Winner of last year’s Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, Alice Rohrwacher’s The Wonders might come as a bit of a surprise to some viewers. While Cannes has a reputation of profiling the big, brash and bold of arthouse’s finest—last year’s top prize went to a 3+ hour Chekov-inspired drama, after all—The Wonders goes in the opposite direction of its competitors. It’s a quiet, enchanting coming-of-age tale about a unique family in the Italian countryside, one that drives itself almost entirely by what’s hidden underneath the surface. It’s an approach that doesn’t necessarily work all the time, but it certainly establishes Rohrwacher as a rising talent.

The family at the center of Rohrwacher’s film appears to be run by 12 year old Gelsomina (Maria Alexandra Lungu), who helps run the family business of beekeeping and honey-making with her dad, Wolfgang (Sam Louwyk). She also looks after her three sisters, Marinella, Caterina and Luna, when her mother, Angelica (Alba Rohrwacher, Alice’s sister), can’t, and also relies on the help of family friend Coco (Sabine Timoteo). Rohrwacher keeps exposition to an absolute minimum, but her script drops several hints of the family living a purposely isolated existence (at one point, Coco implies they lived in some sort of commune in the past). And as Gelsomina starts growing into a young woman, her desire for independence and exploration clash with her family’s self-contained lifestyle, creating a slow, underlying tension.

That tension gets amplified through two developments which make up most of The Wonders’ plot. The first comes in the form of the arrival of a TV production around the area. Gelsomina continually eyes the show’s host (Monica Bellucci, rocking a ridiculous white-haired wig) with curiosity and amazement, and when she learns that the show is offering a cash prize to the “most traditional family” in the area, she jumps at the chance to put her family on the show. Wolfgang wants no part in Gelsomina’s plan, but the growing animosity between them suggests it has to do with everything but the program. The other addition of stress to the family comes when new farming regulations threaten to put an end to the farm’s honey business. In order to get cheap labour to help bring the farm up to standard, Wolfgang signs up for a service that lets him hire young delinquents. But once the quiet, handsome 14 year old Martin (Luis Huilca Logrono) shows up to work, Angelica freaks out, wondering if he will be a bad influence on the girls.

It’s to Rohrwacher’s credit that she manages to introduce these elements without succumbing to the temptation of melodrama. That winds up being Rohrwacher’s biggest strength, as her well-observed, warm eye for her characters infuse the film with a naturalism that feels truly special. It takes a lot of skill to portray this family’s quirks, like Wolfgang’s penchant for sleeping in a bed outdoors, without it falling into caricature. It’s because Rohrwacher never shows an ounce of judgment towards her characters, or the way they choose to live their lives. Almost every moment feels real and unrehearsed because the characters’ specific qualities work inward rather than outward. They combine to form a distinct, yet completely believable portrait of one family, instead of being used as an easy joke to compare their strange behaviour to people’s idea of a “normal” family unit. It’s a breath of fresh air that radiates throughout every frame.

That’s why The Wonders’ first half, primarily focusing on establishing Gelsomina and her family’s routines, works wonderfully. The plotline involving the TV show, one of the film’s biggest faults, suffers from having too much time dedicated to it. Once Gelsomina gets interesting in auditioning for the program, it’s apparent that they’ll end up on the program somehow, making the build-up a bit of a drag to get through. But right when it looks like Rohrwacher might have overstayed her welcome, her film takes a surprising turn for the enigmatic. It’s a bold move, and yet it blends seamlessly within the world Rohrwacher creates. That successful change-up summarizes what makes The Wonders a film that can, at times, turn into something magical. In this low-key tale of a close-knit family, Rohrwacher makes it feel like anything can happen.

Originally published on March 27th, 2015. The Wonders opens in select theaters on October 30.

At this point in the festival, I was more than a little burned out on movies that made me feel down in the dumps. Every single movie I’ve covered so far has dealt with dark subject matter, from Spotlight‘s Catholic church scandal to Miss You Already‘s cancer coping, to I Smile Back‘s onslaught of misery and moping. Even Here Is Harold, while incredibly funny, follows a character digging himself out of a suicidal hole.

My dumpiness reached critical mass when I started day four with Son of Saul, a grimy Holocaust drama by debuting director László Nemes. Suffice it to say, I was not a fun person to be around following the screening. I dreaded heading into my next film, Mitchell Lichtenstein’s Angelica, which was advertised as a “haunting tale of unfed appetites and the damage they can wreak.” That sounded like the last thing I needed to see at the time—but it turned out to be the best thing and my biggest surprise of the festival.

Right Behind You

Before we get to Angelica, I need to talk about Son of Saul, which was, as I alluded to, a devastating experience, and yet also a beautiful, unforgettable one. I’ve been wanting to see it since it won the Grand Prix at Cannes, and it surpassed my expectations. Géza Röhrig plays Saul, a Jewish prisoner of the Nazis and member of the Sonderkommando unit whose job is to stack corpses for incineration. When he finds a body he believes to be his son’s, he makes it his mission to arrange a proper burial while the rest of his unit plots a rebellion against their captors. Immediately striking is director László Nemes and cinematographer Mátyás Erdély’s camerawork, which for long stretches stays inches behind Saul, almost filling the screen with his back as he hurries around the camp, the world around him a literal blur of movement, shape, and color. The effect is astonishing and views the Holocaust in a nightmarish way I’ve never seen before. As you can imagine, an experiential Holocaust film is one of the hardest things one could sit through, but Son of Saul is an outstanding, transcendent work of art that, amazingly, came from a first-time director.

