The Cannes Film Festival 2010

Palm d'Or for Thailand

Celebrated in cinema for over 60 years, this film festival reunites the passion for movies with the possibility of discovering new talents, as it happened almost every year. Actors in the winning pictures are mostly unknown to the public, and, sometimes, rarely known in their own country as well. This year the festival was held between 12 and 23 May 2010


By ROXANA CIUPARIU (roxana.ciupariu@wavemagazine.net)
from Bucharest, ROMANIA


The most prestigious award of the festival, the Palme d'Or was awarded this year to the Thai movie "Lung Boonmee Raluek Chat", which is translated as "Uncle Boonmee who can recall his past lives", by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. This Thai filmmaker, as seen on the Cannes Film Festival webpage, likes to touch topics such as memory and socio-political issues and has had representations in many countries with his projects, most of them short films. He had previously won the award Un Certain Regard, at the Cannes 2002 edition and he was then a promising presence. The last time an Asian movie won this prestigious award was in 1997, with "The Eel", movie that shared the prize with Iran's "Taste of Cherry".

The big winner of 2010 touches topics such as illness, reincarnation under different forms, with roots in some religion, such as Buddhism, a prevalent religion in Thailand. Also, the possibility of reunion with the loved ones, when ready to pass the bridge between death and life.

Of the films presented in the festival, South Korea and Romania were participating in most sections, impressing the public and giving high hopes for a winner. South Korea was present with "The Housemaid", a story about family, passion and lust, plus "Poetry", a movie about discovering beautifulness in simple things such as poetry, about Alzheimer, but also about crime, film which won the Best Screenplay award.

Romania is waited every year at the festival, with audience and jury looking forward to see what comes next. According to LA Times, "Romanians can't make a bad film. It's, like, illegal in their country. Or at least not in their DNA." With "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu" they opened everybody's eyes for the true realities of Romania, but also for the talents which reside in this country. They successfully continued with the award winning "4 Months, 3 weeks and 2 days" which nabbed the Palme d'Or in 2007 and carried on ever since with movies such as a "Police, Adjective", "Tales from the Golden Age", and this year's "Tuesday, After Christmas". The movie presented this year is an infidelity drama by Radu Munteanu, with actress Maria Popistasu, previously present in the 2007 wining movie, well known actress back home and a representative person for her generation.

Another movie awaited at Cannes was the sequel to "Wall Street", namely "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps", starring the same Michael Douglas, reprising the role of Gordon Gekko. The film unites "Transformers" star Shia le Boeuf, in the role of the Jacob Moore, young, naive and new in the business, and "An Education" actress and Academy Award nominee, Carey Mulligan, as Winnie, daughter of Gordon and fiancé of Jacob. While Jacob concedes into the dazzling fascination of Douglas' character, Winnie wants nothing to do with her estranged father and his ways of living. As Slant Magazine presents, the movies does not rise up to the expectations, does not impress and is nothing like the first one. However, what needs to be seen behind the story, as director Oliver Stone stressed, is the corruption, the evilness and the critique of the system which is less than perfect or correct.

A view over the Festival

Celebrated in cinema for over 60 years, this film festival reunites the passion for movies with the possibility of discovering new talents, as it happened almost every year. Actors in the winning pictures are mostly unknown to the public, and, sometimes, rarely known in their own country as well, as it happened with most Romanian movies, for example.

This year the festival was held between 12 and 23 May 2010. It opened with the awaited movie "Robin Hood" that re-united director Ridley Scott with his "Gladiator" Australian actor, Russell Crow. Nonetheless, the director was not present at the opening due to a recent knee operation. The festival closed with the co-production (France and Australia) movie "The Three", directed by French Julie Bertuccelli, and staring the famous French actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg. The President of the Festival this year was Tim Burton, a choice which was a good surprise for many, as it was considered that he will bring "a touch of his wonderful fantasy and imagination", as reported on the Cannes Film Festival webpage.

Glamour was brought by actresses such as Cate Blanchett, whose gown stirred both admiration and critics, beautiful Mexican actress Salma Hayek, Eva Longoria and stunning Aiswarya Rai, both also ambassadors of L'Oreal. Present was also Academy Award Winner Helen Mirren, the talented and elegant actress who puts women half her age to shame on most red carpet appearances.



(Published: 12.06.2010.)