CINEMA CAN • A D A

Doing the Cannes thing

BY MARC GERVAIS

regory Peck, , logo- in-motion to laun ch each official Festival seems to be happening at Cannes. He totally , , Gera rd entry. And more" hom mages ": to Carl Dreyer, agrees that Cannes (a las) has evolved awav Depardieu , , :viervl to Ha rry Langdon, to jury member Krysztof from its Festival aspect. Mos t of what rema ins of Streep, Francis Coppola, Nick Nolte, Kieslowski, and even to films featuring the Eiffel the fun -and-celebra tion past is ersatz, a phoney, Anthony Quinn, , Jose Tower I The Festi val's most affectionate mediated non-e vent for the benefit of television FGerrer, Ossie Davis, Rubie Dee, , moment: Yves Montand, bestowing a special at its most trivializing. Now, everything in Sandrine Bonnaire, Sam Neill, , Palme d' or on , now elderly, but Cannes is business and market. john Voigt, , Fred 5chepisi, Paul Cox, still the epitome of handsome nobili ty and What film people go to Cannes for is, Chris Haywood - they (and many others) were grace. And there was the National Film Board of primaril y, to set up co-productions, find all there, on the screen or in person, maki ng it Canada, celebrating its fiftieth anniversary_. international in ves tors, that sort of thing. More very clear that the Cannes Film Fes ti va l, in its but more about that later. and more Canadians, for example, were 42nd edition, is still the premiere event in world ex pressing delight at th eir success this past May cinema, showing no sign of diminished vitali ty. QUALITY CONTROL AT CANNES in raising international money. However - and So the Festival thrives. What is espeCiall y rich It was a good year, vastly superior to last year's this, if true, constitutes an amazing development from the cinematic pOin t of view, however, is below-par exhibition, though nowhere as - when it comes to the buving and se ll ing of that the festi val has a vitality that grows out of brilliant as the Cannes offerings of two years films, the business is centring on quali tv the richness of the past, its own, and that of the ago. But before going into the film s of Ma y1 989 products, one might eve n sal' art films. If you cinemaasa whole. And so, to commemorate the (su rely the raisoll d'etreof the Festival and of this are in the business for ge nuine "B'''s (or worse), centenary of Charles Chaplin's birth, his report), a few further situating observations you now go, instead to MIFED in Milan, or grandchildren officially opened the Festiva l. may be appropriate. ma ybe to Los Angeles, or whereve r. In Cannes, , a man who communicated his One comment concerns the continuing the best sellers now tend to be fil ms with cultural quintessentiallyLe Midi vision of France, was the evolution of the Festival toward business ambitions, be the v from Canada or from any object of a re trospective (complete with freshl y "realities " - but with a switch. As one other colmtry. All of which could mean tha't the restored prints). was ever present, perspicacious Cannes Festival habitue pointed Cannes Fes ti val, through a bizarre and circuitous since one of his Muses served as the Festival's out to me, something fascinating, and hopeful, evolu tion, is once again beCl'ming primarilv a centre promoting world film culture. Well, perhaps. Thus, even as stirring a summons as that uttered by this vear's JurI' President, Winl Wenders: may ~ot seem 'out of place : "The cinema is our common language, it is universal. \1ore threatened no\\- than ever before, it is also more necessar\' than ever. " Wenders is no doubt alluding to the flood of images noll' \\'ashing ou t th e meaningfulness of our culture (Post-modernism at its most threatening ), as he continues: "In the vast media circus that Cannes has become, it is incumbent upon the JurI' to define the iust proportions, to give pride of place to the cinema and to pwgress in cinematographic ar t, so that the tru th of the images imprinted L111 film stock mal' shine out bevond the half- truths and lies of the noisl' environment. " Going one step further towards nobilit\', in this bicentenarv vea r of the French Rel'olution and of the Decia;ation of the Rights of \Ian, the Cannes Festival created a special " Dav of Cinema and Li berll·. "No less th an 100 directors (" from Angelou polos to Zanussi"), who had presented \\'orks at Cannes in the past, films that championed freedom and human rights even at the personal risk Llf the film directors themselves,

Marl Gm'ais iSl'ftl{e5sor of COIIIIUIIllicatioliS at A scene from Black Rain by Japan's Shohei Imamura. COllcordin Ullii'ersitll ill MOlltreal.

