PARIS — Although the four American films selected for competition at next month's Cannes International Film Festival represent the most from an individual country, selections reflect a shift back to auteurs with less of the glitz and controversy of 2004.
After a grueling selection process that involved screening more than 1,500 entries from 97 countries, "there were two bits of white smoke today," festival artistic director Thierry Fremaux joked Tuesday. "A new pope was announced, and we announced the Cannes selection."
"The more we look at nationality, the more complicated it is," Fremaux said. "Overall, we hope to take a journey through the history and geography of cinema."
Many Cannes habitues will mark return engagements, including Gus Van Sant, Jim Jarmusch, Lars von Trier, Wim Wenders, David Cronenberg and Amos Gitai. In all, nine films are English-language.
The 58th edition of the festival unfolds May 11 to May 22 in the French Riviera town. At the concurrent market, films are bought and sold, and financing comes together for movies that are only a gleam in filmmakers' eyes.
George Lucas' final "Star Wars" installment, "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," will screen out of competition on May 15, four days before it opens in the U.S. Shane Black's "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang," starring Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jr., will get an out-of-competition midnight showing. Another midnight event will screen 20 minutes of George Romero's "Land of the Dead." The closing film, Martha Fiennes' "Chromophobia," re-teams her brother Ralph with his "English Patient" costar, Kristin Scott Thomas. Woody Allen's British-backed "Match Point" also screens out of competition.
Actor Tommy Lee Jones' feature directorial debut, "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada," will screen in competition and is the sole first effort among the batch, which makes Jones eligible for the Golden Camera award for first-time filmmakers. The film, produced by Luc Besson's EuropaCorp., was written by Guillermo Arriaga of "Amores Perros" and "21 Grams" fame and costars Dwight Yoakam and Barry Pepper.
Three other American films to make the cut are Van Sant's "Last Days," Jarmusch's "Broken Flowers" and Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's "Sin City." Van Sant's musical drama "Last Days" stars Michael Pitt as Nirvana's Kurt Cobain.
