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Cannes Film Festival · 2013

Cannes Film Festival 2013

Official Competition

Programme

21 films · 15 reviews

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Behind The Candelabra

Review preview for Behind The Candelabra

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

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
The story of legendarily flamboyant entertainer Liberace and the man who loved him.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Steven Soderbergh; Writer: Richard LaGravenese, Alex Thorleifson, Scott Thorson; Stars: Matt Damon, Michael Douglas, Rob Lowe, Dan Aykroyd, Scott Bakula, Caroline Jaden Stussi, Debbie Reynolds, Max Napolitano, Boyd Holbrook, Paul Reiser, Nicky Katt, Cheyenne Jackson, Eddie Jemison, Kiff VandenHeuvel, Tom Papa)

Full review See: Article about Michael Douglas attending the Deauville Festival of American Cinema , Matt Damon, Michael Douglas and Steven Soderbergh on Behind The Candelabra

World premiere

Blue Is The Warmest Colour (La Vie D'Adele - Chapitre 1 & 2, The Life of Adele, Blue Is The Warmest Color)

Review preview for Blue Is The Warmest Colour

A commanding painting of passions, relationships and enlightenment.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
Two young women fall unexpectedly and passionately in love.

(Year: 2013; Director: Abdellatif Kechiche; Writer: Julie Maroh, Abdellatif Kechiche, Ghalia Lacroix; Stars: Léa Seydoux, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Salim Kechiouche, Jérémie Laheurte, Catherine Salée, Aurélien Recoing, Mona Walravens, Alma Jodorowsky, Fanny Maurin, Benjamin Siksou, Sandor Funtek, Benoît Pilot, Baya Rehaz, Karim Saidi)

Full review

World premiere

Borgman

Review preview for Borgman

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.

Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
The Devil moves into a suburban street and turns the lives of its inhabitants upside-down.

(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2013; Director: Alex van Warmerdam; Writer: Alex van Warmerdam; Stars: Jan Bijvoet, Hadewych Minis, Jeroen Perceval)

Full review

World premiere

A Castle In Italy (Un Château En Italie)

Review preview for A Castle In Italy

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

Richard Mowe · 2 out of 5
A family are forced to sell their Italian home.

(Country: France; Year: 2013; Director: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi; Writer: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Noémie Lvovsky, Noémie Lvovsky, Agnès de Sacy; Stars: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Louis Garrel, Filippo Timi, Marisa Borini, Xavier Beauvois, Céline Sallette, Andre Wilms, Marie Riviere, Gerard Falce, Pippo Delbono, Silvio Orlando, Omar Sharif)

Full review

World premiere

The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza)

Review preview for The Great Beauty

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

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
An ageing writer recalls the passions of his youth.

(Country: Italy, France; Year: 2013; Director: Paolo Sorrentino; Writer: Paolo Sorrentino, Umberto Contarello; Stars: Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli, Carlo Buccirosso, Iaia Forte, Pamela Villoresi, Galatea Ranzi)

Full review See: Harvey Keitel on Sorrentino, Campion and Scorsese , Interview with Paolo Sorrentino about The Great Beauty

World premiere

Grisgris

A partially paralysed man who dreams of becoming a dancer is drawn into crime after his uncle becomes seriously ill.

(Country: Chad; Year: 2013; Director: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun; Stars: Soulémane Démé, Mariam Monory, Cyril Guei, Anaïs Monory, Marius Yelolo)

World premiere

Heli

A man's search for his missing father sees him drawn into a world of drugs and crime.

(Year: 2013; Director: Amat Escalante; Writer: Amat Escalante, Gabriel Reyes)

World premiere

The Immigrant (Lowlife, Nightingale)

A young immigrant woman falls into prostitution and becomes caught in a love triangle between her pip and the man who wants to save her.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: James Gray; Stars: Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Renner)

World premiere

Inside Llewyn Davis

Review preview for Inside Llewyn Davis

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.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
One week in the life of a talented, failed singer/songwriter in Greenwich Village, New York, in the Sixties

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen; Writer: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen; Stars: Oscar Issacs, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund )

Full review

World premiere

Jimmy P: Psychotherapy Of A Plains Indian (Jimmy Picard, Psychothérapie d'un Indien des plaines)

Review preview for Jimmy P: Psychotherapy Of A Plains Indian

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.

Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
A Native American man is admitted to hospital after fighting in France and forms an unexpected friendship with the doctor who treats him.

(Country: France, US; Year: 2013; Director: Arnaud Desplechin; Writer: Sherman Alexie, Arnaud Desplechin, Kent Jones, Julie Peyr, based on the book by Georges Devereux; Stars: Benicio Del Toro, Mathieu Amalric, Gina McKee, Misty Upham)

Full review See: Arnaud Desplechin salutes Misty Upham , Interview with Arnaud Desplechin about Jimmy P , Interview with Arnaud Desplechin

World premiere

Just 17 (Jeune Et Jolie)

A teenage girl portrayed over four seasons with four songs.

