lifestyle WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015 Movies Cannes Film Festival French incest ‘fairytale’ trashed by critics French incest “fairytale” brought a orphans,” she said. “The film needed to be “Only in France,” it concluded. touch of scandal to the Cannes Film dealt with in that manner so we had the idea French newspaper L’Express admitted the AFestival yesterday but even the frisson of telling the fairytale to these young chil- film was likely to divide critics but hailed “the of illicit sex couldn’t save the movie from a dren.” uniqueness of (Donzelli’s) vision and tone- critical mauling. “Marguerite and Julien”, one Donzelli also weaves in anachronistic ele- never affected but ceaselessly inventive”. of five French movies among the 19 con- ments such as police helicopters, electronics Most of the French films in competition this tenders for the top prize at the world’s and blaring pop music-reminiscent of Sofia year have drawn only mixed reviews. biggest cinema showcase, tells the true story Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette”, which was also However the biggest competition flop at the of aristocratic siblings in 16th century France panned by Cannes critics when it opened the festival so far has been the US movie “The Sea whose deep love turns into physical passion festival in 2006. However the reaction to of Trees”, a far-fetched existential drama when they reach adolescence. “Marguerite and Julien” has proved far more directed by Gus Van Sant and starring French actress-turned-director Valerie vicious. Matthew McConaughey and Naomi Watts. It Donzelli said she was attracted to the was loudly booed at its press previews. bohemian spirit of the story, adapted from an ‘Buttock-clenching, embarrassing’ Cannes tends to revel in scandal and has unrealized screenplay by Jean Gruault, who Film industry bible Variety remarked drolly another sure-fire provocation in the offing lat- wrote it in the 1970s for French New Wave that “incest has never felt so cloying”. “The film er this week. Gaspar Noe, an Argentinian- icon Francois Truffaut. Flouting religion, the is a painfully silly, laughably naive Romance born director who works in France will be Director Gus Van Sant poses for photographers during a photo call for the film The Sea of Trees, at the law and their family, the star-crossed lovers with a capital ‘R’,” reviewer Jay Weissberg said. showing his movie “Love”-suggested to be 68th international film festival. — AP run away together from the chateau of their Reviewer Peter Bradshaw of London’s The heavily pornographic, based on an X-rated childhood, and Marguerite quickly gets preg- Guardian newspaper said the movie “joins the poster he released online-in a midnight nant. But the authorities soon catch up with ranks of Cannes’ most appallingly bad films”, screening. The festival wraps up Sunday with them with arrest warrants for a capital crime. calling it “buttock-clenchingly embarrassing”. a gala awards ceremony where a jury led by After a Cannes drubbing, Gus When their father appeals to the king’s secre- “There are turkeys and there are turkeys. This US filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen will tary of state for clemency, he refuses on is a turkey de luxe, with stuffing, bread sauce, decide the Cannes prizes. — AFP image grounds: “All of Europe says the French and a paper hat,” he said. court is a whorehouse.” “It is strange that Cannes will keep on reflects on ‘Sea of Trees’ Donzelli tells the once-upon-a-time story mystifyingly offering us terrible movies from with a childlike innocence, narrated by latter- its home turf or home team.” Trade magazine he full-throated passions of the Cannes Film exceeded the movie’s merits. Such was the case last day girls in an orphanage breathlessly telling The Hollywood Reporter called it “bonkers” in Festival can elevate, just as they can humble. As year when Ryan Gosling’s highly anticipated directori- the scandalous tale. “The idea was to depict style and “rather odd” that the sex between Tthe Palme d’Or winner in 2003 for his school- al debut “Lost River” was booed and slammed by crit- Marguerite and Julien like a myth or a legend- siblings was not presented as “problematic in shooting drama “Elephant,” Gus Van Sant has basked ics. they were like rock stars who fascinated these any way”, even when told as a children’s story. in the festival’s sunny glow, just as he has, this year, “I think maybe because it’s McConaughey, there’s a experienced its cold shoulder. lot of stock in him at the moment and his Lincoln ads Van Sant’s “The Sea of Trees,” which stars Matthew are parodied,” said Van Sant. “And it’s me. It was sort of McConaughey as a man lost in Japan’s Aokigahara an