Monday, May 14, 2012

Films in Competition at Cannes: M-Z

The Cannes Film Festival gets underway this week with 22 films in competition. Here's a look at each one. All info and pictures courtesy: http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en.html


MOONRISE KINGDOM 



Directed by : Wes ANDERSON

Country: USA

Year: 2012

Duration: 93.00 minutes


SYNOPSIS

Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two 12-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 every which way.

CREDITS

Wes ANDERSON - Director

Wes ANDERSON - Screenplay

Roman COPPOLA - Screenplay

Robert YEOMAN ASC - Cinematography

Adam STOCKHAUSEN - Set Designer

Alexandre DESPLAT - Music

ACTORS

Bruce WILLIS - CAPTAIN SHARP

Edward NORTON - SCOUT MASTER WARD

Bill MURRAY - MR. BISHOP

Frances MCDORMAND - MRS. BISHOP

Tilda SWINTON - SOCIAL SERVICES

Jason SCHWARTZMAN - COUSIN BEN

Bob BALABAN - The narrator

Jared GILMAN - SAM

Kara HAYWARD - SUZY



MUD 



Directed by : Jeff NICHOLS

Country: USA

Year: 2012

Duration: 130.00 minutes

SYNOPSIS

Mud is an adventure about two boys, Ellis and his friend Neckbone, who find a man named Mud hiding out on an island in the Mississippi. Mud describes fantastic scenarios - he killed a man in Texas and vengeful bounty hunters are coming to get him. He says he is planning to meet and escape with the love of his life, Juniper, who is waiting for him in town. Skeptical but intrigued, Ellis and Neckbone agree to help him. It isn’t long until Mud’s visions come true and their small town is besieged by a beautiful girl with a line of bounty hunters in tow.

CREDITS

Jeff NICHOLS - Director

Jeff NICHOLS - Screenplay

Adam STONES - Cinematography

David WINGO - Music

Julie MONROE - Film Editor

Ethan ANDRUS - Sound

ACTORS

Matthew MCCONAUGHEY - MUD

Reese WHITHERSPOON - JUNIPER

Tye SHERIDAN - ELLIS

Jacob LOFLAND - NECKBONE

Sam SHEPARD - TOM BLANKENSHIP

Ray MCKINNON - SENIOR

Sarah PAULSON - MARY LEE

Michael SHANNON - GALEN





ON THE ROAD 



Directed by : Walter SALLES

Country: FRANCE, BRAZIL

Year: 2012

Duration: 137.00 minutes

SYNOPSIS

Just after his father’s death, Sal Paradise, an aspiring New York writer, meets Dean Moriarty, a devastatingly charming ex-con, married to the very liberated and seductive Marylou. Sal and Dean bond instantly. Determined not to get locked in to a constricted life, the two friends cut their ties and take to the road with Marylou. Thirsting for freedom, the three young people head off in search of the world, of other encounters, and of themselves.

CREDITS

Walter SALLES - Director

Jose RIVERA - Screenplay

Eric GAUTIER - AFC - Cinematography

Carlos CONTI - Set Designer

Gustavo SANTAOLALLA - Music

François GEDIGIER - Film Editor

ACTORS

Garrett HEDLUND - Dean Moriarty

Sam RILEY - Sal Paradise

Kristen STEWART - Marylou

Amy ADAMS - Jane Lee

Tom STURRIDGE - Carlo Marx

Elisabeth MOSS - Galatea Dunkel

Kirsten DUNST - Camille

Viggo MORTENSEN - Old Bull Lee




PARADIES: LIEBE  



Directed by : Ulrich SEIDL

Country: AUSTRIA, GERMANY, FRANCE

Year: 2012

Duration: 120.00 minutes

SYNOPSIS

On Kenya’s beaches they are known as "sugar mamas": European women who seek out African boys selling love to earn a living. Teresa, a 50-year-old Austrian woman, travels to this vacation paradise. "PARADISE: Love" tells of older women and young men, of Europe and Africa, and of the exploited, who end up exploiting others. Ulrich Seidl’s film is the first in his PARADISE-Trilogy about three women, three vacations and three stories of the longing to find happiness today.

CREDITS

Ulrich SEIDL - Director

Veronika FRANZ - Screenplay

Ulrich SEIDL - Screenplay

Ed LACHMAN - Cinematography

Wolfgang THALER - Cinematography

Andreas DONHAUSER - Set Designer

Maribel MARTIN - Set Designer

Christof SCHERTENLEIB - Film Editor

Ekkehart BAUMUNG - Sound

ACTORS

Margarethe TIESEL - Teresa

Peter KAZUNGU - Munga

Inge MAUX - Teresa's friend




POST TENEBRAS LUX 



Directed by : Carlos REYGADAS

Country: MEXICO, FRANCE, GERMANY, NETHERLANDS

Year: 2012

Duration: 120.00 minutes

SYNOPSIS

Juan and his urban family live in the Mexican countryside, where they enjoy and suffer a world apart. And nobody knows if these two worlds are complementary or if they strive to eliminate one another.