Mommy’s Mental

Heading into Mitchell Lichtenstein’s Angelica, I was a bit of a mess, still reeling from Saul. But my spirits were promptly lifted when the lights dimmed and I was treated to a wonderfully weird Victorian ghost story that had the audience cringing and gasping in the most fun, wickedly delicious way. The movie follows Constance Barton (Jena Malone), a mother forbidden to make love to her husband (Ed Stoppard) following the complicated, life-threatening birth of their daughter, Angelica. When sexual frustration and obsessive over-protectiveness of her daughter begin to wind Constance up beyond recognition, a spectre begins visiting the house, sexually tormenting her and threatening to do the same to young Angelica. Angelica is a deliberately paced mind-bender with exquisite cinematography (from the great Dick Pope) that gets more bizarre and frightening as it goes.

The film lifted me out of my emotional slump, and for that I’m thankful. I was also thankful to be in attendance for the subsequent Q&A with Lichtenstein and Malone, who made a surprise appearance. The audience and talent had a nice rapport, volleying ideas about the film’s rich themes and influences like Henry James and Edgar Allen Poe. Malone even went so far as to say it was the best Q&A audience she’d ever been in front of! My favorite insight came from Malone, who recalled her sister taking the film as a lesbian love story, an angle Malone hadn’t considered.

Did somebody say punks versus skinheads?

If you were to randomly select a group of individuals at the 2015 Cannes International Film Festival and ask them what the biggest Out of Competition surprise has been thus far, it’s almost guaranteed that at least half of them would answer Green Room without hesitation. The amount of buzz that this film has received on the grounds here has been incredible, and the best part is that it’s totally deserved. Nothing could have prepared me for the experience of watching this film. Nothing.

Green Room follows a punk band’s journey into an abyss of madness and violence after they accidentally witness a brutal murder committed at an isolated concert venue. Their neo-nazi hosts, of course, do not want to leave any witnesses, and after the punks lock themselves in the titular Green Room, all hell breaks loose. The ensemble cast do a wonderful albeit simple job in their equally minor roles; there aren’t really any “main characters” because director Jeremy Saulnier is not afraid to subvert clichés and kill off whoever at any time. The impressive cast includes Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat, Anton Yelchin, Patrick Stewart, and Mark Webber.

Ultimately, Green Room is an exploitation horror film disguised as a fast paced thriller, only it’s actually scarier and more stunning than most of the traditional horror films released lately. It’s exploitative in the sense that the gore is gratuitous in a very nasty way, but for me the violence was always more impressive and fascinating than disengaging. For those who appreciated Saulnier’s hard-edged film Blue Ruin last year, and for anyone who needed more convincing, Green Room is sure to grab attention and make a splash back home in the States.

Andrew Cividino’s Sleeping Giant is quite an achievement when one takes into consideration that it is the work of a first time feature filmmaker. It’s more of a “slice of life” sort of movie than one with a clear and easy-to-summarize narrative, but it’s essentially a very good film concentrating on loss of innocence, scattered with moments of greatness that are usually brought to the surface by its strong technical aspects (from its stylized editing to its sporadic shifts in tone). On a level of storytelling, it excels in its subtleties; there’s a homoerotic undercurrent that runs throughout the duration of the film, and yet emotions are never spelled out, only implied. Cividino leaves his viewers to draw connections between certain images and sounds, and I respect a director who can throw exposition entirely out the window and show his audience things rather than tell them every last detail.

The performances are fine—there aren’t exactly any standout actors in the film, but I must compliment the three leads on their ability to make me feel like I knew their characters, like I spent my summers with them years ago. This can be attributed to the seemingly loose script; much of the dialogue felt improvised, but in a refreshing way and not a distracting one. All in all, Sleeping Giant is an impressive display of technical skills that also has a lot to say about the trials and tribulations of adolescence. Above all else though, it’s a beautiful exploration of mortality.

Director Jeremy Saulnier‘s second feature Blue Ruin, a stripped down revenge thriller, took the indie world by storm last year on its way to a nomination for the John Cassavetes Award at the 2015 Indie Spirit Awards. Wasting little time in assembling a follow-up, Saulnier is now in Cannes to debut his next color-related movie Green Room. Featuring a larger and more well-known cast than his previous film, including Patrick Stewart, Anton Yelchin and Imogen Poots, Green Room held its Cannes Film Festival premiere over the weekend to a largely positive reception.

Green Room follows a group of punk rockers called The Ain’t Rights, who take an ill-advised gig in the backwoods of Oregon, only to stumble onto violent crime and in the middle of a confrontation with the local, violent, white-supremacist gang. Patrick Stewart plays the leader of the gang. Green Room also stars Alia Shawkat, Joe Cole, Callum Turner, Mark Webber, as well as Blue Ruin star Macon Blair.

Watch the first clip of Green Room below, in which an intimidating Eric Edelstein explains the difference between a bullet and a cartridge:

Just last week the lineup for the 2015 Cannes Film Festival was announced, and slowly more information about the films playing is starting to surface. While many of the films don’t even have official synopsis yet, a select few have released images and trailers. It’s hard to believe that 2015 Cannes is less than a month away already (this year the festival runs from May 13th – May 24th), but we’ll be keeping this festival media guide updated as the festival approaches and more information about Cannes titles come in.

Amnesia

Amy

A documentary on the late singer/songwriter, who died of alcohol poisoning in 2011.

Carol

Set in 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.

