lostatmidnight

Interested in Gallo's new film 'Brown Bunny' and how that is received...

Grimfarrow

Just to stir the pot once more with Lars von Trier's gigantic bombshell "Dogville", which reverberated across Cannes like an earthquake. Critics seem to be completely bowled over, while a group of people absolutely hate it. What else is new?

One thing I really like about von Trier is that he could care less about anyone else. Even though I don't always agree with him. he still just does the negatives *so* well!

Here goes:

“This film is not a comment on America how it is, it is only a comment on how America is in my head,” he replied when asked if his film was anti-American. “I feel like an American actually. Ich bin ein American. These images that come to me; I’m not talking about how America is because I don’t know. I’d love to start a free America campaign because we just had a free Iraq campaign. You can say I’m a communist, I’m not. But I would like to free America because I see a lot of s--t in America from over here. I’m not able to go to America right now because I don’t think America is how it should be. And you say, ‘Wow, how can you say anything about how America should be?’ Well I’m doing it. I’m sorry, and if you don’t like it just forget it.”
"

Giles

Even with Kidman starring in it, US distribution for "Dogville" seems extemely limited at the least.

When is the new Peter Greenaway's film getting screened?. I am very curious what the critics will think of it.

Pants

That's funny, I could care less about anyone else but everyone around here just tells me I'm an ass hole

I love that quote. Talk about stream of consciousness! What the hell is he saying? Has a date been set for this film's release.

Butch Coolidge

You're kidding right ?
Your bloody suburbia blocks look all the same countrywide :-)

Ever been to London you'll see how diverse a city can be.

And BTW with the massive immigration Europe is facing today hope the folks are tolerant.

Grimfarrow

Well, a 3-hour film with dogs and houses actually drawn with CHALK is bound to never be commercial, regardless of Nicole, Lauren Bacall, etc.

Greenaway's latest will be screened on the 2nd last day.

Pants

I would hope so too. But all I hear from England is dirty Paki this and filthy Paki that. Doesn't strike me as particularly tolerant.

I will now submit the following list which is sure to be controversial:

The Entire Middle East: Most Intolerant place in the World no other race, religion, gender, or sexuality is tolerated. People within the same country even discriminate among each other

All of Eastern Asia (particularly Japan and China): Second Most Intolerant place in the World. No rights for women, everyone without slanted eyes is filthy untouchable gigan. Don't get me started on China!

Eastern Europe: They get third place. Genocide against Muslims. Street violence against Muslims. Muslim comunities and housing blocks get burned down. Why? Because they dared to immigrate in search of cheap jobs. We have our share of immagration problems in the USA, maybe we should start burning down the bario.

Africa: What can I say? I feel sorry for anyone born on the continent. Bad Times over there (by the way Eastern Europe, YES, you are worse than Africa. How does it feel?)

India: How is it that people of the same religion and same ethnicity can find ways to discriminate against each other?

Western Europe: Norway, England, France, all I ever here about are bloody Paki's. Way to be tolerant. France has like 30% popular vote go to a fasciast. Whatever?

America: Certainly has its problems. (One of their biggest being ME! I'm intolerant of all of you because you're so intolerant). But nowhere else will you find more religions, more ethnic groups, and more tollerant laws to defend them. Music and movies that get censored in all of the above countries (even England) are free to all in the USA. We have fasciasts run for office, they get 1/10 of one percent of the vote. We have immigrant problems, but we don't burn down anyones house. We have womens rights and minority rights. Sure we had some growing pains in the '50s and '60s, sure we killed all the Indians, but I'm talking about TODAY. All the stuff I listed above is happening TODAY!!!

I ask you all:

Where would you rather be a gay man? Colombia or America?

Where would you rather be an immigrant laborer? Yugoslavia or America?

Where would you rather be a woman? Africa or America?

Where would you rather be a non-asian on vacation? Tokyo or Washington DC?

Where would you rather be a Christian? China or America?

Where would you rather be a Wiccan? Iran or America

Now I'm not saying we're perfect, I'm just saying we're better than you

And Butch if you want to criticize us for our Suburban Architecture take a look at the working class row houses of Liverpool. Sure they've got character (everything that's 400 years old does) but they're really just miles and miles of identical dung heap hovels. And forget London, if you want to see a real diverse city try New York.

Anyway, how about that Cannes film festival

P.S. This is what you get when I get riled up before my coffee.