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were brought back to participa te in an all-day film, the most recent creation of Shohei seminar - a celebration, really - on the right to Imamu ra, who a fe wyears ago won Cannes' top human liberty and the right to a free cinema. award with his overrated remake ofThe Ballad of Pretty heady stuff, this. And that spirit Nayaralila. Black Raill scores high wi th its actually found its way on to the Cannes screens, unsentimentalized treatment of those victims of a fe w times, in films that harked back to the Hiroshima's nuclear holocaust who initially stridency of the '60s. Uno Broka's Fight For Us, survived, only to succumb to the after-effects shot in the Philippines, paints a frightening, yea rs later - a rather gentle reminder to those disheartening picture of the post-Marcos years, whos till live quite comfortably wi th the reality of the early hopes dashed by vicio us paramilitary nuclear proliferation. execution gangs running wil d - beyond the control of Cory Aquino, and wi th the ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST connivance of the Army. Amore muted, But now, onto the "Western world," and those sometimes humorous, ever-intelligent effort, films that always make up the vast majority of Gina My Pain, about the Maoist re-education of Cannes' more interesting offerings. That means a thirteen-year-old boy, becomes terribly that usual hit-and-run approach of choosing poignant in the light of the recent events. Spike what to see amidst the avalanche of possibilities. Lee's sparky Do the Right TIling does its sizzling slice-of-life thing about the big-city ghetto, only Scandinavia. Denmark was unable to follow up to succumb to muddleheadedness (or on the lovelycreations of the two previous years insincerity?) in its attempts to sit on bo th sides (KatiIlM, Pelle the COllqueror, and its two of the violence fence . And there was Shot DOlUll, masterpieces, Ba betle's Fea st and Hip, Hip, a very low-budget film, seen on the market by Houmil l). Sweden was represented in th e only a handful of us because the producers had official competition with WOllleli olilhe Roof, a no monel' to show it more than once. Filmed in mildly perverse, rather stylish fill de siecie study South Af;'ica by South Africans, Shot Down is a perilouslv close to the Da vid Hamilton school of sort of contemporary incarnation of the German aesthetics. Mitti Ka ssila's TIle Glory illid Misenj of expressionist cabaret '20s, dazzling in its searing Hu mall Life I found more sa tisfl'ing, exce pt for a condemnation of the social evils prevalent in certain ponderousness one tends to associate that troubled countrl' - and wi tness to the fac t with Finnish filmmaking . that there is an exp l ~s i ve movement for reform in South Africa among whites as well. Australia presented an intriguing mix. Fred Not that these four films were typical of Schepisi's A Cry ill the Dark has been around Cannes '89; the late '80s are decidedly not the 1'\orth America for a while, but is nell' toEurope. late '60s. Freedom in the contemporary cinema Predictably, it picked up Best Actress award for finds its expression in other ways, or better still, , whose showy talents and focuses on other aspects of the question. The narcissistic acting s~l