Irrational Man

On a small town college campus, a philosophy professor in existential crisis gives his life new purpose when he enters into a relationship with his student.

Inside Out

After a girl moves to a new home, her emotions are plunged into chaos as they compete for control of her mind.

The Little Prince

A pilot crashes in the desert and meets a little boy from a distant planet.

Mad Max: Fury Road

In a post-apocalyptic world, in which people fight to the death, Max teams up with a mysterious woman, Furiousa, to try and survive.

Mia Madre

Our Little Sister

A story that revolves around three sisters who live in their grandmother’s home and the arrival of their 13-year-old half sister.

Sicario

The Tale of Tales

Mad Max is making an unexpected stop in France on his wild path of action and mayhem. The newest film in George Miller‘s wonderfully manic saga, Mad Max: Fury Road, is scheduled to premiere out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The film will be presented at the Grand Théâtre Lumière on May 14th, one day ahead of its May 15th U.S. release date. Tom Hardy stars as the titular hero (taking over for Mel Gibson) along with Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult. Mad Max: Fury Road was produced by the Kennedy Miller Mitchell company and is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Mad Max: Fury Road is sure to be one of the most explosive and interesting action films of the year. If you’re like me you’ve already watched the trailer about 50 times in anticipation, but in case you haven’t or you just want to watch it for that 51st time then check it out below.

Lisandro Alonso’s Jauja, world premiering in Un Certain Regarde, is from another planet. Much like Ceylan’s Winter Sleep this is what a real experience feels like in the movie theater. Unfortunately, I was unable to get too acquainted with Lisandor’s previous films before the festival began and only managed to catch his 2004 film Los Muertos, about a man released from prison and his journey back home to his daughter. It’s a captivating, at times tedious, affair. Man’s displacement in nature and within family feels like one of Alonso’s major themes. Snail-like camera movement, lengthy takes, and no musical accompaniment, his preferred tools. 10 years later, and after a couple of more films I will most definitely be seeing soon, he has a made a film that is in a different league, using everything seen in Los Muertos (right down to the subject of a father searching for his daughter) to infinitely higher degrees. It’s unbelievably not competing for the Palme D’Or and I’m not sure how that happened, but I’ve got an inkling that it will wind up as the granddaddy of the UCR; with more experience and wisdom captured in a few frames than entire films in the section.

The film opens with a caption about what ‘Jauja’ is exactly; a mythical, earthly paradise, which man has sought for centuries and never found. The time and setting of the desolation that surrounds the 4:3 frame is never revealed, though it looks to be the period of the conquistadors when European forces were conquering aboriginal peoples. Danish Captain Dinesen (Viggo Mortensen) has joined camps with a Spanish infantry and brought his daughter Inga (Ghita Norby) along. The first section of the film establishes the relationships between Dinesen, the Spanish lieutenant Pittaluga, Inga, and Inga’s Spanish soldier-lover Corto. Word has reached their camp that captain Zuluaga, renowned for his bravery and experience in the desert, has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. When Inga steals off one night with Corto, Dinesen wakes up in a panic and – not heeding the advice of the seedy Pittaluga – rides off into the desert to search for his daughter.

The film truly takes off once Mortensen’s captain begins his search. The establishing scenes contain more dialogue than the entire length of Los Muertos and while the words spoken lay the foundations of the themes (mysticism, perversion, loss of self) it is the framing and depth of field in this beginning sequence that is instantly captivating. Characters on the left side of the screen in the forefront are contrasted with an action occurring in the distant background on the right, with the vacuum in the middle providing the groundwork for the thematic use of space in the mid-section. Once Dinesen begins his search, the desert that ‘devours everything’ becomes the film’s antagonist as it eats up time itself. Detailing how it does this would classify as a spoiler, but suffice it to say that Dinesen’s search for his daughter and the desire to go back home, as he feels more and more alienated in the foreignness that surrounds him, transcends expectations and delves into a philosophical discourse devotees of existentialism will adore.

It’s quite difficult to find the right words to describe the sensations and deep impact Jauja leaves you with. Directors that immediately come to mind in terms of aesthetic and thematic influence are Andrei Tarkovsky, David Lynch, and Carlos Reygadas though my unfamiliarity with such directors as Alejandro Jodoworski and Manoel de Oliveira feels like a deficiency here. This is the kind of philosophical, deeply visual filmmaking which many will be able to appreciate, and my respect for Viggo Mortensen (who is a magnanimous minimalist here) has sky rocketed. He is the biggest star Alonso has worked with, and if nothing else, his name alone should guarantee a lot of buzz. Of course, Alonso’s mastery alone should be enough because he has created something spectacular here. As I conclude these thoughts, my mind is flipping through the poetic excursion it just had the privilege of experiencing; scenes allowed to sink in so that the vastness of the volcanic nature swallows all attention, or the peculiarity of the aspect ratio which brings to mind Cormac McCarthy’s lack of quotations; an artistic expression which empowers the themes and mysticism of the film. Rating this film feels almost ridiculous as it’s one of those picture that transcends all kind of formality. Is there an infinite out of 10? Like Winter Sleep, principle prevents me from giving it a perfect 10, and besides, more viewings feel essential to get a full grasp. Can’t wait to go back to Jauja.

This review was originally published as part of our Cannes 2014 coverage. Jauja is out in limited theatrical release today, March 20.