Grimfarrow

Where would I rather be a gay man?
Certainly not the US, where the laws are sitll about 30 years behind those of countries like the Netherlands and Belgium. Don't even go into the anti-sodomy laws still enforced in some states.

Where would I rather be a woman?
Considering that both India and Pakistan has had women prime ministers, at least they have the chance to ascend to the highest power, unlike the US where a woman has not EVEN been a Vice President before. One of the most socially backwards aspect of the US, truthfully.

Where would I rather be an immigrant laborer?
Yemen, because they pay the most, and they even provide benefits for them. Just ask how many Mexicans in the US about how THEY are treated.

Sorry Pants, but your rebuttals just do not work. As someone who has lived in the US, Asia and Europe, I can tell you now that I'd prefer to live in the Netherlands or Switzerland rather than the US. Don't get me wrong, I love the US, but socially it is hardly as advanced as you think.

Anyways, moderator please cut all of these non-relevant comments out. I'd like to keep this about Cannes, please.

CitizenKaneRBud

Can't wait until Dogville arrives in the US. For me, Von Trier is very hit and miss, but I loved Breaking the Waves. Could this be the Palm D'or winner this year?

Also looking forward to seeing the response for Eastwood's Mystic River. Does anyone know if the Cannes closing ceremony will be televised? If so, on what channel?

Jepthah

Von Trier knows about as much about the USA as I know about Denmark--that is to say, something just slightly more than zero. He's stirring the s--t-pot, a tried and true occupation at Cannes, to get attention. His 'reputation' means nothing to me. His films are uneven and he is full of himself. I applaud Kidman for taking chances with him, but his movie is going to stand or fall on its own merits, and I am getting more than a little sick and tired of his 'Joan of Arc' retreads. He should make his next movie and title it "Famous Hollywood Actress/Pop-Star Gets Whipped, Urinated Upon and Verbally Browbeaten In Murky Lighting" The presales I'm sure would go through the roof.

Pants

yeah, Pakistan and Yeman. Those are great countries to live in. A woman prime minister? Yes. Civil rights for the other 200 million people? No.

Grimfarrow

I think the point is that the US should be ashamed that countries with history of repression (especially in a Muslim country like Pakistan) have already elected women Prime Ministers, and overall has a better track record of minorities in power (like Alberto Fujimori - his corruptions aside, he *was* elected). That the US is still far backwards in terms of providing equal opportunity to all for high positions of office is a note that the so-called "civil rights advancement" really is more smoke-and-mirrors that are hidden under the thick veil of PC-ness and media gloss-overs.

In any case, I have moved my daily Cannes 2003 reports to my website - including the reaction to Vincent Gallo's "Brown Bunny". Post your opinions here if you'd like.

MrN

Pants, how many different countries have you lived in, to be able to criticize them in broad strokes? Isn't it hyprocritical of you to say von Trier shouldn't disparage a country he hasn't visited, yet you rant uncheked and decaffienated?

It is exactly this 'America can do no wrong' attitude that rubs the rest of the world the wrong way, coupled with the pseudo-colonization policy.

Can we get back to Cannes now?

Still enjoying the reports Grim.

I'm glad to hear that the Haneke film was well received.

And in answer to the question about the closing ceremonies, IFC will be broadcasting it several times Sunday. I think its earliest showing is 10:00 am on Sunday (pacific time.)

Louis-Olivier

I've lived in england, US and canada

and i'd much rather live in Canada! (oh wait i do!)

Try that for the most tolerant place.

Jaymole

Check out what Roger Ebert has to say:

www.suntimes.com/output/eb-feature/cst-ftr-cannes22.html

lostatmidnight

I still love Gallo....
The press conference he gave sounded like a riot as well...sounds like it would make a great dvd extra...

also,
keep up the good work Grimfarrow...


edited for a link....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/internatio...961011,00.html

and here's a guy who called it "transcendental"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main...ixartleft.html

Grimfarrow

Cannes Day 9: Yawn

What a difference a few days make.

It now seems like an eternity since the whole croisette was buzzing about Dogville, Lars von Trier's latest provocation. Instead, the debate that rages now is about a single film: Vincent Gallo's "Brown Bunny", and how bad each person thought it was.

Probably never in the history of Cannes had a film been so hotly chased after BECAUSE of how supposedly bad it is. After news about the press screening got out, people flocked to the rest of the screenings to see it. Heh.

Even Roger Ebert, that ever-so-proletarian of reviewer, said unequivocally that Brown Bunny is "the worst film in the history of the festival". Now who can resist wanting to see it? I know that *I* want to see it now!

