Cannes, 5/18.

By David Hudson on 05/18/2009

"Edward Yang died in 2007 and already he is a neglected figure - so it is with some poignance and necessity that a director's-cut, nearly-four-hour restoration of his magnum opus 'A Brighter Summer Day (1991) comes to the Classics sidebar at Cannes." Michael Atkinson at Moving Image Source: "It's still a film largely unknown on American shores, having never been released or made available on video, and only glimpsed in occasional retro showings, and then usually in the three-hour version otherwise released in Europe and Japan. It's also a film that has inspired so many genuflections from the best critics that one's expectations come naturally tottering with intoxication. The good news is that as part of Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Foundation deal, the Yang and some of the sidebar's selections will find distribution either theatrically or on DVD or both, and so finally Yang's casual-yet-careful, intimate-yet-epic behemoth will be available to the planet, and a crucial integer in the equation of Taiwan's "new wave" outside of the relatively structural, introspective visions of Tsai Ming-liang and Hou Hsiao-hsien."

And, as Jonathan Rosenbaum notes, Doc Films screens the film tonight in Chicago.

"It's 50 years later for the French New Wave, the provocative movement that changed all cinema, but time has stood still for style icon Anna Karina," reports Peter Howell for the Toronto Star. "Still fair of face and figure at 68, the Danish-born actress, model and singer was at the Cannes Film Festival yesterday for the premiere of the remastered version of 'Pierrot le fou,' one of many films she made with Jean-Luc Godard." Via Movie City News.

Karina Longworth's caught a show reel for "Serge Gainsbourg, vie héroïque." Also... "Hipsters"?

"Von Trier and the festival's standout, 'Police, Adjective,' notwithstanding, the energy has so far come mainly from Asia," writes J Hoberman in a roundup for the Voice.

For the New York Times, Manohla Dargis listens to Jerry Lewis pitch his next movie: "The screenplay, 'Max Rose' - about a widower's relationship with his daughter - he explained, is 'marvelous.' He talked about his Oscar ('It was an incredible feeling and one that is very difficult to talk about') and complained about the lack of questions. ('If you've come here to stare, I don't need you here.')"

"Amid all the wealth and glamour of the Cote d'Azur, a British zombie movie made for just £45 could be the surprise success story of the Cannes Film Festival." Simon Crerar explains in the London Times. Here's the trailer.

"Billed as the 'scariest Norwegian movie ever,' which seems like a gag line to even we cineastes of Norwegian heritage, 'Hidden' is both too predictable and too confusing to truly frighten," writes Duane Byrge. Also in the Hollywood Reporter, Ray Bennett: "Olivier Cohen's intelligent mystery 'Invisible Eyes' has all the conventions of a thriller about a woman alone in a house but confounds expectations by moving pleasingly into 'Twilight Zone' territory."

Daniel Kasman in The Auteurs' Notebook: Favorite Moments, Days 3 & 4."

"Sean Penn is in talks to star in 'This Must Be the Place,' a film that will mark the English-language feature debut of Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino, who is Un Certain Regard jury prexy at Cannes," reports Michael Fleming in Variety.

"How to close a movie deal at Cannes: a producer's guide" - from Stephen Woolley in the Guardian.

The Observer's Jason Solomons rounds up the fest so far - gossip and all.

Online browsing tip. "Classic Cannes," a photo gallery at the Daily Beast.

Online listening tip. Aaron Hillis talks with Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones about the World Cinema Foundation's alliance with The Auteurs, B-Side and Criterion.

[Photos: "A Brighter Summer Day," Yang & His Gang Filmmakers, 1991; "Colin," Nowhere Fast Productions, 2009]

Tags: A Brighter Summer Day, Anna Karina, Cannes 2009, Edward Yang, Kent Jones, Martin Scorsese, Serge Gainsbourg, Stephen Woolley