le continue to enthra ll a good films tend to posit freedom's desirabilityas surprising nu mber of "experts. " Two other a given. Many movies go back to the bad old Aussie films , 's Sweetie and [an days - say, th e Nazi era (Reunioll) - in a spirit of Pringle's Sf. Petersburg, received prestige meditation, or regret, or indignation. Generally, showings, aggressively showing the "other however, it is not vas t social or political side " of Aus tralian filmmaking. Campion movements that are envisaged, but rather cultivates the absurd, the outrageous, and the personal struggles for inner fu lfillment, for ugly, while Pringle engages in a sort of achieving a sense of person. [n this more counter-culture updating of Dostoyevsky's The spiritual mode, it is rather the mass media, or Idiot. On the other hand, Ian Barry's Outback, a co ntemporary culture, or false materialistic sophomOriC spin-off of MGll Frolll SIiOWY River, values that are seen as the enemies of genuine demonstrates how awful an Aussie period piece liberty. Or so it seems in the most of the film s can really be, no matter how beautiful the that are not given over to mindless exploitation. landscape and photography, or how breath-tak­ ing the horsemanship . Fortunately, however, Paul Cox's Islalld had a (very low-key) showing AND WHAT ABOUT EQUALITY? Philippe Noiret a s Alfredo and in the nostalgic Italian entry, . ahead of its official presentation at summer's Liberti, oui. Egalite. .. well, that is another end at Venice. With [rene Papas, Eva Sitta, and question. Cannes pays scant attention to th e help from French and Swiss sources) that was cinematic sense of the word. The veteran Christ Haywood doinga fine job, Coxonce again Third World coun tries, or, perhaps more made in Burkina Faso, Africa. The direction , however, continues to stand as one made valid the claim that he is Australia'salltellr accurately, to the "non-Western " cultures. It smacks a lit tle of the Africa n-studen t-just-back­ of the magnificent exceptions. Gnllashatrll , a filmmaker pnr excellellce. was ever thus, it seems: and in that the great from-Eurepean-film-school syndrome, but there minor opus when judged within the co ntex t of Festival merely reflects international viewing is unquestionablyan authenticity, a kind ofjean Ra y's fi nest achie vements, is an intelligent, (West) Germany presented two fi lms on the patterns, Cannes qu ite pOSSibly affords less Rouch ethnographic (cinema verite) interest, as rewarding film, complete with master's Nazi Past. 's Spider Web is an leadership in this area than certain other world well as lovely scenery, and a deep basic signature. ambitious, not terribly dis tinguished effort Festivals. To be sure, there are always humanity that give Yaaba freshness and interest. featuring , and exceptions to this rule, such as this year's Japan of course, is one non-Western country somewhat obvious in its cultivation of the charming modest offering Yaaba, by [drissa India, in spite of its gigantic fi lm output, is that has a rich film history- but, alas, not in the nightmare experience . Much more beauti fu lly Ouedraogo. Now here is a movie (wi th some strictly Third World in the most appalling last 25 years or so. Black Raill, however, is a line crafted and intelligently nuanced, Jerry