The scandal has so overshadowed Cannes that it actually has an effect on "Dogville". Initially thought to be the frontrunner for the Palm D'Or, critics are now second-guessing themselves and people who dislike the film are gaining momentum. That and the fact that nearly *everyone* liked Denys Arcand's "The Barbarian Invasion" has something to do with it.

Anyways, enough about Lars and Vincent.

1) Oh wait - "Dogville" wins the Palm Dog.

No joke - the "dog" in Dogville won the Palm Dog for best performance of a dog in the film. Never mind that the dog in Dogvile is actually chalk-drawn...

story.news.yahoo.com/news...nes_dog_dc

2) Claude Miller's "The Small Lilli"

The film is amiably received - but nothing exactly spectacular. Which means that this Chekovian film will disappear from everyone's mind in a day or so.

3) No other news - so back to Vincent Gallo.

Despite his fearsome reputation, Gallo claimed he had a softer side. "The most beautiful things about the world are deer and bunnies. Even in a carnivorous way I like them, they are my favourite meats. When I see them together I feel that is a safe place."

Read more about the hilarious lunacy here:

film.guardian.co.uk/canne...00,00.html

Note on "Brown Bunny":

A TERRIFIC review at Screendaily:

www.screendaily.com/story...ryid=12578

A theory began circulating in Cannes after the press showing of The Brown Bunny, Vincent Gallo¡¦s astonishingly self-indulgent second film as director (and producer, and scriptwriter, and... see the credits below for more details). The theory was that the whole thing was actually a wind-up perpetrated at the expense of the Cannes selectors, who must have been gagging to have the high-profile, prickly American maverick in competition. The beauty of the theory is that it sees Gallo setting himself a challenge: how boring can I make this film and still make the official Cannes selection? In a festival year that saw the US and France lock horns in a stand-off that was as much cultural as political, and in a festival whose most eagerly-awaited competition film, Lars von Trier¡¦s Dogville, was interpreted by a certain variety of critic as a rabid piece of anti-Americanism, Vincent Gallo has smuggled his all-American secret weapon into the heart of the Palais. "You want auteurs?" we hear him snicker in his strangled Buffalo drawl. "Okay: I¡¦m gonna be such a f**kin auteur I¡¦m gonna make Andrej Tarkovsky look like James f**kin¡¦ Cameron. And you know what else? I¡¦m gonna put the blow-job right at the end so you sit through the whole f**kin¡¦ two hours."

Pants

Every report from Cannes seems to indicate that not only are the films bad but the whole "vibe" is off. From the sounds of things a person would have a better weekend in the Bronx than on the croisette this year.

Pants

After reading Ebert's review it appears that Chloe Sevigny sucks Gallo's dick in a hardcore scene in Brown Bunny. How was this achieved? Did they really do it?

Giles

In a somewhat similiar vein, didn't I read somewhere the dog in "The Man Without A Past" won some award??

MrN

Here's a clip of that interveiw, where Gallo tells the story of Winona Ryder's brief involvement in the film:
http://www.filmfestivals.com/cgi-bin...&medi_id=20346

You'll need RealPlayer to view that clip.

William Fuld

Thanks for the link. Funny stuff.

Giles

when's "Swimming Pool" getting screened, can't wait to see a review, I saw the trailer (before "The Shape of Things") - looks very intriguing.

Grimfarrow

WINNER:

Palme D'Or:

Gus van Sant, "Elephant".

Grand Jury Prize:

Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "Uzak"

Jury Prize:

Samira Makhmalbaf's "At Five in the Afternoon"

Best Director:

Gus van Sant, "Elephant"

Best Actress:

Marie-Josée Croze in "The Barbarian Invasion"

Best Actor:

Two actors in "Uzak"

Best Screenplay:

Denys Arcand's "The Barbarian Invasion"

Camera D'Or:

Christoffer Boe's "Reconstruction"

Special Mention Camera D'Or:

Sedigh Barmak's "Osama"

Grimfarrow

So a low-down on the Competition awards:

2 for "Elephant" (Gus van Sant)
2 for "At Five in the Afternoon" (Samira Makhmalbaf)
2 for "The Barbarian Invasion" (Denys Arcand)
2 for "Uzak" (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
1 for "Father and Son" (Aleksandr Sokurov)

None for Dogville.
None for The Tulse Luper Suitcases Part I.
None for Brown Bunny.