12 Must See Films from Cannes ‘09 (plus one)

“The Time That Remains”, directed by Elia Suleiman
In the words of iW critic Eric Kohn, “Elia Suleiman’s ‘The Time That Remains’, an experimental reflection on the filmmaker’s family history in Palestine, embeds symbolism in nearly every shot.” The filmmaker’s latest, like his Cannes award winner “Divine Intervention” (2002) and Venice fest prize-winner “Chronicle of a Disappearance” (1996), offers a window into a broader situation from a private vantage point. Told with brightly colored imagery, using static shots to frame the scenes, Suleiman’s compelling new work - received quite warmly with an extended applause at a press screening here - evokes that of Jacques Tati and Buster Keaton. Suleiman plays himself in his movies. But, such comparisons are coincidental, the filmmaker reiterated in Cannes. He said he never watched Tati or Keaton before making his first film, yet he admits seeing a resemblance when he watches his own movies as a viewer. “In this big world [with] so many people doing art and film it’s bound to happen.”

“The White Ribbon”, directed by Michael Haneke
This is an easy one for inclusion on this list, after all it won the Palme d’Or. But, even before taking Cannes’ top prize, Michael Haneke’s latest was winning praises. So, Puritanical lives and all its contradictions aren’t necessarily an American monopoly, this story is set in Protestant Germany prior to the war.  “Pairing visual mastery with a quietly immersive story, ‘The White Ribbon’ plays like a morbid version of ‘Our Town,’” said iW’s review of the film last week. ““It’s about the roots of evil,” Haneke explained during a press conference in Cannes. The film looks closely at kids (and at the adults who influence them) in a project he’d been working on for almost ten years. Sony Classics nabbed the movie for U.S. distribution days before the festival began.

“Vincere”, directed by Marco Bellocchio
In the waning hours of the Cannes Film Festival, word spread that “Vincere” would be the jurors choice for the top prize in Cannes (and, we could’ve sworn we spotted the film’s star, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, in an official Cannes car being chauffered around on the day of the ceremony). But alas, the film came up empty-handed on awards night. Not without garnering great buzz at the festival, though. The film surrounds the family trauma of a self-made man and the mother of his first son in the early decades of the 20th century. Maybe something not unheard of, except that the man is Benito Mussolini. ““Ida is a woman who fell madly in love with this man who shared her ideals,” said Bellocchio in Cannes. The Italian filmmaker said that she naturally became enraged with Mussolini who she became obsessed over and hated simultaneously. Tidbits of their relationship are preserved in documents, but many details are missing.

A bonus Film that will undoubtedly not need our attention, but….

“Up”, directed by Pete Docter
Universally praised from the moment it screened on the opening day of the festival, the latest Pixar film—this one in 3-D, had folks talking on the Croisette. Here at iW, we called it, “a grand visual spectacle on a big screen, pulling viewers into a striking three dimensional world and eschewing the sort of visual sight gags found in typical 3-D movies. Quite emotional at times, some viewers had to wipe tears from beneath their 3-D glasses while experiencing the emotional story of an aging man and a young boy who set out on a dramatic adventure together.” “Up” may not be on the top of every cineaste’s “must see” list among this year’s Cannes crop, but as a vet from the film business said one night at the Grand Hotel in Cannes, “It’s Pixar!”

[Eugene Hernandez contributed to this article.]