CREDITS

Carlos REYGADAS - Director

Carlos REYGADAS - Screenplay

Alexis ZABE - Cinematography

Nohemi GONZALEZ - Set Designer

Natalia LOPEZ - Film Editor

Gilles LAURENT - Sound

ACTORS

Adolfo JIMENEZ CASTRO

Nathalia ACEVEDO

Willebaldo TORRES

Rut REYGADAS

Eleazar REYGADAS




REALITY 



Directed by : Matteo GARRONE

Country: ITALY, FRANCE

Year: 2012

Duration: 115.00 minutes

SYNOPSIS

Luciano is a Neapolitan fishmonger who supplements his modest income by pulling off little scams together with his wife Maria. A likeable, entertaining guy, Luciano never misses an opportunity to perform for his customers and countless relatives. One day his family urge him to try out for Big Brother. In chasing this dream his perception of reality begins to change.

CREDITS

Matteo GARRONE - Director

Maurizio BRAUCCI - Screenplay

Ugo CHITI - Screenplay

Matteo GARRONE - Screenplay

Massimo GAUDIOSO - Screenplay

Marco ONORATO - Cinematography

Paolo BONFINI - Set Designer

Alexandre DESPLAT - Music

Marco SPOLETINI - Film Editor

ACTORS

Aniello ARENA - Luciano

Loredana SIMIOLI - Maria

Nando PAONE - Michele

Raffele FERRANTE - Enzo




THE ANGELS' SHARE 



Directed by : Ken LOACH

Country: UNITED KINGDOM, FRANCE, BELGIUM, ITALY

Year: 2012

Duration: 106.00 minutes

SYNOPSIS

A bittersweet comedy about a Glasgow boy locked in a family feud who just wants a way out. When Robbie sneaks into the maternity hospital to visit his young girlfriend Leonie and hold his newborn son Luke for the first time, he is overwhelmed. He swears that Luke will not lead the same stricken life he has led.

On community service Robbie meets Rhino, Albert and Mo for whom, like him, work is little more than a distant dream. Little did Robbie imagine that turning to drink might change their lives - not cheap fortified wine, but the best malt whiskies in the world. What will it be for Robbie? More violence and vendettas or a new future with 'Uisge Beatha,' the 'Water of Life'? Only the angels know...

CREDITS

Ken LOACH - Director

Paul LAVERTY - Screenplay

Robbie RYAN - Cinematography

Fergus CLEGG - Set Designer

George FENTON - Music

Jonathan MORRIS - Film Editor

Ray BECKETT - Sound

ACTORS

Paul BANNIGAN - Robbie

John HENSHAW - Harry

Gary MAITLAND - Albert

Jasmin RIGGINS - Mo

William RUANE - Rhino

Roger ALLAM - Thaddeus

Siobhan REILLY - Leonie




THE PAPERBOY

 
Directed by : Lee DANIELS

Country: USA

Year: 2012

Duration: 107.00 minutes


SYNOPSIS

The story of a young man who returns to his small Florida home town to help his reporter brother uncover the truth about a man on death row, who might have been wrongly convicted. In the process, he falls for the convict’s lover. Conflict, danger, deceit, seduction and betrayal ensue.

CREDITS

Lee DANIELS - Director

Lee DANIELS - Screenplay

Pete DEXTER - Screenplay

Pete DEXTER - Based on the novel by

Roberto SCHAEFER ASC - Cinematography

Daniel T. DORRANCE - Set Designer

Mario GRIGOROV - Music

Joe KLOTZ - Film Editor

ACTORS

Matthew MCCONAUGHEY - Ward Jansen

Zac EFRON - Jack Jansen

David OYELOWO - Yardley Acheman

Macy GRAY - Anita

John CUSACK - Hillary Van Wetter

Nicole KIDMAN - Charlotte Bless



V TUMANE (IN THE FOG) 



Directed by : Sergei LOZNITSA

Country: GERMANY, NETHERLANDS, LATVIA, RUSSIA

Year: 2012

Duration: 127.00 minutes

SYNOPSIS

Western frontiers of the USSR, 1942. The region is under German occupation, and local partisans are fighting a brutal resistance campaign.

