#5
The Immigrant
DIR.James Gray
SCREENING: Friday, May 24 at 8:30 AM / 1 hour 59 minutes / In Competition
I typically leave the festival Thursday afternoon, meaning the Wednesday morning screening is usually my last film. This year I am staying two days longer as I missed screenings of Cosmopolis and Mud at least year’s festival, which is unacceptable. This year, had I left on Thursday I would have missed Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, Polanski’s Venus in Fur and my #5 film, James Gray‘s The Immigrant (previously referred to as Nightingale and Low Life).
The title represents Marion Cotillard‘s character, Ewa Cybulski, a Polish immigrant heading to Manhattan in 1920 in search of the American Dream only to be driven to burlesque and prostitution by a cruel pimp (Joaquin Phoenix). However, she finds hope and the promise of romance when a dashing vaudeville magician (Jeremy Renner) falls for her.
Obviously the draw here is Gray and his cast and it’s one of those titles I would have been kicking myself if I ended up missing it.
#4
Nebraska
DIR.Alexander Payne
SCREENING: Thursday, May 23 at 8:30 AM / 1 hour 50 minutes / In Competition
My gut instinct tells me Alexander Payne‘s Nebraska has a really good shot at being my favorite film of the fest. Although it was shot in color, Payne opted for black-and-white and I can’t help but feel the mood elicited from the monochrome image is going to draw me in just as much as the small story. Speaking of story, how can you go wrong with a road trip? The last time Payne did something like this we ended up with Sideways.
The story features Bruce Dern playing an aging alcoholic father who thinks he’s won a million dollar Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes prize. He is unbowed when his family tries to dissuade him from making the long trip from Montana to Nebraska to cash in his winnings. So his estranged 20-something son (the unlikely Will Forte) — who doesn’t believe the ticket is a winner — is forced to go along with him for the ride to keep him out of trouble, providing an opportunity to bond with his father after years of separation.
It may sound like a cliche, mundane story, but with a talent such as Payne at the helm I expect it to be far from conventional.
#3
The Past
DIR.Asghar Farhadi
SCREENING: Friday, May 17 at 8:30 AM / 2 hours 10 minutes / In Competition
I can’t explain it, but when someone suggested Berenice Bejo was likely the strongest pre-Cannes contender for Best Actress I just started to look closer and closer at this film and now I want to see it more than ever. It has something to do with the look of the images that have been released so far, the talent involved, the emotion I get from Bejo just in the stills and, of course, writer/director Asghar Farhadi (A Separation).
The Past follows Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) as he arrives in Paris from Tehran at the request of his wife Marie (Bejo), whom he has not seen after four years of separation to carry out the formalities of their divorce. Upon arrival he sees Marie has taken up with another man (Tahar Rahim).
A subtitled trailer for the film has alrady been released and you can check it out directly below.
