Field Guide to Cannes 2014: Films in Competition N-Z

The 67th annual Festival de Cannes opens May 14. Here's part two of a look at the films selected for the main competition. Also included are the latest betting odds (yes there are bookies who take action on Cannes) for entertainment purposes only.

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Saint Laurent (Bertrand Bonello, France)

This biopic of the iconic French designer stars Gaspard Ulliel, Louis Garrel and Lea Seydoux. Musician turned director Bonello has been in competition twice previously, with House of Pleasures (2011) and Tiresia (2003).

Odds 40/1

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The Search (Michel Hazanavicius, France)

A remake of Fred Zinnemann’s 1948 Oscar winner of the same title, this film stars Berenice Bejo and Annette Bening. Set amid the violence of Chechnya, expect a much darker tone than Hazanavicius’ previous hit The Artist (2011).

Odds 28/1

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Still the Water (Naomi Kawase, Japan)

Kawase and Alice Rohrwacher are the only female directors with films in competition this year. Still the Waters is a mystery/romance set on the Japanese island of Amami-Oshima. No stranger to Cannes, Kawase won the Grand Prix for 2007’s The Mourning Forest and the Camera d’Or for her 1997 debut, Suzaku.

Odds 10/1

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Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako, France)

Set in northern Mali, this film is all about a young couple who were stoned to death for "not being married before God." Sissako was previously selected for competition in 2006 for Baranko.

Odds 5/1

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Two Days, One Night (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Belgium)

The Belgian brothers are back with another tale of working class strife. Marion Cotillard stars as a woman trying to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses so she can keep her job. Olivier Gourmet and Fabrizio Rongione round out the cast. The film marks the Dardennes' sixth entry in Cannes competition and they've won the Palme d'Or twice; for Rosetta (1999) and L'enfant (2006). 

Odds 16/1

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Wild Tales (Damian Szifron, Argentina-Spain)

Szifron's first film to be selected by Cannes, Wild Tales is described as a series of comic sketches. Pedro Almodovar is one of the film's producers.

Odds 33/1

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Winter Sleep (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey-Germany-France)

Festival - and betting - favorite Ceylan is once again in competition with what appears to be another beautifully photographed drama set in the mysterious landscapes of rural Turkey. Ceylan won Best Director in 2008 for Three Monkeys and has taken the Grand Prix twice: in 2002 for Distant and in 2011 for Once Upon a Time in Anatolia but the Palme d'Or has thus far eluded him. Could this be the year?

Odds 3/1