A train is derailed not far from the village, where Sushenya, a rail worker, lives with his family. Innocent Sushenya is arrested with a group of saboteurs, but the German officer makes a decision not to hang him with the others and sets him free. Rumours of Sushenya’s treason spread quickly, and partisans Burov and Voitik arrive from the forest to get revenge.

As the partisans lead their victim through the forest, they are ambushed, and Sushenya finds himself one-to-one with his wounded enemy.

Deep in an ancient forest, where there are neither friends nor enemies, and where the line between treason and heroism disappears, Sushenya is forced to make a moral choice under immoral circumstances.

CREDITS

Sergei LOZNITSA - Director

Sergei LOZNITSA - Screenplay

Oleg MUTU - Cinematography

Kirill SHUVALOV - Set Designer

Danielius KOKANAUSKIS - Film Editor

Vladimir GOLOVNITSKI - Sound

ACTORS

Vladimir SVIRSKI - Souchénia

Vlad ABASHIN - Bourov

Sergeï KOLESOV - Voïtik

Vlad IVANOV - Le Commandant en chef

Julia PERESILD - Anelia

Nikita PERETOMOVS - Gricha

Nadezhda MARKINA - La mère de Bourov



                 VOUS N'AVEZ ENCORE RIEN VU (YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET!) 



Directed by : Alain RESNAIS

Country: FRANCE, GERMANY

Year: 2012

Duration: 115.00 minutes

SYNOPSIS

From beyond the grave, celebrated playwright Antoine d’Anthac gathers together all his friends who have appeared over the years in his play "Eurydice". These actors watch a recording of the work performed by a young acting company, La Compagnie de la Colombe. Do love, life, death and love after death still have any place on a theater stage? It’s up to them to decide. And the surprises have only just begun...

CREDITS

Alain RESNAIS - Director

Laurent HERBIET - Screenplay

Alex RÉVAL - Screenplay

Eric GAUTIER - Cinematography

Jacques SAULNIER - Set Designer

Mark SNOW - Music

Hervé DE LUZE - Film Editor

Jean-Pierre DURET - Sound

Gérard HARDY - Sound

Gérard LAMPS - Sound

ACTORS

Sabine AZÉMA

Pierre ARDITI

Anne CONSIGNY

Lambert WILSON

Films in Competition at Cannes: M-Z

The Cannes Film Festival gets underway this week with 22 films in competition. Here's a look at each one. All info and pictures courtesy: http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en.html


MOONRISE KINGDOM 



Directed by : Wes ANDERSON

Country: USA

Year: 2012

Duration: 93.00 minutes


SYNOPSIS

Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two 12-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 every which way.

CREDITS

Wes ANDERSON - Director

Wes ANDERSON - Screenplay

Roman COPPOLA - Screenplay

Robert YEOMAN ASC - Cinematography

Adam STOCKHAUSEN - Set Designer

Alexandre DESPLAT - Music

ACTORS

Bruce WILLIS - CAPTAIN SHARP

Edward NORTON - SCOUT MASTER WARD

Bill MURRAY - MR. BISHOP

Frances MCDORMAND - MRS. BISHOP

Tilda SWINTON - SOCIAL SERVICES

Jason SCHWARTZMAN - COUSIN BEN

Bob BALABAN - The narrator

Jared GILMAN - SAM

Kara HAYWARD - SUZY



MUD 



Directed by : Jeff NICHOLS

Country: USA

Year: 2012

Duration: 130.00 minutes

SYNOPSIS

Mud is an adventure about two boys, Ellis and his friend Neckbone, who find a man named Mud hiding out on an island in the Mississippi. Mud describes fantastic scenarios - he killed a man in Texas and vengeful bounty hunters are coming to get him. He says he is planning to meet and escape with the love of his life, Juniper, who is waiting for him in town. Skeptical but intrigued, Ellis and Neckbone agree to help him. It isn’t long until Mud’s visions come true and their small town is besieged by a beautiful girl with a line of bounty hunters in tow.

CREDITS

Jeff NICHOLS - Director

Jeff NICHOLS - Screenplay

Adam STONES - Cinematography

David WINGO - Music

Julie MONROE - Film Editor

Ethan ANDRUS - Sound

ACTORS

Matthew MCCONAUGHEY - MUD

Reese WHITHERSPOON - JUNIPER

Tye SHERIDAN - ELLIS

Jacob LOFLAND - NECKBONE

Sam SHEPARD - TOM BLANKENSHIP

Ray MCKINNON - SENIOR

Sarah PAULSON - MARY LEE

Michael SHANNON - GALEN





ON THE ROAD 



Directed by : Walter SALLES

Country: FRANCE, BRAZIL

Year: 2012

Duration: 137.00 minutes

SYNOPSIS

Just after his father’s death, Sal Paradise, an aspiring New York writer, meets Dean Moriarty, a devastatingly charming ex-con, married to the very liberated and seductive Marylou. Sal and Dean bond instantly. Determined not to get locked in to a constricted life, the two friends cut their ties and take to the road with Marylou. Thirsting for freedom, the three young people head off in search of the world, of other encounters, and of themselves.