Cannes Jury Prize winner, Mommy, has a full trailer out. Wunderkind Xavier Dolan’s film is about a widowed mother (Anne Dorval) of an unruly and sometimes violent 15-year-old son (Antoine-Olivier Pilon) who try to get their lives on track with the help of a neighbor. Though it’s 1:1 aspect ratio screams indie, the trailer surprisingly features some rather mainstream and poppy hits, including One Republic’s “Counting Stars” and Ellie Goulding’s “Anything Could Happen” (which seems to be a go-to lately in the trailer world). Don’t let the song choices fool you, thus far many critics are hailing Mommy as Dolan’s best yet. Our own Nik enjoyed the film when he caught it at Cannes this year.

Read Nik’s Cannes review. As of yet there is no U.S. release date, but the film opens in Canada September 19.

It’s hard to imagine an out of work, undesirable version of Robin Wright (congrats on that second Emmy nomination, girl), but that’s the beginning premise of Ari Folman‘s (Waltz with Bashir) new film The Congress. After gaining a reputation as a hard to work with actress, Robin Wright is offered one last acting gig. Her son’s failing health skewing her decision-making, she agrees to a process which will capture her look, mannerisms, and personality in order to “bring her to life” in animated form for future projects. Essentially the studios are aiming for a future where they can capitalize on the names of their stars without having to work with them.

The film covers a lot of time and slips in and out of Robin’s real and delusional mental states. After premiering at Cannes in 2013 the film has spiked the interest of filmgoers, though hopefully its theatrical rendition doesn’t get too caught up in all of its themes and anti-Hollywood messages as this was most of the criticism it received at Cannes.

The Congress will be released on VOD July 24 and in limited release on August 29.

Watch the new clip from The Congress below:

And if you haven’t yet caught the trailer, watch just how incredible the entire film looks:

Singaporean director Anthony Chen is riding quite the wave of success with his feature debut, Ilo Ilo. The film won the Camera d’Or at Cannes 2013 and garnered many more accolades and awards following its smashing premiere. The film follows a strained Singaporean family whose relationship is stretched further when they must adapt to a new Filipino domestic helper named Teresa joining their household. Teresa develops a close bond with Jiale, the young boy she cares for daily.

We spoke to Chen at CAAMFest 2014 about why it took him so long to make his first feature, growing up with a domestic helper, the film’s success, his wife saying he’s difficult to live with, his stubbornness making him a better director, and more.

You won the Camera d’Or at Cannes 2013, which is a big deal for a Singaporean film.
Anthony: It was a big step for Singaporean cinema. Camera d’Or is a prestigious prize, and it’s the first time a Singaporean feature film has won an award at Cannes. I’ve had a very good outing each time I’ve been to Cannes. In 2007, I had a short film in competition, and it became the first Singaporean film to win an award at Cannes. In a way, I think Cannes has been very, very special for me. Cannes probably gave my my career as a filmmaker.

You made ten short films before making this feature.
Anthony: Yes, ten shorts. I’ve made a lot. My first short was made in 2004 when I was 19-20. It was my graduation film from film school. My shorts have done rather well in major festivals. Shorts have been very fundamental in shaping me as a filmmaker and honing my craft as a director. It’s given me a lot of confidence as well from one film to the next. When you get a good critique, that’s when you feel, “Perhaps I do know something about filmmaking.”

So you did shorts for about eight, nine years. Why wait so long to do your first feature?
Anthony: I didn’t feel I was ready at all. In fact, there was an opportunity in 2007 to do a film, after my short won at Cannes. Everyone told me, “Strike when the iron is hot!” That short opened a lot of doors. But I was quite young at the time. I was 23, and I didn’t feel I was ready, so instead, I went back to school in the UK and did a two-year masters in film directing. I wanted to train myself and mature much more before I was ready to take that next big step.

I imagine, with the mindset of, “Am I ready? Not yet,” you must have put a lot of pressure on yourself to make your first feature as good as it could be.
Anthony: I think it was important that mentally and spiritually I felt, “The time is now.”

My parents are from the Philippines, and my mother grew up with a domestic helper. You grew up with one as well, an experience that inspired the film.
Anthony: I think it’s something this part of the world doesn’t really get. A stranger comes into the family, working as a servant, but she very much becomes part of the family. She isn’t like an au pair who comes in during the daytime or during nights when the parents aren’t free; she literally lives with you. In Singapore, because of space constraints, the nanny usually sleeps in the same bedroom as the children. It’s a very intimate, personal connection. What’s fascinating is, the children probably have a much stronger bond with the nanny than the parents. The parents are always busy working.

Your work is very observational, and you seem to have a knack for identifying people’s behavior. Does this skill help you in everyday life to become a better functioning person in society?
Anthony: That’s a great question, but I’m pretty sure the best person to answer it is my wife! She’d probably say, “NO! He’s so difficult to live with!” [laughs] She’s always telling me: “I just don’t get it. You’re always making such delicate, sensitive films about humanity, but you’re so difficult to live with!” I’m very obstinate. I’m very stubborn. I want things my way. I think I see things. I think I’m very sensitive to people and their actions and nuances and emotions. But I’m equally as flawed as the characters in all my films. I think that’s why humanity is worth celebrating. We’re flawed. I don’t believe that just because you understand relationships that you become some kind of saintly person or something. You wish it was like that [laughs], but it’s not the case.

Does your stubbornness make you a better director?
Anthony: I guess so. I’m very obsessive-compulsive when I make my films. I grasp very tightly on what I’m working on, and until I make sense of what it’s about, I don’t let go. It’s very tense. It’s interesting. A lot of critics have told me that I have a very accurate observation of the female psyche. My wife disagrees with that as well! [laughs] “If you understand women so well, why don’t you understand me!” The truth is, because I understand her so well…whatever she wants, I don’t give. [laughs] I can be very manipulative.

