BLIND ITEMS
CANNES – Quentin Tarantino and Sofia Coppola? Well, we do know they walked up the red carpet together on opening night – here’s a picture. It’s quite possible he was simply giving her advice on Lost In Translation 2 – figuring out how to get Scarlett Johansson involved in serious swordplay with that evil movie star threatening her marriage. And is it possible that Tarantino’s chin is actually getting bigger?
Here’s a beaut – and remember this is pure rumour, unsourced, unconfirmed, just the sort of thing one hears along the Croisette. Michael Moore’s mouse-frightening Fahrenheit 911 will cancel at the last minute, citing an incomplete sound mix. That’s why they suddenly moved Jonathon Nossiter’s Mondovino into the competition.
THE BEST THING ANYONE’S SAID TO ME THIS WEEK – “What really interests me in Iranian films is what’s not on the screen.” What? Car chases? Nude scenes? I mean, what’s not on the screen in Iranian films covers a lot of ground.
ALL SYNOPSES QUOTED VERBATIM
Quiet As A Mouse – “God is dead and the world is a terrible place, populated by too many people who think nothing of carelessly discarding litter, speeding over the limit, dodging fares on the metro, jaywalking and violence – Max is here to change all that.” They wanted to call it The Jack Layton Story.
Strings – “A couple is tied by hate and bound by love.”
The Story Of The Weeping Camel – “When a camel rejects her newborn baby, a musician from a distant village is summoned to warm her heart towards it.” I’m tempted to see this, just because I can’t believe anyone would make a movie with this plot.
TWO FILMS
OLD BOY (Park Chan-Wook, Competition) – Park has an interesting filmography, with Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance and Joint Security Area, a pair of unusual thrillers. In Old Boy, a man is locked up for 15 years for no reason that he can determine. At the end of the 15 years, he’s given a gun, a cell phone and a bunch of money and sets off to find out who locked him up. With its bravura scenes of violence and quintuple twist climax, this is a movie that will keep audiences deeper in the dark than the hero, and Park keeps piling on twists.
I’m not sure how good it is but it’s certainly not boring. Min Sik-Choi is tremendous in the leading role and Ji-tae Yu is a spectacularly amoral villain. I he had a moustache, he could twirl it. Particularly during the final confrontation between hero and villain – which may have gone on too long, but it was more fun than Mondovino.
OPEN WATER (Chris Kentis, Market) – This one came out of Sundance with huge buzz, Blair Witch buzz, and the worst thing one can do is oversell it’s qualities. It’s the story of a couple on vacation who go out for a little scuba diving and get left behind by their charter. In the middle of the ocean. Surrounded by sharks.
It’s mostly suspense, this being a minimally budgeted thriller – digital video, essentially two actors and a bunch of water. Suggesting that it’s the best thing since Jaws, or that it’s even scarier than Jaws, is to do the film a disservice by setting up expectations it can’t possibly meet. But check it when it opens later this summer. It’s got great mood and very striking ending, and the cast (Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis) are very good as annoying yuppies who, on occasion, get us rooting for the sharks.
