Home
sign up| features / film feature |
 content by: editor |
 cannes 2004 roundup: part one
Politics and troubled kids at Cannes. They said it would be its most commercial year, and Troy, Shrek 2 and Kill Bill 2 have certainly brought serious celeb factor to Cannes 2004. Brad, Uma and Quentin have all added a double-edged mainstream glory to the festival with a traditionally arthouse bent.But subversion rather than Hollywood co-option is the dominant note so far. Michael Moore’s anti-Bush dissection of US culture, Fahrenheit 9/11, has been THE topic of conversation. After rumours that the film might be pulled from competition due to music rights quibbles, it was screened on Tuesday. The political aggravator (and bombast to some) received a 20-minute standing ovation.  Fahrenheit 9/11 and Tarnation Meanwhile, much of the action has been happening along the Croisette. Cannes’ seafront promenade where films are screened and celeb hunters throng has been the setting for industry protest. Alongside the tuxedos, striking show business workers demanded to have their voice heard from the Festival Palais steps on the red-carpeted opening night. Fighting against cuts in their employment benefits system, they marched with masks and whistles throughout the day. Down from the Palais, at the Director’s Fortnight, diverse American indie offerings have also created a frisson. Tarnation, Mean Creek, and The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things are a mixed bag cinematically, but they all share a common factor: awesome child actors. Mean Creek is a teen morality tale starring pint-sized Rory Culkin (brother of Macauley) and Carly Schroeder, the youngest attendee at the festival, checking in at age 13. While the pair of them pull the tears on screen, full marks must be awarded to Carly’s business nous. She is currently co-producing her own reality TV children’s show which she hopes to present in 2005. We kid you not.  Mean Creek and Shrek 2 The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things has been touted as this year’s Brown Bunny. Meaning that like the Vincent Gallo film with the infamous blowjob scene, what it lacks in cinematic oomph, it more than makes up for with style-mag credentials. It’s a story of child abuse adapted from the novel by young cult writer JT Leroy. The soundtrack is by Sonic Youth and Marilyn Manson, Mike Pitt and Peter Fonda make appearances, and actor/director Italian “it” girl Asia Argento embodies the mother character with Courtney Love derangement. Yet the film’s love affair with rock’n’roll iconography blandly washes out any emotional impact. The little boys who play son Jeremiah (from age seven to 12), on the other hand, convey perfect existential dislocation. Or perhaps they’d just switched off. Jonathan Caouette’s genius experimental piece of filmmaking, Tarnation (part documentary, part music video, part exorcism), chronicles another mother/son relationship, the filmmaker’s own, with lots of cross-dressing to boot. But where The Heart… is a washout, Tarnation’s an emotional hot tub. As Jonathan, age 11, camps it up for the camera as a battered wife, he’s clearly filtering the experiences of his own mother into acting. It’s a heart-thumping montage of thrilling, chilling honesty that’s raised the bar for independent film.
Skye Sherwin
 conversations
Read members' comments.
If you register you can discuss this article with other users. |
 |
related info
 useful links
note: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
books  books and comics archive Author interviews and reviews from 2002 to 2008. |
send to a friend
jade chang
access 1000s of articles