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Schatzberg's Rellliioll brings a humane spirit to bear on the anti-Semitic horror of the Nazi experience, breaking free of the usual traumatic neuroses still affecting the cultures of both the oppressors and the victims. In a totally different vein, Percy Adlon returned to the U. S. after his cult success Bagdad Cafe. Rosalie Goes Shoppillg is equallyoff -the-wall, and it features the ineffable Marianne Sagerbrecht again in yet another crazy comedy. This time, Sagerbrecht applies her ample talen ts to beating the Credit Card Companies at their olVn game. Great fun , but, alas, the mad poetry of Bagdad just is not there.

Britain, in very untypical fas hion, elicited little interest. Cannes did give France its firs t viewing of the restored (etc. ) Lnwrfllce of Arabia , bigger and more expansive than ever - and still vaguely disappointing, the whole strangely smaller than the sum of its parts .

France did well enough . 's Trap Belle pollr To i shared second prize, surely an exceedingly generous rewa rd for an okay film, pas pillS. Of a higher order, on the other hand, was 's adaptation of Georges Sirnenon's dark novel MOllsiellr Hire, a masterfully controlled creation enhanced by the Lothaire Bluteau in 's Jesus de Montreal. superb acting of and Sandrine Bonnaire.

Italymay not be as glorious, filmically speaking, asitwas decades ago, but it continues to present enjoyable films. Micky Rourke, blessedly purified of his usual tics, could well ha ve taken top actor award for Fra ncesco, Liliana Ca vani's second film on SI. Francis of Assisi. We are still in Cavani's nightmare world, and flesh and blood are still murky; yet, through Rourke, a depth and beauty emerge. But it was two other, much softer Italian fi lms on the death of the old cinema era, that made this Festival fairly glow. Ettore Scola, back again in Cannes fo r the umpteenth time, mixes sentiment with wry humour, irony and maturity in Splelldollr, ably served by Marcello Mastroianni, Marina VJady, and a marvelous comic, . However, it lVas director Giusseppe Tornatore, in only his second feature, who stole the spotligh t, sharing a well-earned second prize and stealing Cannes' heart in the bargain with his unabashed tear jerker, Paradise Cillema. This movie, nostalgically served up on Ennio Moriccone's habitually lush music, had all of us digging for our hankies, but, much more deeply, into our own personal experiences of movie­ James Spader in the Palme d'Or w inner, Se x, Lies, a nd Videotape. going back in the age of innocence. (l was remembering a li ttle boy frequenting the of Sprillg, a retelling ofTurgenev's novel- high action-packed, quality mish-mash, jane Fonda Director award for jarmusch, presumablv Granada Theatre in Sherbrooke with his classic romance and dazzling visuals, utterly (starring and producing) epic, Old Grillgo, not because Wim We nders sees him as a kind of Grandma, partners in crime because it was ruined by an incredibly inept Engli sh mouthing nearlyas good as it should be in spite of Gregory protege. aga inst the law in those days to go to the movies of words. Peck's bra vura performance. 's Do the before the age of fourteen ... ). But was also Right Thillg proved one of the best -l iked films of SEX, LIES, VIDEOTAPE - AND responsible, alas, for an incomparable model of The officially opened the Festival the Festival, in spite of its serious shortcomings. WENDERS disastrous English dubbing ("so it can sell with a little gem of a compilation fil m, New York And then there lVas jim jarmu sch's Mlfstenl Ah yes, President Wenders - which brings to in ternationa lly"): Jerzy Skolimowski's Torrellts Stories, and officialy closed the event wi th the Traill , a very sli ght affair which "earned " Best mind Cannes '89'5big winner (Palme d' Or for

