Cannes. To Each His Own Cinema.

"The specter of the death of cinema and the communal movie experience hangs like an ironic shroud over To Each His Own Cinema [Chacun son cinéma], a mostly engaging compilation of 33 three-minute films made by leading international auteurs on the occasion of the Cannes Film Festival's 60th birthday," writes Variety's Todd McCarthy, who notes, too, that the collection will be released on DVD in France on Friday. "As such compilations go, this one is somewhat better than the norm, as quite a few of the entries are imaginative, engaging and/or interestingly personal; even the bad ones have the virtue of brevity."

Anthony Kaufman finds it "a dazzling and memorable array of current auteur cinema," and he, too, lists some of his favorites - and least favorites. "Dare we report the Dardenne brothers' three-and-a-half-minute short is more profound than most of the films that have shown in this year's competition, so far?"

But it's not the film itself that's had the wires buzzing today. "[C]omplaining about the 'poverty' of the questions," Roman Polanski walked out of the press conference, reports Variety's Alison James. Anyone who's sat through these give-us-a-soundbite grillings can sympathize, but still, walking out is a bit showy. "Even before his early exit, Polanski was the center of attention during the discussion, fielding numerous questions and then engaging Atom Egoyan in a debate about the future of cinema," notes iW's Eugene Hernandez, who then carries on with quotes from a slew of the other directors on hand. More from Reuters' Bob Tourtellotte.

Update, 5/21: Peter Brunette at Screen Daily: "Most critics roll their eyes, with good reason, at the mere mention of a 'compilation film' but fully 80 percent - a huge number - of the sequences of Chacun Son Cinema run from good through very good to excellent."

Update, 5/22: "It may take more than 35 lawyers to figure out how to get this film distributed to cinemas around the globe, but the film truly deserves a wide audience," writes Kirk Honeycutt in the Hollywood Reporter. "It speaks to the communal experience of watching movies and dreaming in the dark. If ever a film demonstrates the love of movies across all cultures, this is the one."

Update, 5/25: "The film's collective conclusion, give or take a segment or two: cinema isn't what it used to be," writes Sheila Johnston in the Independent. "Not that it was at all gloomy.... It's tempting to suggest that such a brisk running time should be mandatory for all contestants in the main competition."

Update, 5/31: Filmbrain reminds us that, if we have the means, we can get our hands on the DVD - though it may be missing the Coens' contribution.

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Cannes @ 60. Index.

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Posted by dwhudson at May 20, 2007 2:36 PM