C.J. ARELLANO writes:
It's Saturday, the penultimate day of the festival, and Cannes is more or less barren by now. All the major power players have packed up and flown home. Market booths have been deserted. It's like ... think Lawrence of Arabia, but without all the fun sand.
Amid all the quietude, I can reflect on how this has been one of the most significant experiences I've had as a fledgling filmmaker. My full experience has been too rich to delineate here in full, but I can offer some highlights:
- I met with that producer I had mentioned in a previous post. In addition to giving me invaluable advice on how to succeed in the industry, he offered me an internship on the next feature that his company will be filming in L.A. in the fall. Score!
- Karaoke night at the American Pavilion was an unabashed BLAST. Ben, a self-described and self-conscious introvert, brought down the house with his fantastic, raucous, off-the-guard-rails rendition of "I Would Walk 500 Miles." Cameron boasted his falsetto pipes with "We'll Stay Together," and Kelly and I partied like it was 1995 with "Gangsta's Paradise."
- A personal, unexpected high point came during a panel with filmmakers Charlie Kaufman, Spike Jonze, and Anthony Bregman, who collaborated on Kaufman's directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York. Kaufman and Jonze are among my artistic idols. (Bregman's work on their projects no doubt makes him the unsung hero of the trio.) Hearing them both philosophize about the artistic process and dole out very practical advice about how to achieve success, yet retain your own creative voice ... that maybe in and of itself made this trip worth the effort, sweat, preparation, and funds that I (and my parents) had been exhausting for months prior.
Oh, I should talk about the actual films I've seen here at this, y'know, film festival.
THE GREAT
Blindness - This film has gotten mostly a lukewarm-to-cold reception from the auds here at Cannes. (Oh my God. I said "auds." I've officially been reading Variety here too much.) Yes, it had significant story flaws; the disturbing second act in particular is not entirely justified. Furthermore, the film works more as a sharp social commentary but falls short as a personal, emotional story. Still, the strengths easily make up for the shortcomings; the cinematography, editing, and sound design are precise and masterful, and the actors, Julianne Moore in particular, work wonders with the relatively thin character material they're given.
Lorna's Silence - An unassuming, quietly powerful character study. Arta Dobroshi, who plays the titular Lorna, turns in a beautiful, restrained performance.
Hunger - This brutal and harrowing prison drama from Steve McQueen is hard to watch, and I mean that in the best way. There are images and scenes that will forever be burned into my head. Again, in the best way.
THE GOOD
Absurdistan - A charming, whimsical fairy-tale offering from Germany.
Apocalypse Code - A relentlessly cheesy James-Bond-type action pic from Russia. I hope this gets some kind of distribution in the States (maybe I'll come across it on Netflix someday) because I would be more than happy to reacquaint myself with its hammy performances, pointless explosions, and convoluted plot twists. If film is a universal language, cheesy action pictures is a universal swear word that will never go away.
HMM...
Che - Steven Soderbergh's epic about Che Guevera is four hours long. It feels 10 times that. There are whole sections that could easily be nixed, and the film is not so much a portrait of the polarizing iconic figure as it is a history textbook reading. I say this as an admirer of Soderbergh's work. Word is that Soderbergh will likely reedit the material down into a solid 2.5-hour film. I hope he does because I can totally see such a judicious edit transforming this project into a focused, refined work. I guess we'll have to stay tuned!
Okay. Only one and a half more days left. See you on the other side!
C.J. Arellano at the premiere of Blindness.
C.J. Arellano is a Screenwriting major.
