Cannes 09. Directors' Fortnight Wrap-up.

By David Hudson on 05/23/2009

As noted in the entry for the film, Xavier Dolan's "I Killed My Mother" pretty much cleaned up at this year's Directors' Fortnight. Now it's time to do a little cleaning up around here, too.

First, I gathered reviews of the following when they screened at Sundance:

"Amreeka"
"Humpday"
"I Love You Phillip Morris"

Next, a quick reminder of films that have already racked up their own entries:

"Ajami"
"Eastern Plays"
"Go Get Some Rosemary"
"Land of Madness"
"Like You Know It All"
"The Misfortunates"
"Ne change rien"
"Polytechnique"
"Tetro"
"The Wolberg Family"
"Yuki & Nina"

And now, the rest:

"Raging with hormones, low grade humor and charisma, Riad Sattouf's 'Les Beaux Gosses' ('Beautiful Kids') is an instant crowd pleaser," writes Ioncinema's Eric Lavallee. More from Duane Byrge in the Hollywood Reporter: "The John Hughes-style teen comedy has been revived in France."

"Like its 74-year-old subject, a compulsive amasser of unwanted cars and copious other junk, 'Carcasses' is enjoyably eccentric - at least in, uh, parts." Rob Nelson in Variety: "Seemingly only half documentary, Quebecois director Denis Côté's fourth film shifts gears at the midpoint with the evidently contrived arrival on the collector's cluttered property of four young people with developmental disabilities. Whether or not Cote intends to suggest that, like the malfunctioning autos, these handicapped interlopers are carcasses of a sort, the film's lesser half doesn't achieve much beyond sketchy provocation."

"A horrible kidnapping shatters the lives of a brother and sister in austere, controlled Mexican drama 'Daniel & Ana,' the feature debut for Mexican shorts and commercials helmer Michel Franco," writes Leslie Felperin in Variety. "Adopting a show-don't-tell approach to narrative, the screenplay leaves it to the audience to map the psychological terrain, which will frustrate some but thrill others who prefer oblique storytelling." The Hollywood Reporter's Ray Bennett finds it "prurient and off-putting," but Allan Hunter, writing in Screen admires this "sombre, quietly compelling drama."

"Ho Tzu Nyen revealed that for him, making a film is like a game," reports Mayo Marton for Channel News Asia. "And while international movie critics have yet to put in their two cents worth on his film 'HERE,' it looks like the Singaporean filmmaker and artist has got an art-house winner on his hands."

Lee Marshall in Screen on Chris Chong Chan Fui's "Karaoke": "A karaoke bar on a Malaysian palm oil plantation provides the backdrop for this thoughtful feature debut, which owes a debt to the slow-moving existential meanders of Thai arthouse master Pen-ek Ratanaruang and the laconic visual style of the director's compatriot, Malaysian-born (but Taiwan-based) Tsai Ming-Liang. But although it possesses a certain quiet grace, this elliptical coming-of-age tale is more of a roadside snack than a sit-down meal."

"Working like a lean-and-mean verite filmmaking machine, multitaskers and real-life couple Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel ('Babooska') move from documentary to docu-fiction for their third feature, 'La Pivellina' ['The Little One']," writes Boyd van Hoeij in Variety. "Story of a two-year-old girl found by a jobless (and apparently childless) circus worker living on the outskirts of Rome is a humane and quietly moving portrait of life in the margins of society." Lee Marshall (Screen) is also impressed.

"To cope with his midlife crisis, a gay middle-aged tractor salesman tries batting for the other team in the thoroughly entertaining character comedy 'The King of Escape,'" writes Derek Elley in Variety. "Normally quirky writer-director Alain Guiraudie ('No Rest for the Brave') could have a niche hit on his hands here with critical support and the right marketing (including a snappier English title)." This is the French director's third Directors' Fortnight entry in a decade, notes Screen's Mike Goodridge, who delights in the "unexpected streaks of whimsy and fantasy." More from Duane Byrge in the Hollywood Reporter.

"Three young people share a moody, and eventually steamy, brief encounter in Sebastián Lelio's introspective, low-budget 'Navidad,'" writes Jonathan Romney in Screen. "For much of its running time, this unapologetically low-key second film from Chilean director Lelio - following his debut 'La Sagrada Familia' - feels claustrophobically miserable, but as its emotional encounters unfurl, it warms up considerably." More from Leslie Felperin in Variety: "Likable young cast does most of the heavy lifting to sustain interest given the script's rambling structure - it's no surprise the story grew out of improvisation."

"Four years ago the arbiters of a certain breed of attenuated cinema crowned low-budget helmer Liu Jia Yin with near-genius status following her debut, 'Oxhide,'" writes Jay Weissberg in Variety. "Encouraged by the accolades, she's made 'Oxhide II' in exactly the same fixed-camera method, only now the originality is gone and the running time is even longer. Comprising just nine shots confined to one very tight room, the pic will find lone champions rhapsodizing over her studied engagement with space, but for most viewers this audience tester will merely spur heavy-duty ankling."

Coverage of the coverage: Cannes 2009.

[Photo: "Karaoke," Tanjung Aru Pictures, 2009]

Tags: Cannes 2009