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"Festival
in Cannes"
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By Mira Harber
Festival in Cannes is another movie about movies, this time behind the
scenes at the Cannes Festival in 1999. The movie starts with a black-and-white
montage of famous screen stars seen at Cannes in the perhaps more glorious
past. The star-studded cast of characters is here to get a film made, the
question is, which film? Directed by Henry Gaglom, Festival in Cannes is
a movie all about deals and deal-making.
Alice (Greta Scacchi) is a 40ish film star, turned writer/director who
is trying to get her first movie off the ground. She has written a wonderful
script and is in Cannes, shopping to get the money, and stars, to get the
movie made. She is approached by a really slick, sleazy producer named
Kaz (Zack Norman) who makes lots of promises. Alice wants French film-icon
Millie Marquand (Anouk Aimee) to star in her film. Millie is intrigued
by the film, and seriously considers taking the part. The problem is that
a big-time, big-budget American film producer (Ron Silver) also wants Millie.
He wants her to play a small supporting role, as Tom Hank's mother, in
a mega-budget film that he is producing. Millie's ever wandering husband
and film-director (Maximilliam Schell) first advises her to go with her
heart and play the bigger role in the smaller budget movie. When he is
approached to direct the big-budget movie, his advice changes. Surprise,
surprise.
Festival in Cannes spends all of its time backstage, showing us the difference
between the reality and dreams of movie-making. Deals, deals, and more
deals - how they are made, broken, how quickly the cast of characters change,
can you really trust anyone etc? You've heard it all before and seen it
better in The Player. If you've got a few hours to spare, and are in a
cynical frame of mind, Festival in Cannes is for you. |
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