marks, for me - The Tale of Tales sure looks visually striking, but Garrone's never done much for me. Neither has Audiard for the most part, though Dheepan sounds interesting too. Trier is a very promising director, but the switch to America is a question mark (same with Garrone, for that matter). Sorrentino is, based on his past few films, a very talented visual stylist but also a total fraud.
And then of course there's the more obscure filmmakers in Un Certain Regard, and the TBA announced Critics Week and Director's Fortnight!!!!
McConaughey's Oscar does not make him reputable.
"McConaughey's Oscar does not make him reputable."
Right, since he didn't win for his best work, but his obvious talent does.
The amazing "The Lobster" poster: https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xft1/v/t1.0-9/11107170_880936158632205_3948863050098892392_n.png?oh=df278db3ef433aa36fe288e975f928db&oe=55A71B51&__gda__=1436420827_df3bba3aa7a2e8d407145fcf96dd9a25
I'm sorry for the previous link. Here it is! The amazing "The Lobster" poster: http://postimg.org/image/6oso6frmj/
Hooray Cannes lineup! I'm psyched about a lot of these, in particular Audiard and Haynes, who have never let me down.
And I'm hoping Trier and Lanthimos are as effective in English as they are in their native tongues.
I usually hope for the best for Van Sant, but McConaughey rarely works for me, so my hopes are low.
@Gustavo
There is no obvious talent when discussing the backwoods bimbo.
Thanks, Nathaniel, for this post.
At this stage, I'm most excited by Youth, Irrational Man and Amnesia. And, for me, it's good to see three major Italian names in competition - Garrone, Moretti and Sorrentino.
Of the others, I hope Carol is good. I liked I'm Not There. a lot. I haven't seen Polisse but I'd be up for Mon roi. And I'm looking forward to seeing what the others are like. Cannes always turns up some pleasant surprises.
McConaughey is talented but limited, just like DiCaprio. That's why Nolan goes for them.
The moment I hear the McConaughey accent I cringe, same when I encounter Leo's SERIOUS stare (happening in most of his movies).
oh and CAROL! Let there be CAROL!
May best actress be a battle between...
Marion! Cate! Ms. Weisz! Emily Blunt!
Or some fabulous foreign actress I don't know. But I'd be thrilled if any of those women won.
Marion deserves to win at some point, I adore Rachel Weisz and despite an Oscar I think she's a bit underrated, Emily Blunt is just awesome period. And Cate...well, you know. I think I'd probably want her to win the least simply because we've seen her win so much, but I'm hoping Carol is amazing, so...
or maybe they'll give one of those joint prizes and give it to the women of Carol?
Let me stop turning everything into a best actress, lol.
It's funny, I really, really liked McConaughey circa Bernie and Magic Mike, before he was seemingly everywhere. But then he dominated the awards circuit and his presence became so tiresome (it didn't help matters that I despised Dallas Buyers Club). This seems to be a problem that people have more often with actresses in their Oscar-winning year (Hathaway, Portman, even Lawrence to an extent). Anyway, it's not really his fault he was so ubiquitous, so I'm more than willing to give The Sea of Trees the benefit of the doubt.
Any chance that Ken Watanabe's character will be written as anything more than a "wise Japanese elder" archetype? I've never been very impressed with Van Sant's work.
@Philip H. - I couldn't agree more, especially about Weisz! She's one of the most gifted and underutilized actors working today. Her performance in The Deep Blue Sea is one of the most brilliant and underrated performances of the past decade.
And re: Cotillard winning at Cannes, I'm still stunned that she didn't win last year for 2D1N. Not that Moore was a bad choice, but still.... Confusing.
Oh, these are the reasons why I want to go to Cannes. Not just for the films but the spectacle of it. I wanna see as many films in that line-up as I can. Hell, I wanna have my first film there.
Sean Diego - I know right, I always liked her, but The Deep Blue Sea made her one of my favs. I really love that movie (and her in it). I was sad she couldn't snag an Oscar nom for it, but the fact that she still managed to win the NY film critics award for Best Actress and even a Golden Globe nod was a huge feat considering the performance, movie, and the release of it.
And I agree on Marion not winning last year. It's cool that they picked Julianne, it was a really fun, inspired choice, but does seem like a weirder pick. Especially since it feels like Marion should have some momentum at Cannes by now, lol. If Macbeth is well-received, maybe this will finally be her moment there. Or maybe they just don't want to reward her??? No idea.
Philip H -- all i know is that it would be foolish to predict her for Macbeth because people predict her for the cannes win EVERY YEAR ;)
How am I just now hearing about Amy? I loved Senna, and I loved Amy Winehouse AND the trailer is beautiful. Can't wait.
Only 17 films in competition and none of them from Africa, Spain, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Russia....
Not a very good representative of the world.
I am interested in Carol and Son of Saul.
Bette-- well, they usually add a few more don't they?
Whoa, Barbet Shroeder? Now that's a blast from the past. I loved Reversal of Fortune -- Glenn Close's V.O. might be the one and only time I've ever adored a V.O. performance -- and the trashy nonsense that is Single White Female. Haven't considered him since he directed that one episode of Mad Men.
Oh, and I just made the connection that Julianne Moore won Best Acrtress at Cannes and Best Actress at the Oscars in the same (film) year. Different performances, yes, but an impressive feat nonetheless.
P.S. I still hate that they're calling Carol 'Carol'. Bo-o-ori-i-ing-g-g!
Yes Mareko, they should be calling it "Lesbos"
Nathaniel - I don't understand why only 17 films are officially in competition.
Surely there should be a fixed number - and why no films from Africa, middle east, Spain, Russia, Australia????
The line up is very French and very English with a couple of Asian films along for the ride.
I think Sundance and Berlin had a better representation of world cinema.
Wish I could attend Cannes - but I believe it is OH SO EXPENSIVE at this time of year.