#2
All is Lost
DIR.J.C. Chandor
SCREENING: Wednesday, May 22 at 11:00 AM / 1 hour 45 minutes / Out of Competition
Who would have thought J.C. Chandor would have followed up Margin Call with a, reportedly, entirely dialogue-free film starring Robert Redford as a boat captain caught in a storm at sea? Such is the case with All is Lost, an open-water thriller about one man’s battle for survival against the elements after his sailboat is destroyed.
When discussing the potential line-up for this year’s festival with friends this was the one film I really was hoping would find a place among those selected and when it was announced… Well, let’s just say it confirmed for me this was going to be one hell of a year.
#1
Only God Forgives
DIR.Nicolas Winding Refn
SCREENING: Wednesday, May 22 at 8:30 AM / 1 hour 30 minutes / In Competition
Anyone that reads this site regularly knows my love of Nicolas Winding Refn. Finding Bronson in 2009, before Tom Hardy was a star and placing it on my top ten that year was a treat and who would have ever thought he’d blow the Cannes critics away in 2011 with Drive. I was among those critics and rushed back to my apartment to write my A+ review and the opportunity to once again be among the first to see his newest film feels like a dream too good to be true.
So, yes, I’m looking forward to Only God Forgives like you wouldn’t believe and to know I’ll be seeing it at 8:30 at the Grand Théâtre Lumière is perhaps the best news I read while looking over the press schedule. As far as I’m concerned, that is the very best theater I’ve ever seen a movie in. In fact, you can get a brief video tour of it that I made in 2010 right here (Apologies for the shaky cam) back when I had a lowly blue press badge and had to sit in the rafters.
Anyway, back to Only God Forgives, Refn’s second straight film with Ryan Gosling who plays Julian, an American fugitive from justice who runs a boxing club in Bangkok as a front for his drug business. His mother (Kristin Scott Thomas), the head of a vast criminal organization, arrives from the US to collect the body of her favorite son, Billy.
Julian’s brother has just been killed after having savagely murdered a young prostitute. Crazy with rage and thirsty for vengeance she demands the heads of the murderers from Julian. But first, Julian must confront Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm), a mysterious retired policeman – and figurehead of a divine justice – who has resolved to scourge the corrupt underworld of brothels and fight clubs.
I recently put together a mega-post centered on this film with pictures, score and soundtrack information, posters and more, but what I liked most was one particular sentence from Refn’s Director’s Statement where he comments on Julian’s motivations and says, “The original concept for the film was to make a movie about a man who wants to fight God.” Yes please.
Here’s the red band trailer, enjoy…
And that does it… for now. There is a lot more to come, such as…
While in Cannes I will be doing audio recaps with Kevin Jagernauth from The Playlist and Emma and Aurélien from CinemaTeaser.com and on top of all of my reviews and around-the-town coverage and pictures, I have at least one other item I will be revealing along the way that I think I’ll just leave as a mystery for now so stay tuned.
You can find all of my coverage of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 15-26 right here.