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best film) , Sex, Lies alld Videotape, a first feature experiencing a phase 01 growing acceptance of disenchantment swept away by breath-taking Quality alld outreach, however, are the word! by 26-year-old . Fresh, the conviction that only what V.S. show biz beau ty (or vice versa), music, music, more for Denys Arcand and his Jeslls de MOil/real, a differellt, really a perceptive essay in anM-cinema, does, or only what V. S. show biz accepts, has music, the thirst for truth, for meaning, the smash quality hit. It is a measure of Arcand's SLV certainly reflects the contemporary malaise any relevance. Try to think, for example, of a distrust of systems, historical reckoning, the stature that there was general disappointment re sex qua commodity, experience qua removed single newspaper or radio station in Canada that ironic awareness of the precariousness of the not only among the Canadians at his being from reatity through media, and the confusion betrays the slightest awareness that there just present situation, the reaffirmation of religion, awared "only" the Prix du Jury (sort of third and absence of fixed values so prevalent in many might be fabulous films out there independently the wry smirking at politics and (yes) gla silost prize) for a film which many (induding Le areas of contemporary culture. And it is of V.S.canonization (ever hear about Grade's and perestroikil - everything in these films is MOIIJe, France' most presMgious newspaper), decidedly not a main tine " Hollywood" flick. Hip , Hip , HOllrrn .1, orOlrni's The LegelldoftheHoli/ symbol, everything is soul. considered to be the true Palme d'Or winner, One easily understands th en how Wenders, Drillker, or Zanussi's Wherever YOII Are- all very These directors are wise, they are searching, Cannes'89, in fact, was a personal triumph for true to his lovelhate relationship with the V. S. , recent films vastly superior to almost anything they are street smart. And the viewer is Arcand (and for his producers, actors, et al). wo uld be so intrigued by this film, and could our media talk about?). In Europe, some ha ve gloriously ovenvhelmed, not quite understand­ Never before has Canada had a movie find for one reason or another, substantial even reached the stage of thinking that movies ing, but undergoing a broadening, deepening considered even remotely eligible for the top backing among the other Jury members: Peter "must be made in English " to succeed ... often experience. Cinema and liberty? Here is a prize . And indeed, with Jes lls de MOlltreal, Handke (Wenders' German colleague); the with predictably disastrous results. One could cinema that is actually defining the new terms of Arcand, in his mid-forMes, the child of the Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski ; the young on the one hand, go on reciMng examples of the liberty, part of the process towa rd a new Quebec '605, of Godardian reflexivity and Canadian film-student-in-, Renee growing submission to American dominance, in meaningfulness, a new society. And here, too, distanciaMon, and of the current post-modern­ Blanchar; and Sally Field, to name some of spite of the proliferation of new media outlets. is a cinema, whatever its limitations, that ism (especially in its Quebec post-Catholic them . SLV certainly has its merits, and some But there is another side: the European giant is becomes a central mirror and shaper of expression), has come up with his best film (and kind of reward was certainly not out of place. waking up in the media area as well, beginning contemporary life. It mayindeed be foolhardy to possibly the best treatment of the Christ But to raise it to the level of a Palme d'Or. .. ? Not to realize that Europe is indeed agiant- and that affirm all this from viewing only four features ; experience yet seen in the cinema) while satisfied with this, however, the Wenders Jury by united action Europeans can do something but however, it really does seem that the sacrificing none of his awareness, his almost also bestowed Best Actor award on one of the about redefining . contemporary Soviets are giving the world the Savonarola-like moral indignation, his humour film' 5 unknowns, James Spader. Well, why not, most significant and models of what and irony. I suppose ... FREEDOM IN THE USSR freedom in the cinema really means. But there is a new universal dimension now in SO the freedom espoused officially by the his work: Arcand seems free to reveal his own THE GIANT IS WAKING UP this year can come in many THE GIFTED CANADIANS vulnerability, his sympathy for human beings. All of which leads legitimately into other areas guises, and from many sources. I have saved SO that, in a sense, was the Cannes high note. Jeslls de MOlltreal is a heartfelt statement of for rumination. This year's Festival made it clear perhaps the most significant phenomenon - Well, for a Canadian, not quite. Because 1989 sincerity, the director's personal coming to grips that it was dedicating itsell to nothing less than which, strangely, has remained almost totally was, I believe, the linest aU-round Canadian with his culture's Catholic roots, "~th its doubts a rebirth of the cinema. And so, at the end, there unreported (at least at poirit of writing) -for the presence I have experienced in my 24 years of and concerns, and with the dehumanization of was a lot of sell-congratulating going on, end, all presqlle. As was the case two years ago, scrupulously dutiful attendance at the Cannes our electronic media age. jeslls also witnesses an expressing hopes for the cinema's future , given the most exciting cinema to be seen at Cannes Film Festival. In many ways, this was the