(Country: France; Year: 2013; Director: François Ozon; Writer: François Ozon; Stars: Marine Vacth, Charlotte Rampling, Frédéric Pierrot)

World premiere

Like Father, Like Son (Soshite Chichi Ni Naru)

Review preview for Like Father, Like Son

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

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
When he discovers his baby boy was accidentally swapped with another at birth, whom he has raised and loved, a wealthy businessman must decide which one he truly feels is his son.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2013; Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda; Writer: Hirokazu Kore-eda; Stars: Masaharu Fukuyama, Yôko Maki, Jun Kunimura)

Full review See: Interview with Hirokazu Kore-eda about Like Father, Like Son , San Sebastian diary: Futbolin, Enemy The Zero Theorem and Like Father, Like Son

World premiere

Michael Kohlaas

A wealhy horse merchant seeking revenge raises an amy and ravages 16th century France.

(Country: France, Germany; Year: 2013; Director: Arnaud des Pallières; Writer: Christelle Berthevas, Arnaud des Pallières; Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Bruno Ganz, Paul Bartel)

World premiere

Nebraska

Review preview for Nebraska

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

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
An alcoholic father and his resentful son travel cross-country together to collect big sweepstake winnings.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Alexander Payne; Writer: Bob Nelson; Stars: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Bob Odenkirk, Stacy Keach, Stephen Clayton, Missy Doty, Rance Howard, Kevin Kunkel, Angela McEwan, Devin Ratray, Anthony G. Schmidt, Melinda Simonsen, Ronald Vosta, Mary Louise Wilson)

Full review

World premiere

Only God Forgives

Review preview for Only God Forgives

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

Robert Munro · 5 out of 5
A drug smuggler in Bangkok is charged by his mother with finding and killing whoever killed his brother.

(Country: France, Denmark; Year: 2013; Director: Nicolas Winding Refn; Writer: Nicolas Winding Refn; Stars: Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Yayaying Rhatha Phongam, Tom Burke, Vithaya Pansringarm, Byron Gibson, Gordon Brown, Joe Cummings, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Charlie Ruedpokanon, Rhatha Phongam, Danai Thiengdham, Oak Keerati, Teerawat Mulvilai, Wittchuta Watjanarat)

Full review See: Interview with Nicolas Winding Refn, Ryan Gosling and Kristin Scott Thomas about Only God Forgives , Nicholas Winding Refn and Kristin Scott Thomas on Only God Forgives

World premiere

Only Lovers Left Alive

Review preview for Only Lovers Left Alive

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.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
A vampire couple contemplate a changing world.

(Country: Germany, US, UK, France, Cyprus; Year: 2013; Director: Jim Jarmusch; Writer: Jim Jarmusch; Stars: Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt, Anton Yelchin, Slimane Dazi, Wayne Brinston, Aurelie Thepaut)

Full review See: New York Film Festival diary one: Captain Phillips, The Invisible Woman, Only Lovers Left Alive

World premiere

The Past (Le Passé)

Review preview for The Past

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

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
A couple meeting to finalise their divorce find themselves in difficult emotional terrain.

(Country: France; Year: 2013; Director: Asghar Farhadi; Writer: Asghar Farhadi; Stars: Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, Sabrina Ouazani)

Full review

World premiere

Shield Of Straw (Wara No Tate, Straw Shield)

Review preview for Shield Of Straw

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

Richard Mowe · 2 out of 5
Five police officers struggle to protect a murder suspect afer a powerful man puts a price on his head.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2013; Director: Takashi Miike; Writer: Tamio Hayashi, based on the book by Kazuhiro Kiuchi; Stars: Nanako Matsushima, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Takao Osawa)

Full review

World premiere

A Touch Of Sin (Tian Zhu Ding)

Four characters represent different areas of China and different strata of contemporary society.

(Country: China; Year: 2013; Director: Jia Zhangke)

World premiere

Venus In Fur (La Venua À La Fourrure)

Review preview for Venus In Fur

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

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
An actress endeavours to convince a director of her talents so she can win a part in the play based on Sacher-Masoch's novel.

(Country: France, Poland; Year: 2013; Director: Roman Polanski; Writer: Roman Polanski, based on the play by David Ives; Stars: Emmanuelle Seigner, Mathieu Amalric)

Full review

World premiere

Young & Beautiful (Jeune et jolie, Jeune & Jolie)

Review preview for Young & Beautiful

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.

Anton Bitel · 3 out of 5
Portrait of a 17-year-old, who sells her body for cash.

(Country: France; Year: 2013; Director: François Ozon; Writer: François Ozon; Stars: Marine Vacth, Géraldine Palhas, Frédéric Pierrot, Fantan Ravat, Johan Leysen, Charlotte Rampling, Nathalie Richard, Djedje Apali, Lucas Prisor, Laurent Delbecque, Jeanne Ruff )

Full review

World premiere