Forget the films - at Cannes the parties are rated on a scale of martinis. Michael Dwyer attended some, purely in the line of duty
Six film trade papers are published daily at Cannes and distributed free, and most of them carry charts on which international critics give star ratings to the films in competition at the festival. One of the publications, the Hollywood Reporter, goes a step further and reviews the many parties held at Cannes every night, awarding them ratings on a scale of zero to five martinis.
The opening party at the Irish Pavilion was given a rating of 2.5 martinis.
The anonymous reviewer seemed underwhelmed by the cuisine on offer.
"Perhaps it was an Irish delicacy, but the hollowed-out bread with sandwiches hidden inside must be a first for Cannes," the review said. "In any event, it didn't last long. The cous-cous was pleasant, but got washed away in the rain, which began as soon as the party started. There was a generous bar." The review also noted that there are more than 250 registered members at the Irish Pavilion this year, and six Irish films in the market, "giving good cause for a bustling crowd to squeeze into the pavilion - perhaps that is also because its major sponsors are Guinness and Jameson Whiskey."
The lively party - jointly hosted by Mark Woods of the Irish Film Board and Andrew Reid of the Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission - was attended by, among many others, Neil Jordan, Cillian Murphy, New Zealand Film Commission chief Ruth Harley and United International Pictures international acquisitions executive Nuala O'Halloran and well over 100 Irish producers.
The following night, many of the same faces were to be seen among the smaller but substantial Irish contingent attending the enjoyable soirée hosted by UGC Films supremo Margaret Taylor, who is from Rathfarnham in Dublin. The party was held at the lovely UGC villa, with its spectacular views, high in the hills of Cannes. Guests enjoyed copious quantities of champagne and an al fresco buffet while an opera singer provided the entertainment. I would rate that party a four-martini event.
Buena Vista International (BVI) hosted "an evening of fun, food, gambling and gospel" out in Cap d'Antibes on Tuesday night to celebrate the European premiere of Joel and Ethan Coen's new movie, The Ladykillers, which is in competition. The gospel referred to the powerhouse musical performance at the party by disco diva Jocelyn Brown, with a choir flown in from London for the event. Gospel music figures prominently in the movie, a remake of the classic Ealing comedy that starred Alec Guinness. In the new version, transposed to present-day Mississippi, Tom Hanks takes on the leading role, as a loquacious criminal planning to rob a casino office next door to the home of his landlady. Trish Long, BVI's head of marketing and publicity in Ireland, looked after Hanks on his first visit to the Cannes festival.
Irish connections
Irish director Pat O'Connor will reunite with Cal author Bernard MacLaverty for the movie of the Robin Jenkins novel, The Cone Gatherers, it was announced in Cannes this week. MacLaverty has written the screen adaptation of the book, which is set on a Scottish country estate during the second World War, and Dougray Scott, recently seen in Ripley's Game, will star in the movie, which O'Connor will direct.
O'Connor's 1984 film of MacLaverty's own novel, Cal, still holds the distinction of being the only feature film made in Ireland by an Irish-born director to be selected for competition in the 57-year history of the Cannes Film Festival. It won the festival's best actress award for Helen Mirren.
The only other Irish-made movies chosen to compete in Cannes were the work of non-Irish directors: Robert Altman's Images, which won best actress for Susannah York; Stephen Frears's film of Roddy Doyle's The Van, and longtime Irish resident John Boorman's The General, which earned him the festival prize for best director. Irish director Neil Jordan was selected for Cannes with his UK-made Mona Lisa, for which Bob Hoskins was named best actor by the festival jury.
Animating Sellers
An Irish animator, Paul Donnellon, was chosen to create the opening credits sequence for the biopic, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, which was given its world premiere at Cannes last night. The live-action film opens with an animated sequence in which Sellers bungles his way through killing off his clones and causes mayhem. Donnellon runs the London-based animation company, Voodoodog, with his business partner, David Z Obadiah. The biopic, which is showing in competition at Cannes, stars Geoffrey Rush as Sellers, with Charlize Theron as Britt Ekland, Stanley Tucci as Stanley Kubrick, who directed Sellers in Dr Strangelove, and John Lithgow as Blake Edwards, director of the Pink Panther series that starred Sellers.
Sleeping on the job
Will Smith, Angelina Jolie and Jack Black flew into Cannes to plug the new DreamWorks animated feature, Shark Tale, for which they provide the voices of the principal characters. At a press conference in Cannes, Jolie was asked about co-starring with "so many sexy actors", such as Brad Pitt in the imminent Mr and Mrs Smith. "I think you're fishing," Jolie laughed, at which point Smith interjected: "I'll ask the real question. Have you slept with any of your co-stars? Spit it out, lady." To which Jolie responded: "I absolutely haven't been naked with any of these co-stars."
Cork plans 50th
The Cork Film Festival team of director Mick Hannigan, programmer Una Feely and manager Eimear O'Herlihy are in Cannes preparing for this year's Leeside festival, which runs from October 10th to 17th - and planning ahead for the event's 50th anniversary next year, when Cork is designated European Capital of Culture for 2005. The festival, which has had a long history of promoting shorts, is planning a major symposium on the short film for 2005. As part of this special event, the festival has begun a search for the 100 Great Short Films, to be screened at the festival, and Irish and international film industry delegates at Cannes have been asked to nominate exemplary shorts for the event. "We now invite the film community to turn its attention to this wonderful and distinct art form," says Hannigan. "In October 2005, we plan to bring together the full spectrum of short film activity - historical and contemporary - on celluloid and in digital formats."
A feast of a festival
Now here's a new film festival to savour. Launched at Cannes with a gourmet feast for more than 100 lucky guests, the inaugural Cinema et Gastronomie is set to run in Dijon from November 17th to 21st. The festival will show movies with culinary themes, among them a screening of Babette's Feast, to be followed by a full 18-course re-enactment of the lavish meal in the movie. There will also be an evening of Mexican food to follow the screening of Like Water For Chocolate. The full 15-film programme will be announced shortly. Maybe Irish director Lance Daly should submit his new film, The Halo Effect, which is set in a Dublin chipper.
Tarantino's in heaven
Nobody seems to be enjoying the 57th Festival de Cannes more than Quentin Tarantino, who has been ubiquitous throughout the event, generally accompanied by Sofia Coppola, an Oscar-winner this year for her Lost in Translation screenplay. As president of the jury, Tarantino has seen all 19 films in competition for tonight's awards ceremony. His own new movie, Kill Bill, Vol 2, had a gala screening at the festival during the week, followed by a late-night party. And he turned up with jury members Kathleen Turner and Tilda Swinton for an open-air screening of the 1967 spy movie, Deadlier Than the Male, which he volunteered to introduce, declaring it one of his favourite films.
"Cannes is heaven," he exclaimed. "If you love cinema, it's heaven. We've all dreamed of going to heaven. I got to Cannes. Then I won the Palme d'Or.
"Now I'm president of the jury. If there's another level above heaven, that's where I'm at!"