artist who continues to grow from film to film , 50 all the fine young directors who were given came from the Soviet Vnion. This year, Canadian year, Canada was in. And Canadians, much so that he now appears to be eminent exposure. In that context, the Jury's decision however, the Soviet approach was low key, with believe it or not, were obviously proud of their among Canadian filmmakers, and ready to take takes on certain political ramifications that may few people at Cannes apparently connecting. filmic achievements, uni ted in celebraMon to an his place among the world cinema's most make sense. Possible ... but it really is not Were th e Soviets deliberately saving the Big extent never so dearly manifested in the past. interesMngdirectors. And the film world knows terribly convincing. There were other things Impact for their own Moscow Festival? Canadians have been through the not-always­ it, much to Canada's benefit. occurring, on the screen and 011, in and out of Whatever the explanation, I was fortunate happy cycle of boom and bust, "pure" art or Afinal note. There is, of course, another Cannes, that are quite possibly far more enough, during the last four or five days of the ideology , and crass commercial exploitation, rip all-important component in Denys Arcand's meaningful in terms of a cinematic rebirth - Festival, to see, on the Market, two films from off, what have you. But now, maturity was the progeniture. And that is the National Film Board which, by the way, can only come about by the the Moscow Studios, and two from the key word. On the one hand, Canadians were of Canada. Quite fittingly, the NFB was creaMon of conditions tha t give Leningrad. That foursome, in sheer artistic and going about their bllsil1ess, selling, buying, highlighted throughout the Festival. Recep­ room to breathe - yes, real creative freedom. cultural significance, far eclipsed the outpu t of finding investors, showing their films. But a tions, special awards, special shorts encapsulat­ Thus, while Cannes was fes ti val-ing, reports anything in evidence from any other country at good part of the hustle was for quality product. ing its glorious 50 years - and all of it presided were floating in that the European Common Cannes. Indeed, if my Cannes habitue is right, the best over graciously byour acting Film Commissioner Market countries, in their continuing ellorts to Karen Shakhnazarov's Zero City (starring the business in Cannes centres on quality, and that and NFB Head, Joan Pennefather. One quite develop measures aimed at preserving the superb Leonid Filatov), Vadim Abradashirov's goes for Canadians there as well. simply basked in the warm glow of our possibility of European feature films to exist in TIle Mall Servallt, Yuri Mamin's FOllJltaill , and Atom Egoyan's Speakillg Parts enjoyed very Canadian achievement. And surely the Palme Jhe face of American compeMtion, were Alexander Sokirov's Days of Eclipse are long, successful showings in the prestigious d'Or that did go to Canada - fo r best short film, seriously talking about imposing a quota system sprawling, not terribly disciplined works, "Directors' Fortnight" section. There is no awarded to 's montage short of NFB on American television imports. today's incarnaMon of what westerners love to mistaking the serious intent, talent, and product over the years - was intended not only Predictably, Jack Valenti and his Hollywood refer to as the "Russian Slavic so ul. " Here are personal vision of this young Canadian as a reparation of sorts for the injustice done to vigilantes are already making threatening films difficult to describe, with plots defying ftlmmaker. He has helped continue the Denys Arcand, but above all as a tribute to what sounds about V. S. economic retaliatory re-telling. It is almost as if the Russians were renaissance in our quality cinema, and he seems is probably world film history'S most distin­ measures. This time, however, Hollywood is now experiencing what the quality cinema of toha vea support system in the area that guished film production centre, a place, let it be really worried. Ahuge European Common Western Europe went through in the six ties, but is truly enviable. Which is not to deny that noted elltermillallt, that by and large has been Market, hurtling into its next phase of in a totally different way, without the Egoyan may be limiting his outreach somewhat synonymous with a freedom of creativity integration (1992), is no la ughing matter. This is Europeans' exquisite fomlal experimentation, radically. His cinema of confused, disconnected, scarcely matched anywhere else, a match-up between equals, not at all like the but also without their sense of a dea th and obsessive" psychological" loners ponderously One can indeed end on the idealistic note Canada-V. S. love match, where the weaker hopelessness, and far more rootedness in the working their way through more-or-Iess muted sounded at the beginning of this Cannes Festival partner fairly purrs in Free Trade contentment­ Life Force. Irony, the absurd, th e breakdown in inner probes is vaguely reminiscent of a certain (and of this report): Denys Arcand and the the threat of cultural exMnction. logical communicaMon. Rock'n Roll, Cosmic something long prevalant - and disheartening - Na tional Film Board of Canada are living proof _ The cultural repercussions could indeed be expansion, the apocalyptic birth of a new world, in the cinema of the Canadian loser. Be that as it that cinema, culture, and freedom need not be enormous. For years, we Canadians have been surrealist dream, distanciaMon, withering may, here is a talent to watch. mutually exclusive realities. •

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