CREDITS

Walter SALLES - Director

Jose RIVERA - Screenplay

Eric GAUTIER - AFC - Cinematography

Carlos CONTI - Set Designer

Gustavo SANTAOLALLA - Music

François GEDIGIER - Film Editor

ACTORS

Garrett HEDLUND - Dean Moriarty

Sam RILEY - Sal Paradise

Kristen STEWART - Marylou

Amy ADAMS - Jane Lee

Tom STURRIDGE - Carlo Marx

Elisabeth MOSS - Galatea Dunkel

Kirsten DUNST - Camille

Viggo MORTENSEN - Old Bull Lee




PARADIES: LIEBE  



Directed by : Ulrich SEIDL

Country: AUSTRIA, GERMANY, FRANCE

Year: 2012

Duration: 120.00 minutes

SYNOPSIS

On Kenya’s beaches they are known as "sugar mamas": European women who seek out African boys selling love to earn a living. Teresa, a 50-year-old Austrian woman, travels to this vacation paradise. "PARADISE: Love" tells of older women and young men, of Europe and Africa, and of the exploited, who end up exploiting others. Ulrich Seidl’s film is the first in his PARADISE-Trilogy about three women, three vacations and three stories of the longing to find happiness today.

CREDITS

Ulrich SEIDL - Director

Veronika FRANZ - Screenplay

Ulrich SEIDL - Screenplay

Ed LACHMAN - Cinematography

Wolfgang THALER - Cinematography

Andreas DONHAUSER - Set Designer

Maribel MARTIN - Set Designer

Christof SCHERTENLEIB - Film Editor

Ekkehart BAUMUNG - Sound

ACTORS

Margarethe TIESEL - Teresa

Peter KAZUNGU - Munga

Inge MAUX - Teresa's friend




POST TENEBRAS LUX 



Directed by : Carlos REYGADAS

Country: MEXICO, FRANCE, GERMANY, NETHERLANDS

Year: 2012

Duration: 120.00 minutes

SYNOPSIS

Juan and his urban family live in the Mexican countryside, where they enjoy and suffer a world apart. And nobody knows if these two worlds are complementary or if they strive to eliminate one another.

CREDITS

Carlos REYGADAS - Director

Carlos REYGADAS - Screenplay

Alexis ZABE - Cinematography

Nohemi GONZALEZ - Set Designer

Natalia LOPEZ - Film Editor

Gilles LAURENT - Sound

ACTORS

Adolfo JIMENEZ CASTRO

Nathalia ACEVEDO

Willebaldo TORRES

Rut REYGADAS

Eleazar REYGADAS




REALITY 



Directed by : Matteo GARRONE

Country: ITALY, FRANCE

Year: 2012

Duration: 115.00 minutes

SYNOPSIS

Luciano is a Neapolitan fishmonger who supplements his modest income by pulling off little scams together with his wife Maria. A likeable, entertaining guy, Luciano never misses an opportunity to perform for his customers and countless relatives. One day his family urge him to try out for Big Brother. In chasing this dream his perception of reality begins to change.

CREDITS

Matteo GARRONE - Director

Maurizio BRAUCCI - Screenplay

Ugo CHITI - Screenplay

Matteo GARRONE - Screenplay

Massimo GAUDIOSO - Screenplay

Marco ONORATO - Cinematography

Paolo BONFINI - Set Designer

Alexandre DESPLAT - Music

Marco SPOLETINI - Film Editor

ACTORS

Aniello ARENA - Luciano

Loredana SIMIOLI - Maria

Nando PAONE - Michele

Raffele FERRANTE - Enzo




THE ANGELS' SHARE 



Directed by : Ken LOACH

Country: UNITED KINGDOM, FRANCE, BELGIUM, ITALY

Year: 2012

Duration: 106.00 minutes

SYNOPSIS

A bittersweet comedy about a Glasgow boy locked in a family feud who just wants a way out. When Robbie sneaks into the maternity hospital to visit his young girlfriend Leonie and hold his newborn son Luke for the first time, he is overwhelmed. He swears that Luke will not lead the same stricken life he has led.