You won the award for Best Film at the 50th Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. I understand this is a big deal for a Singaporean film.
Anthony: The Golden Horse has a real legacy. It’s always been known as the Chinese Oscars; it’s beamed to 1 billion Chinese-speaking people all over the world. It’s crowned well known filmmakers like Ang Lee and Hou Hsiao-Hsien. For the longest time, Singapore hasn’t been on its radar. What was a real pivotal change was when our film garnered a record six major nominations and went on to win four. All of a sudden, it made Chinese audiences look at Singapore differently. We’ve been excluded for a long time because we’re an English-speaking country and a multi-racial country.

What is it about your film that’s caused it to break through these barriers?
Anthony: I think it’s the themes in the film that made something that was very culturally specific much more universal. Coming-of-age, family, economic crisis, migration; these are themes people deal with all over the world. I’m beginning to feel this because the film has had such an incredible journey since Cannes. My sense is that, what really connects the film with audiences is that there’s an honesty to the film that feels genuine and not fabricated or manipulative. There were critics telling me that, one reason the film did well at Cannes was that every other film was trying to do something, trying to show off in terms of style, cinematography, subject matter…there’s a lot of gusto. This was the only film that wasn’t trying to do any of that–it doesn’t try to be something it’s not.

You’ve lived in London for a few years now.
Anthony: I actually met my wife in London. I think I can see myself staying in London for a long, long time. It’s a very inspiring city. It makes you feel very small, because there’s so much talent all around you. Just like New York, it’s a city for the arts, with music, theater, cinema, visual arts, museums. What’s amazing is, every time you go out, you feel like there’s so much genius and talent around that whatever you achieve won’t be enough for the city.

You like that feeling.
Anthony: Yes, I do. I feel constantly challenged and put down. You have to struggle and keep going as an artist. It forces you to constantly grow and reinvent yourself. I do like that feeling. It keeps you humble.

What have you learned from Ilo Ilo as a director?
Anthony: It’s allowed me to get a grasp on the international film business. It’s very interesting that a director is talking about the business end of things, but for the first time I saw how things work. I understand how it works when a film ends up selling to different territories around the world. Making shorts for a long time, I was thinking that the short was the short, and then I went to festivals and it was over. It’s almost like I hadn’t come of age as a filmmaker, and then I realized that there is this much bigger community out there, and there’s a certain way films work.

You’ve been on an incredible streak with Ilo Ilo, touching people across the world and winning awards along the way. You were talking about the film being successful at Cannes because it doesn’t beg to be loved; you weren’t grasping at awards as you made the film because you were humble. Will it be a challenge, following the success of this film, to maintain that humility and not strive to capture that kind of notoriety again? How will you stay grounded?
Anthony: I’ve been thinking about that for a long time. My challenge on the next film is to protect my attitude and my values toward filmmaking. I have to find that very raw, undaunted passion for making films. How can I continue to be naive and stay true to myself? Now, I’ve got lots of scripts being thrown at me. The doors have opened, and there are times when I feel like, “Should I do it?” I hope that I can preserve my mentality toward filmmaking, but it really comes from here [points to chest]…from the heart. We’ve seen a lot of auteurs meander around in their careers because all of a sudden there was a lot of money and opportunities. I’m hoping that, with my second and third film, there will be the same sense of me as a filmmaker, the same directorial integrity. I think it’s very important that my films have real heart.

Director Mahamat Saleh Haroun spends no time establishing the main draw of Grigris‘ title character; in the opening moments we see the young, disabled dancer (played by non-professional Souleymane Démé) busting some moves on the dance floor to a rapturous audience. It’s a captivating sight, watching Démé writhe around the club while using his paralyzed leg to pull off some truly impressive moves. It’s a highly entertaining and original moment, but one of the only ones throughout the film.

Grigris is Souleymane’s stage name (Démé used his real name in the film), and during the day he spends time helping out his mother and stepfather. Tragedy hits when Souleymane’s stepdad falls severely ill, and the only way to save him is to pay 700,000 francs. This causes Souleymane to ask for work from Moussa (Cyril Guei), a local businessman who smuggles petrol. Souleymane gets hired on as a driver, but when he steals some money to pay for his stepfather’s treatments it gets him in some serious trouble. At the same time Souleymane is falling in love with Mimi (Anaïs Monory), an aspiring model who resorts to selling her body in order to make ends meet.

It’s a storyline that wouldn’t exactly feel out of place in a film by the Dardennes (or a lot of other European arthouse fare), but its familiarity is what undoes Grigris. Haroun’s simple, slow-paced form of storytelling only drags out the clichéd proceedings. In A Screaming Man Haroun had an immensely compelling father/son relationship at the heart of his film; here, we only get the relationship between Souleymane and Mimi, which is severely lacking. Démé is a talented and charismatic person, but he looks like he’s out of his depth when it comes to the thriller plotline. Anaïs, also making her film debut here, is gorgeous but her role can’t resonate beyond its “hooker with a heart of gold” archetype.

The way that Grigris and Mimi both use their bodies as a means of escape from their surroundings (him through dancing, her through modelling) only to use them in corrupt ways as a means for survival is a fascinating idea Haroun flirts with early into Grigris, but as the story takes darker turns that concept is mostly abandoned. The same goes for Souleymane’s dancing, which is shoved to the background once him and Mimi go on the run from Moussa. It’s somewhat confusing that Haroun would take his actor’s greatest strength and use it sparingly, but not as baffling as what he does in the final act. The film morphs into an anti-thriller when it shifts locations to a small village before taking a surprisingly feminist turn towards the end. It’s an unexpected moment, but it’s one that doesn’t gel with anything that came before it.