illustrious screenplay. It had a really good reaction “suicide” forest, received emphatic boos at its pre- among the agents. ... If it was anticipated, I could easi- miere to press members. Though its official red-carpet ly see myself disappointed. If I thought it was a cer- premiere on Saturday went down better, the Cannes tain type of movie, and it was just a different movie.” fate of “The Sea of Trees” was already sealed as (at Van Sant says that festival director Thierry Fremaux least thus far) the festival’s most rudely received film. called to say he wanted the film for Cannes before “I was, as I always am, cautious,” Van Sant said in an seeing it. Later, it was moved from the Un Certain interview about showing “The Sea of Trees” at Cannes. Regard sidebar into the competition where expecta- “It’s a volatile place. So when I heard there were boos, tions are amped up considerably - especially for a I was like, ‘OK. It’s happened.’” Speaking Sunday on a well-regarded filmmaker like Van Sant, the director of windy, seaside pier, Van Sant sounded sanguine about “Good Will Hunting,” “Milk” and “My Own Private the stormy waters of Cannes. “Who knows what peo- Idaho.” ple thought they were going to see, but they could “Then it went to competition and I was like: ‘OK, easily get really mad because it is very sentimental,” wow. This is scary,’” said Van Sant. “But it doesn’t mat- said Van Sant. “What better movie to get angry at than ter what you’ve made. It’s always going to be scary.” something that’s too schmaltzy for you? I can see But sunnier days could still shine on “The Sea of Trees.” that.” It was picked up for US distribution by Lionsgate and In “The Sea of Trees,” McConaughey plays a man Roadside Attractions ahead of the festival. The movie- racked with guilt over his marriage (Naomi Watts going public generally has less of an issue with senti- plays his wife) who travels to Japan to kill himself. In mentality than Cannes critics, and McConaughey is the forest, he meets another man (Ken Watanabe) and one of the most popular stars in film right now. A the movie plays out as part spiritual soul-searching, release date hasn’t yet been announced, but some- part survival drama. time next year is likely. In moviemaking, the breaks can go either way. “Every film you do,” Van Sant says, Slammed by critics “has its possibility of hitting just the right note at the Plenty of films at Cannes have been received nega- right time.” — AP tively this year. But usually the loudest booing is reserved only for strongly polarizing movies (even Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” was booed (From left) Director Valerie Donzelli, Jeremie Elkaim and Anais Demoustier pose for photographers during a photo call for the film in its Cannes debut) or maybe if the hype has so ‘Marguerite & Julien’. — AP Inside Out Film Review Cannes steps into ‘ ’ trouble with n paper, “Inside Out” sounded like another lunatic gamble: enough for Pete Docter and co-director Ronnie Del Carmen to one corner of Oz in the 1939 film, or how “Wreck-It Ralph” only taps an adventure that takes place entirely within the head of an introduce such a compelling model for how the brain really works; into a few of its potential gaming universes. Docter and Del high-heels dress code O11-year-old girl, featuring her Emotions as characters- they’re also expected to craft an interesting story around it. For the Carmen make it a point to poke around here, and though the film although if anyone could pull off a logline like that, it would be the first 11 years of Riley’s life, her Emotions have stood crowded absolutely could have been denser, they’ve opted for just the right he Cannes Film Festival is coming under scrutiny for team that made us care about rats who cook, toys that bond, and around an instruments panel of what looks like an air-traffic control balance of context and story, lest spending too much time with the its strict dress code after women not wearing high robots who fall in love. Sure enough, in execution, Pixar’s 15th fea- tower inside her head. Amusingly swift glimpses into the minds of Emotions deprive auds of experiencing the actual emotions that heels were turned away from a premiere. Many are ture proves to be the greatest idea the toon studio has ever had:, other characters suggest everyone is wired more or less the same come from connecting with Riley and her family. T criticizing the festival after Screen International reported delivering creative fireworks grounded by a wonderfully relatable way, while still allowing for wild variation in the efficiency of the Though her parents (Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan) express that several middle-aged women were refused entry to family story.