Cannes. Je veux voir.

"Where is Ali G or Borat to do a post-screening interview with Catherine Deneuve about this doc in which she takes a field-trip through the war rubble of Lebanon?" asks Duane Byrge, reviewing Je veux voir for the Hollywood Reporter.

"Ali G wants to know: Will a new cutting-edge fragrance emerge from the adventure; will Mid-east peace talks be spurred by the appearance of an international star amid the ruins, will her hoop ear-rings inspire Hillary Clinton to spruce up her pants-suit ensemble; will the trek inspire reality-show producers to launch Paris Hilton into Darfur?"

Updated through 5/23.

"The idea here is surreal," concedes Howard Feinstein in Screen Daily. "The film-making couple of [Joana] Hadjithomas and [Khalil] Joreige, who proved their imaginative skills with the 2005 Lebanese-set fiction A Perfect Day, succeeded in making it happen. And brilliantly."

"An uneasy mix of scripted scenario, improvisation and surprising reality, pic professes to want to show destruction wrought during Lebanon's 2006 summer war through the French star's eyes, but seems more concerned with capturing her image as she's trundled about," writes Alissa Simon. "Mostly as stiff as her perfectly coifed hair, a tired-looking Deneuve appears as if she feels every bump in the road."

Un Certain Regard.

Update, 5/23: James Mottram profiles Deneuve for the London Times.

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Coverage of the coverage: Cannes 08.

Last year: Cannes @ 60. And Cannes 06.

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Posted by dwhudson at May 19, 2008 12:54 AM