Cannes Film Festival — A–Z of films

Lowery's nostalgia works because it is so sincere and does not question America's fascination with Bonnie and Clyde as an excuse for bad deeds.

It's a courageous performance in more ways than one.

Dreyfuss is a force of nature. His energy is boundless, his eyes sparkle with ideas, he runs (not walks), he gushes (not speaks), he laughs like a hyena.

Peretti lets his violence resonate, keeping it mostly offscreen but letting it echo ominously in the animalistic tendencies of the teens.

As I Lay Dying looks and sounds great, and offers many individual moments of heightened intensity.

The precision of Claire Denis' perplexities, the ardent blows that fire at the heart and the head, are unequaled in her film Bastards (Les Salauds).

It is quite something to witness Douglas and Damon embrace the characters quite so authentically.

The way The Birds is shot is the stuff of legend.

The Bling Ring cuts through the vapid foam to the vapid core to ask questions about morality, responsibility and where desolate idleness may lead.

A commanding painting of passions, relationships and enlightenment.

There is a distinct lack of energy and focus especially for the first hour, when nothing much happens.

Visually arresting, impressively taut and enjoyably idiosyncratic.

The director's uncompromising approach and rigour pulls us along at least until the half way point when the pace begins to falter and its lack of obvious intentions starts to grate.

Everyone is allowed to over-act, not least herself, who runs the gamut of wet-eyed self-pity to hysteria.

Few actors have ever come to embody a historical figure in such a powerful way.

Brontis really does steal the show, offering a multi-layered, sensitive performance that begs the question why we haven't seen more of him over the years.

Competently filmed and acted and, by all accounts, faithful to the novel, it’s the story itself that hinders Desert Of The Tartars as a piece of cinema.

Falls just shy of a state of perfection.

The film takes an even-handed view of its main protagonist, illustrating faults on both sides of the divide.

A flowing, lyrical film, at times startlingly beautiful, The Golden Dream hypnotises the viewer with its constant movement, its unceasing rhythm.

Although the actors acquit themselves with some distinction the performances cannot quite disguise the one dimensional aspect of the characters.

Sorrentino dares to tread where the great have gone before and leaves his own distinctive mark.

The closer Luhrmann stays to the spirit of Fitzgerald and the more he trusts his cast, the better the result.

Even after many viewings it is difficult to fully grasp the film's historical significance, storytelling innovations and stylistic brilliance.

Although other films have dealt with the subject of euthanasia none so far has looked at the emotional difficulties of the perpetrator.

Ilo Ilo is a quietly assured first feature that marks the director out as a bright new talent.

The pace may seem deliberate but the Coens obviously want us to uncover the character's layers gently rather than him being delivered ready-made.

Del Toro and Amalric with contrasting acting styles make a magnetic duo yet the ponderous detail of the therapy occasionally bogs down the film, so much so that even the two actors cannot surmount it completely.

Jodorowsky, amazingly vigorous at 84, is never anything less than captivating, funny, and passionate when on screen.

A stunning doom-laden score manages to imbue even underwhelming moments with a sense of both unease and unexpected pathos.

The film with all its large time leaps gives the impression not of something alien, long dead, but very pertinent to the now.

Shuttling back and forth between the families, Like Father, Like Son scrutinises words, deeds, allegiances.

Sheer unadulterated pleasure often comes from the most unexpected quarters.

It’s a crowd-pleaser and only the most stern of hearts and minds could fail to be seduced by its charm and the incredible persona of Gallienne.

Worth seeing for the performances but ultimately confusion reigns.

Made for HBO, the film demonstrates the high quality of some American television.

Behind the surface simplicity of a father and son road trip lurks a sharp and bitter-sweet odyssey with a strong sense of satire.

Perhaps Winding Refn’s most deliberately difficult work to date.

What is so disarming about Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive is a scarce sense of appreciation - of the vampire couple for each other and the appreciation by both of them for what is great in the world.

Farhadi peels away the layers with simplicity, revealing the complicated and detailed emotions which lurk very close to the surface.

Not since Eisenstein's imaginative expressionism has a film ravaged tradition and brought the past into focus with such devastating energy.

Saleh Bakri is superb in the central role, at first chilling, then lurching between brutality and incongruous tenderness.

Deeply tedious and bereft of purpose.

Apart from Mike Eley's lustrous, lyrical cinematography, The Selfish Giant is also elevated by the central performances of Chapman and Thomas.

Eminently watchable for those in the mood for simplistic fare who are prepared to suspend disbelief.

The investigation has a surreal aspect to it that stretches credulity while the final resolution seems unsatisfactorily far-fetched.

What makes the film stand out, apart from the fact that it is a musical, is its reluctance to go all the way with the melodrama.

Seigner is wonderfully playful and her bold risk taking shows how much she trusts Polanski.

My pick for the greatest film ever made.

This film shows better than any documentary on the development of safety gear for drivers, cars and roads could ever do why the changes in the sport were necessary.

Ambyr Childers conveys the pressure the world-weary Iris is under brilliantly, while Julia Garner shines as the otherworldly Rose.

Keeps holding out a promise of insight into its young protagonist's mentality and makeup, but ends up merely observing her from a cool distance, as if through the binoculars from the opening scene.

It's bold, impetuous and willing to bite off far more than it can chew. One doesn't see enough of this sort of thing these days.