2010 Cannes: Surprises & Snubs In The Official Lineup

So the almost complete official lineup for the 63rd Cannes Film Festival arrived earlier this morning. As always, the list was exciting and surprising both for what was included and what didn’t make the prestigious festival that is the unofficial kick off for the upcoming year of films. This year, in a mad dash to watch all the films that were submitted and in order to give a few films more time to finish up (*ahem* “Tree Of Life”), the Cannes organizers have left five slots on their traditionally 20 strong In Competition programming open, so some of the films below may end up getting slotted in the upcoming weeks.

Ok, so the most talked announcement this morning was the one that wasn’t made at all. We can’t say we’re too surprised that Terrence Malick’s “Tree Of Life” wasn’t mentioned. With festival organizers earlier in the week quietly announcing that this morning’s announcement wouldn’t be complete and that few more titles would be announced in the upcoming weeks, it was pretty much another way of saying “Yeah, Terrence Malick’s film still isn’t done yet but we really really really hope it does get done soon.” Depending on who you talk to, the selection committee has either seen it or they haven’t but we’re hedging our bets that “Tree Of Life” will not make the festival. Why? Malick likes to work at his own pace and the idea of him rushing the film out of the gate just doesn’t make sense. Bear in mind, his last film “The New World” had three different cuts: 135 min. theatrical release, 150 min. Academy cut screened for critics and a 172 min. extended DVD version. Bear in mind that’s on top of the release date of the film being bumped a full year to let Malick more time to edit the film. His prior film, “The Thin Red Line” went through a post-production period over a year long before it finally was released. If “Tree Of Life” does show up at Cannes don’t expect it to resemble the version you’ll eventually see in the theaters.

“Tree Of Life” aside, the biggest surprise this morning has been some of the major, favored French films (that are pretty much shoo-ins) that are curiously absent. Francois Ozon’s “Potiche” — starring Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu no less and Olivier Assayas’ crime epic “Carlos” are both nowhere to be found. Both director’s have previously been festival favorites so their exclusion here is a bit surprising. We’re hearing that “Carlos” is being held hostage by Malick’s “Tree Of Life”; if Malick’s film is done in time, Assayas’ picture will get the boot. Hmm…..

Another high profile film that seemed to be a sure thing was Julian Schnabel’s Israeli-Palestinian conflict examination “Miral,” starring Willem Dafoe, Alexander Siddig and Freida Pinto. Word is that Cannes had accepted the film and invited it to screen in a slot outside of Competition programming but Schanabel declined, opting to premiere the film at Venice instead. Other likely candidates like Julie Bertucelli’s “The Tree” starring last year’s Cannes Best Actress winner Charlotte Gainsbourg and festival favorite Susanna Bier’s latest “The Revenge” are also absent. Arthouse favorite and legendary filmmaker Bela Tarr was also seen as likely favorite, but his “The Turin Horse” is absent, though we suspect that it probably means its not finished, but it is reportedly his last film. Update: A commenter reveals below that Tarr’s film is still in post-production and needs a couple of days worth of reshoots. Venice perhaps?

Other films we expected to see were Vincent Gallo’s “Promises Written In The Watter” and Errol Morris’ “Tabloid” however both of those film’s seem like good candidates for The Director’s Fortnight, and parallel film festival that runs pretty much at the same time as the Cannes Film Festival proper.

So what surprised us this year? Playlist favorite Mathieu Amalric earning a competition slot with his third feature effort “Tournée”; a fact more surprising consider the two bigger films from his more notable French contemporaries are absent.

The Un Certain Regard segment of the festival holds perhaps holds the most interesting selections. “The Ring” director Hideo Nakata makes his first Cannes appearance with the Brit teen drama (yes, you’re reading that correctly) “Chatroom.” The film is based on a play by “Hunger” scribe Enda Walsh, stars Aaron Johnson (“Kick-Ass”) and Imogen Poots (“Cracks,” “Centurion”) and from what we’ve been told by someone who worked on the film, the production design is “crazy.” We’re very glad to see 101-year-old director Manoel de Oliveira still at it as his latest “O estranho caso de Angelica” (“The Strange Case Of Angelica”). Young Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan, who went home with three awards from Cannes last year for his debut “I Killed My Mother” has a slot for his sophomore effort “Les amours imaginaires.” He showed a distinct eye and a unique voice with his first feature so we’re definitely curious about his followup (it hits theaters in Canada in June). We’re also pleased to see Derek Cianfrance’s already buzzed about and highly anticipated relationship drama “Blue Valentine,” if only because it shows the Weinsteins seem committed to backing the film all the way up to its Oscar-baiting December 31st release date.

Other film’s we’re curious about are Gregg Araki’s “Kaboom” which we hope is more “Mysterious Skin” than “Doom Generation.” Also, despite many reports to the contrary, it looks like Stephen Frears hustled to get his graphic novel adaptation of “Tamara Drewe” in the can.

Update: We’ve also heard that Tom Tykwer’s “Drei,” also considered a likely candidate among early speculators, was never screened for festival organizers and is still being edited with an eye towards a Venice premiere (there’s also an interesting comment about Bela Tarr‘s “Turin House” in our comments section below, apparently it was not ready either. Bummer for Tarr. If this is indeed his last picture — as he’s claimed and we believe him — you’d think it would be fitting for him to bow out at the Croisette).

That all’s for now; but the lead up to the festival should be more interesting than usual as festival organizers still have a few surprises left up their sleeve that could change the shape of what will unfold on the Croisette in May. The Cannes Film Festival kicks off on May 12 and runs until the 24th.