Despite its shortcomings, Grigris still has many things working in its favour. The cinematography by Antoine Héberlé is gorgeous, lending a vibrant quality to the film’s locations, and Haroun has a knack for boiling stories down to their essential qualities that would make other filmmakers jealous. If the script wasn’t so lacking in characterization (a good example: Grigris’ mother and stepfather vanish from the film when their conflict wraps up, making their presence as nothing but plot devices even more obvious) and freshness it might have been more affective. Instead it’s a minor work, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

The jury announced the winners at the Lumiere Theater Sunday night for the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Michael Haneke’s Amour was awarded the top prize of the Palme d’Or as many thought would happen for the Cannes veteran director. Some of the other awards seemed to be less obvious, Best Director went to Carlos Reygadas for Post Tenebras Lux and Reality won Grand Prix. Behn Zeitlin was awarded Camera d’Or for his first feature film Beasts of the Southern Wild.

See the full list of nominations.

The entire list of 2012 Cannes Film Festival Award Winners:

Amour, (director Michael Haneke)

Reality, (director Matteo Garrone)

Carlos Reygadas, Post Tenebras Lux

Cristian Mungiu, Beyond The Hills

Beasts Of The Southern Wild, (director Benh Zeitlin)

The Angels’ Share, (director Ken Loach)

Cosmina Straten, Beyond The Hills
Cristina Flutur, Beyond The Hills

Mads Mikkelsen, The Hunt

The 65th annual Cannes Film Festival is underway currently and the staff at Way Too Indie wanted to highlight the Top 13 Films we are anticipating to see the most. We are still about a week away before we will be hearing from the jury which films they decided to give awards to. There are over 20 films that are in the In Competition category and if we had to guess who walks away with top prize of the Palme d’Or, it would be one of the films we listed below. Without further ado, Way Too Indie’s Top 13 Most Anticipated Films at Cannes Film Festival 2012.

Beasts of the Southern Wild (director Benh Zeitlin)

Immediately after watching the trailer to Beasts of the Southern Wild I made note that this is a film I need to see. Chatter around this film started when it won the dramatic Grand Jury Prize Award at Sundance this year. It looks like it could have some Where the Wild Things Are elements to it but perhaps with a more gritty and serious story to it. If Beasts of the Southern Wild is half as good as the trailer makes it out to be, we should be in for a real treat with this film. Roger Ebert recently tweeted that Beasts of the Southern Wild is the best film he has seen this year. Cue the goosebumps. [Dustin]

UPDATE: Our review of Beasts of the Southern Wild

Post Tenebras Lux (director Carlos Reygadas)

After Battle in Heaven, Carlos Reygadas must have had some sort of epiphany. His follow-up, Silent Light, was one of the best movies of the last 10 years and felt like it was light years ahead of everything he did previously. His most recent work, the short film This is my Kingdom from the omnibus film Revolucion, might be his best work to date. Post Tenebras Lux looks like Reygadas is only maturing and developing even more. The first images and clips from the movie are jaw-droppingly gorgeous, the director of Cannes has been more or less openly gushing about it, and it’s already being compared to Tree of Life. Reygadas is one of the more exciting directors working today, and if Post Tenebras Lux lives up to the hype it should be unlike anything we’ve seen before. [CJ]

Mud (director Jeff Nichols)

Director Jeff Nichols is on a hot streak. His first feature Shotgun Stories was an indie sensation and had a lot of people singing his name from the rafters as a promising young director. Then his second feature with Michael Shannon (who is one of the top actors right now), Take Shelter, was a great step for the director. Working again with Shannon and few other top actors including Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Sarah Paulson, Sam Shepard and Joe Don Baker (a personal favorite), Mud looks to be a winner with this pedigree working together. [Blake]

Moonrise Kingdom (director Wes Anderson)

The mere fact that it has been three years since Wes Anderson has graced us with his unprecedented style and passion is reason enough to want to see Moonrise Kingdom. The film is about capturing the feeling of being madly in love at the tender age of 12. Backed by the cast of his regulars, Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzmann along with some Anderson newcomers Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton is another reason why I am excited to see this film. [Dustin]

UPDATE: Our review of Moonrise Kingdom

Mekong Hotel (director Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

I’ve only seen two movies by Joe (his nickname for people who have a hard time pronouncing his full name) but they’re both masterpieces. Joe’s films are so hypnotic, bizarre and immersive with their lack of focus on time or narrative that they can feel like they come from another plane of existence entirely. Mekong Hotel sounds like a horror film from its synopsis involving a cannibalistic ghost but things are never that simple with Joe’s movies. Here’s hoping that Mekong Hotel can live up to at least half of the quality of his other films. [CJ]

Rust and Bone (director Jacques Audiard)

Jacques Audiard made a great movie a few years ago called A Prophet which made my top ten list the year it came out. I then went back to watch his breakout feature The Beat That My Heart Skipped, which is one hell of a movie. Now comes Rust and Bone, with Oscar winner Marion Cotillard as a killer whale trainer who falls in love a man named Ali. There bond only grows stronger after Stephanie (Cotillard) suffers a horrible accident. [Blake]

The We and The I (director Michel Gondry)

