Cannes 2010: Robin Hood

Apologies for the delay; work duties have eaten up valuable movie-viewing time, which I intend to rectify this afternoon with The Housemaid by Im Sang-Soo, a Korean remake that I've heard very good things about it. All I've caught so far is Robin Hood, which felt more like an Orange Wednesday than a premiere, especially since I'm writing this even after the readers have posted their opinions on the forum. I have to say, some of the criticisms of the film being voiced there completely echo my own, and Justin Chang's review in Variety perhaps caught the mood of the reaction here. Had the film been called The Archery Man, I might have been better disposed to it, but I did, appropriately enough for a film with an Episode I-like obsession with taxation, feel a little bit short-changed. Buzz-wise, though, it hasn't actually brought much razzle-dazzle: most of the press for the film was done Tuesday, so it already feels as if that particular circus has left town.

Later last night, I planned to see Mathieu Amalric's Tournée (On Tour), about a promoter who brings a troupe of American burlesque dancers to France. A ticket to the Robin Hood party got in the way of that, and so I gave it a miss. I juggled my schedule to see it on Friday, but from what I heard at the party, I may not bother. Even the most kind reviews have painted Tournée as sketchy and episodic, while some of my fellow partygoers were downright scathing. The party, at the Majestic Beach, was comparatively quiet for a Cannes first night, with the shortest fireworks display known to mankind ending with the words ROBIN DES BOIS lighting up the nearby jetty. Star-wise, it was low-key; Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett may or may not have been in the VIP area, and the only cast member I caught a glimpse of was Max Von Sydow (whose sight problems are sadly not restricted to his role in the movie). Oh, and Chris pointed out Frank Langella, who has nothing to do with the movie at all. It was a decent enough affair, with the same inappropriate rubbish disco band who played at the Taking Woodstock party last year, but we didn't stay all that long, especially when it became clear that Crowe wasn't, as was rumoured (and feared), going to play a musical set.

Things get a bit more exciting tomorrow morning with the world premiere of Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, a sequel I'm more curious than excited about. Later in the days, there's also Chatroom, by Ring director Hideo Nakata, with Aaron Johnson at the centre of what appears to be a macabre internet conspiracy. It's pretty low-key stuff for an opening Friday, though, and I may have time to bunk off and see Visconti's The Leopard, which I have on DVD but have never watched just in case Martin Scorsese beats me up for not watching it on a big screen.