On community service Robbie meets Rhino, Albert and Mo for whom, like him, work is little more than a distant dream. Little did Robbie imagine that turning to drink might change their lives - not cheap fortified wine, but the best malt whiskies in the world. What will it be for Robbie? More violence and vendettas or a new future with 'Uisge Beatha,' the 'Water of Life'? Only the angels know...

CREDITS

Ken LOACH - Director

Paul LAVERTY - Screenplay

Robbie RYAN - Cinematography

Fergus CLEGG - Set Designer

George FENTON - Music

Jonathan MORRIS - Film Editor

Ray BECKETT - Sound

ACTORS

Paul BANNIGAN - Robbie

John HENSHAW - Harry

Gary MAITLAND - Albert

Jasmin RIGGINS - Mo

William RUANE - Rhino

Roger ALLAM - Thaddeus

Siobhan REILLY - Leonie




THE PAPERBOY

 
Directed by : Lee DANIELS

Country: USA

Year: 2012

Duration: 107.00 minutes


SYNOPSIS

The story of a young man who returns to his small Florida home town to help his reporter brother uncover the truth about a man on death row, who might have been wrongly convicted. In the process, he falls for the convict’s lover. Conflict, danger, deceit, seduction and betrayal ensue.

CREDITS

Lee DANIELS - Director

Lee DANIELS - Screenplay

Pete DEXTER - Screenplay

Pete DEXTER - Based on the novel by

Roberto SCHAEFER ASC - Cinematography

Daniel T. DORRANCE - Set Designer

Mario GRIGOROV - Music

Joe KLOTZ - Film Editor

ACTORS

Matthew MCCONAUGHEY - Ward Jansen

Zac EFRON - Jack Jansen

David OYELOWO - Yardley Acheman

Macy GRAY - Anita

John CUSACK - Hillary Van Wetter

Nicole KIDMAN - Charlotte Bless



V TUMANE (IN THE FOG) 



Directed by : Sergei LOZNITSA

Country: GERMANY, NETHERLANDS, LATVIA, RUSSIA

Year: 2012

Duration: 127.00 minutes

SYNOPSIS

Western frontiers of the USSR, 1942. The region is under German occupation, and local partisans are fighting a brutal resistance campaign.

A train is derailed not far from the village, where Sushenya, a rail worker, lives with his family. Innocent Sushenya is arrested with a group of saboteurs, but the German officer makes a decision not to hang him with the others and sets him free. Rumours of Sushenya’s treason spread quickly, and partisans Burov and Voitik arrive from the forest to get revenge.

As the partisans lead their victim through the forest, they are ambushed, and Sushenya finds himself one-to-one with his wounded enemy.

Deep in an ancient forest, where there are neither friends nor enemies, and where the line between treason and heroism disappears, Sushenya is forced to make a moral choice under immoral circumstances.

CREDITS

Sergei LOZNITSA - Director

Sergei LOZNITSA - Screenplay

Oleg MUTU - Cinematography

Kirill SHUVALOV - Set Designer

Danielius KOKANAUSKIS - Film Editor

Vladimir GOLOVNITSKI - Sound

ACTORS

Vladimir SVIRSKI - Souchénia

Vlad ABASHIN - Bourov

Sergeï KOLESOV - Voïtik

Vlad IVANOV - Le Commandant en chef

Julia PERESILD - Anelia

Nikita PERETOMOVS - Gricha

Nadezhda MARKINA - La mère de Bourov



                 VOUS N'AVEZ ENCORE RIEN VU (YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET!) 



Directed by : Alain RESNAIS

Country: FRANCE, GERMANY

Year: 2012

Duration: 115.00 minutes

SYNOPSIS

From beyond the grave, celebrated playwright Antoine d’Anthac gathers together all his friends who have appeared over the years in his play "Eurydice". These actors watch a recording of the work performed by a young acting company, La Compagnie de la Colombe. Do love, life, death and love after death still have any place on a theater stage? It’s up to them to decide. And the surprises have only just begun...

CREDITS

Alain RESNAIS - Director

Laurent HERBIET - Screenplay

Alex RÉVAL - Screenplay

Eric GAUTIER - Cinematography

Jacques SAULNIER - Set Designer

Mark SNOW - Music

Hervé DE LUZE - Film Editor

Jean-Pierre DURET - Sound

Gérard HARDY - Sound

Gérard LAMPS - Sound

ACTORS

Sabine AZÉMA

Pierre ARDITI

Anne CONSIGNY

Lambert WILSON

Roma (2018) ✭✭✭✭✭

Alfonso Cuarón’s directorial career has dealt with everything from updated Dickens ( Great Expectations ) to twisted coming of age ( Y Tu Ma...