Willing to overlook Michel Gondry’s previous Hollywood adventure The Green Hornet in hopes that he has returned to his old style of films that put him on the map as an acclaimed film director. His more avant-garde style of films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep show off his creativity as a visionary director. Not a lot is known about this film yet but the talk is the film is closer to his earlier work. Knowing his potential, it is hard not to look forward to see what Michel Gondry has come up with now. [Dustin]

Love (director Michael Haneke)

Michael Haneke is back from his massive success involving The White Ribbon with what looks like something on a smaller scale. As with most of Haneke’s films the information given out so far is limited. It involves a family whose lives change after the mother has “an attack.” Isabelle Huppert, who gave Haneke the Palme D’Or for White Ribbon, has what looks like a small role in this so hopefully their collaboration will be as good as when they got together for The Piano Teacher. Haneke is considered to be one of the best directors working today by some (including myself) so no matter what there will always be an excited audience for whatever Haneke does next. [CJ]

Killing Them Softly (director Andrew Dominik)

Formerly titled Coogan’s Trade, Andrew Dominik’s newest film has internet film geeks abuzz with its powerhouse cast being lead by the director who has made two fantastic features in Chopper and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and starring one of the biggest, if not the biggest actor on the planet Brad Pitt. Along with Pitt you got, Richard Jenkins, Sam Shepard (him again), James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta. Pitt plays a mob enforcer tasked with investigating the robbery of a mob run poker game. All this talent has me salivating at the mouth. [Blake]

Laurence Anyways (director Xavier Dolan)

The synopsis of Laurence Anyways, a man on this 30th birthday tries to save his relationship with his fiancé after telling her he wants to become a woman, made me curious enough to watch the trailer. After watching the trailer, it looks to be an emotional filled unique love story. Xavier Dolan’s first two films I Killed My Mother and Heartbeats also both premiered at Cannes cementing him as an acclaimed upcoming director. Unlike his previous films, in Laurence Anyways he decides to stay behind the camera instead of also acting in the film. [Dustin]

Cosmopolis (director David Cronenberg)

After making more conventional films for almost a decade, David Cronenberg appears to be diving head first into the weird-ass types of films that made him get so popular in the first place. It seems like people didn’t realize how much they missed the days of Dead Ringers or Videodrome until the first trailers for Cosmopolis came out, launching it straight into a position as one of the most anticipated films this year. Hopefully Cronenberg can live up to the hype that’s suddenly surrounded this movie in the last few weeks. [CJ]

Paradise:Love (director Ulrich Seidl)

Ulrich Seidl is a director I’ve never heard of before, but one that I will now follow, and the trailer has me completely sold. The subject matter sounds ripe for the picking and the style of the film, which looks like a documentary, will only add to how powerful the film could end up being. Taking place in a tropical paradise, a white middle aged woman who is on vacation becomes involved with a local a black man. Judging from the trailer, love and heartbreak look to be inevitable. [Blake]

You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet! (director Alain Resnais)

This wasn’t on my radar at all until I saw the fantastic trailer for it along with the bizarre synopsis involving the massive star-studded French cast playing themselves performing a play they’ve all been in at some point throughout their careers after the playwright posthumously invites them to see a young theatre company perform the same play (you might need to read that a few times to fully understand it). Resnais is still going strong in his later years, and if anything his new movie is going to be one of the more unique titles in competition this year. [CJ]

The lineup announcement for the 2012 Cannes Film Festival came in today. We reported that Moonrise Kingdom from Wes Anderson would be opening the 65th annual festival. Today we learn that the film will also be in competition, which is not always the case. The festival runs from May 16th through May 27th 2012.

The biggest letdown is that P.T. Anderson’s The Master is not going to premiere at the festival like many had hoped. Other notable films missing were Terrence Malick’s untitled film and Quentin Tarantio’s Django Unchained.

The full lineup for 2012 Cannes Film Festival:

Moonrise Kingdom (director Wes Anderson)

Amour (director Michael Haneke)
The Angel’s Share (director Ken Loach)
Baad EL Mawkeaa (director Yousry Nasrallah)
Beyond The Hills (director Cristian Mungiu)
Cosmopolis (director David Cronenberg)
Holy Motors (director Leos Carax)
The Hunt (director Thomas Vinterberg)
In Another Country (director Hong Sang-Soo)
Im Nebels (Dans La Brume) (director Sergei Loznitsa)
Killing Them Softly (director Andrew Dominik)
Lawless (director John Hillcoat)
Like Someone In Love (director Abbas Kiarostami)
Moonrise Kingdom (director Wes Anderson)
Mud (director Jeff Nichols)
On The Road (director Walter Salles)
Paradies: Liebe (director Ulrich Seidl)
The Paperboy (director Lee Daniels)
Post Tenebras Lux (director Carlos Reygadas)
Reality (director Matteo Garrone)
Rust & Bone (director Jacques Audiard)
Taste Of Money (director Im Sang-Soo)
Vous N’Avez Encoure Rien Vu (director Alain Resnais)

Une Journee Particuliere (directors Gilles Jacob and Samuel Faure)
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (directors Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath)
Dario Argento’s Dracula (director Dario Argento)
Io E Te (director Bernardo Berolucci)
Hemingway & Gellhorn (director Philip Kaufman)
Ai To Makoto (director Takashi Miike)

