At press time, the race for the Palme d’Or was still a crap shoot, but in Cannes, just being there is its own reward. ““Cannes is a miracle,’’ says actor Gary Oldman, whose directorial debut, ““Nil by Mouth,’’ is in the competition as well. ““It’s a shrine.’’ But just being there doesn’t mean just being there. There’s too much to do. The ““Confidential’’ entourage welcomed itself to town with a dinner at the Carlton Hotel Tuesday night. Producer Arnon Milchan sponsored asparagus tips and foie gras for 100; his thanks was author Ellroy’s growled impersonation: ““We’re going to make some money here!’’ From the Carlton they went off to drinks on a yacht leased by producer Andy Vajna, and then, around 1 a.m., to the Palais des Festivals to fine-tune the projection and sound equipment. Another ““Confidential’’ cast member, Danny DeVito, stood onstage, his palm-size camcorder capturing the scene. ““I love this s–t,’’ he said.
The next day the ““L.A. Confidential’’ team met the press. Ellroy explained his tale: ““This is a story about bad white men doing bad things in the name of authority.’’ Basinger fielded questions about her wardrobe. DeVito was again rolling tape, this time of the swarms of journalists photographing him. ““I love this business so much,’’ he said. And so did Hanson that night. As the lights came up after his film’s screening, the audience was on its feet, applauding. ““Tears came to my eyes,’’ he said later. Producer Milchan capped off the fun with a bash at a villa with a glittering view of the Mediterranean. The sit-down dinner for 300 must have cost a fortune; the fireworks weren’t cheap, either. But nobody worried about that. Champagne-powered partyers danced until dawn, just being there.
DAVID ANSEN
FOR ALL THE FIREWORKS illuminating Cannes’s 50th anniversary, the celebratory spirit wilted in the face of the most disappointing competition in years. The culminating moment came when frustrated movie journalists booed, jeered and whistled at Mathieu Kassovitz’s bogus, ultraviolent ““Assassin(s).’’ Maybe there were no great films out there this year - and China pulled Zhang Yimou’s ““Keep Cool’’ - but some of the festival’s choices defy reason. Celebrity directors may guarantee headlines; still, showing Johnny Depp’s painfully sincere ““The Brave’’ did no one any favors.
On the brighter side of the competition, there was Atom Egoyan’s hypnotic, grief- infused ““The Sweet Hereafter.’’ Taken from a Russell Banks novel, it movingly explores the impact of a schoolbus accident on a small town. For stylistic magic, nothing surpassed the poetic grunge of Wong Kar-Wai’s ““Happy Together,’’ a study of two deracinated gay Hong Kong lovers adrift in Buenos Aires. Hollywood could hold its head up high with its juicy film noir ““L.A. Confidential,’’ in which director Curtis Hanson brings James Ellroy’s novel of ’50s cops and corruption to rancid, racy life. A solid American independent, Ang Lee’s ““The Ice Storm,’’ evokes 1973 suburban Connecticut with Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver. Outside the competition, there were happ y discoveries: ““Ma Vie en Rose,’’ a charmingly quirky tale of a 7-year-old boy who wants to be a girl, and the sly and funny ““Love and Death on Long Island,’’ in which an English novelist (John Hurt) becomes obsessed with an American teen idol (Jason Priestley). In a nonvintage year, these were among the pick of the harvest.