Miss Lovely (director Ashim Ahluwalia)
La Playa (director Juan Andres Arango)
Les Chevaus De Dieu (director Nabil Ayouch)
Trois Mondes (director Catheron Corsini)
Antiviral (director Brandon Cronenberg)
7 Days In Havana (directors Benicio Del Toro and Laurent Cantet and Gaspar Noe and more)
Le Grand Soir (directors Benoit Delepine and Gustave Kervern)
Laurence Anyways (director Xavier Dolan)
Despues De Lucia (director Michel Franco)
Aimer A Perdre La Raison (director Joachim Lafosse)
Mystery (director Lou Ye)
Student (director Darezhan Omirbayev)
La Pirogue (director Moussa Toure)
Elefante Blanco (director Pablo Trapero)
Confession Of A Child Of The Century (dir. Sylvie Verheyde)
11.25: The Day He Chose His Own Fate (director Koji Wakamatsu)
Beasts Of The Southern Wild (director Benh Zeitlin)

Der Mull Im Garten Eden (director Faith Akin)
Mekong Hotel (director Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
Villegas (director Gonzalo Tobal)
A Musica Segundo Tom Jobim (director. Nelson Pereira Do Santos)
Journal De France (directors Claudine Nougaret and Raymond Depardon)
Les Invisbles (director Sebastien Lifshitz)
The Central Park Five (directors Ken Burns and Sarah Burns and David McMahon)
Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir (director Laurent Bouzereau)

Therese D. (director Claude Miller)

Wes Anderson’s latest film Moonrise Kingdom will open the 65th Cannes Film Festival on May 16 2012. Some of the cast members in the film should come as no surprise such as Billy Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and Bruce Willis who have all appeared in Wes Anderson film’s previously. Joining them are other big names; Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, and Frances McDormand.

Synopsis from the official site:

“Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, MOONRISE KINGDOM tells the story of two twelve-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing off-shore — and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in more ways than anyone can handle. Bruce Willis plays the local sheriff. Edward Norton is a Khaki Scout troop leader. Bill Murray and Frances McDormand portray the young girl’s parents. The cast also includes Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, and Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward as the boy and girl.”

UPDATE: Check out our review of Moonrise Kingdom

Check out the official trailer for “Moonrise Kingdom” below:

Cannes Film Festival came to a close Sunday night and announced the winners of Palme d’Or, Grand Prix, Best Director and other high status awards. Kirsten Dunst won Best Actress in Lars von Trier’s film Melancholia and thanked the director after a very controversial comment he made about Nazi’s during a press conference that caused a lot of media attention last week. The top prize, Palme d’Or, went out to The Tree of Life directed by Terrence Malick which stars Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.

See the full list of nominations.

The Tree of Life, (director Terrence Malick)

The Kid with a Bike, (directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, (director Nuri Bilge Ceylan)

Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive

Joseph Cedar, Hearat Shulayim

Las Acacias, (director Pablo Gorgelli)

Polisse, (director Maiwenn)

Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia

Jean Dujarin, The Artist

Cross Country, (director Marina Viroda)

Arirang, (director Kim Ki-Duk)
Stopped on Track, (director Andreas Dresen)

Elena, (director Andrey Zvyaginstev)

Cannes Film Festival is considered one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world and today they announced their lineup for 2011. This year the festival will be held from May 11th through May 22nd with American actor Robert De Niro being The President of the Jury.

Midnight In Paris (director Woody Allen)

The Beaver (director Jodi Foster)
La Conquete (director Xavier Durringer)
The Artist (director Hazanavicius)
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (director Rob Marshall)

The Skin I Live In (director Pedro Almodovar)
L’Apollonide – Souvenirs de la maison close (director Bertrand Bonello)
Hearat Shulayim (director Joseph Cedar)
Pater (director Alain Cavalier)
Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) (director Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
Le gamin au vélo (director Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)
Le Havre (director Aki Kaurismäki)
Hanezu no Tsuki (director Naomi Kawase)
Sleeping Beauty (director Julia Leigh)
Polisse (director Maïwenn)
The Tree of Life (director Terrence Malick)
La source des femmes (director Radu Mihaileanu)
Ishimei (Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai) (director Takashi Miike)
Habemus Papam (director Nanni Moretti)
We Need to Talk about Kevin (director Lynne Ramsay)
Melancholia (director Lars Von Trier)
Drive (director Nicolas Winding Refn)

Restless (director Gus Van Sant)
Martha Marcy May Marlene (director Sean Durkin)
The Hunter (director Bakur Bakuradze)
Halt auf freier Strecke (director Andreas Dresen)
Hors Satan (director Bruno Dumont)
Les neiges du Kilimandjaro (director Robert Guédiguian)
Skoonheid (director Oliver Hermanus)
The Day He Arrives (director Hong Sangsoo)
Hong Sangsoo (director Cristián Jiménez)
Tatsumi (director Eric Khoo)
Arirang (director Kim Ki-duk)
Et maintenant on va où? (director Nadine Labaki)
Loverboy (director Catalin Mitulescu)
Yellow Sea (director Na Hong-jin)
Miss Bala (dir. Gerardo Naranjo)
Trabalhar cansa (Travailler Fatigue) (directors Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra)
L’exercice de l’Etat (director Pierre Schoeller)
Toomelah (director Ivan Sen)
Oslo, August 31st (director Joachim Trier)

Labrador (director Frederikke Aspöck)
Wu Xia (director Chan Peter Ho-Sun)
Days of Grace (director Everardo Gout)
Le Maitre Des Forges De L’Enfre (director. Rithy Panh)
Michael Petrucciani (director Michael Radford)
Tous Au Larzac (director Christian Rouaud)