The festival opens in classy Riviera style with political and personal crisis for actor-turned-monarch Grace Kelly (Nicole Kidman). Should she make Marnie? Is her marriage – to Tim Roth’s Prince Rainer – getting stale? And what can she do about threats to Monaco’s privileged tax status? Full-bodied support is on hand from Robert Lindsay (as Aristotle Onassis), Frank Langella (as a helpful priest) and Derek Jacobi (as a parrot-loving protocol expert). Cannes lends a location-appropriate berth for the biopic, but controversy has already been brewing.
Steve Carell acquires fake nose and Oscar speculation to play real-life philanthropist-turned-murderer John DuPont, an eccentric sports enthusiast who shot his friend, an Olympic gold-winning wrestler (played by Mark Ruffalo). Vanessa Redgrave is John’s mum, Channing Tatum the wrestler’s brother. Like Grace of Monaco – and The Monuments Men – it was put back from last year’s release schedules, meaning anticipation is now sky high to see if Carell can convince as a killer.
Ryan Gosling can open a movie no probs. But hows about when he’s behind rather than in front of the camera? Previously titled How to Catch a Monster, his debut as a writer/director is billed as a dark fantasy drama and stars Matt Smith and Saoirse Ronan, as well as Gozzle’s Drive co-star Christina Hendricks and Place Beyond the Pines buddies Eva Mendes and Ben Mendelsohn. Speaking to the Guardian earlier this year, Mendelsohn seemed optimistic about the likely results.
Hollywood eats itself in this gamey-sounding satire from David Cronenberg with Julianne Moore as a past-it star, Mia Wasikowska as her assistant, recently released from an asylum, John Cusack as a dodgy shrink and Robert Pattinson a limo driver. Cosmopolis – also boasting Pattinson, Cronenberg and limos – split opinion at Cannes a couple of years back; early word on this suggests the positives will be more unanimous.
Vaguely-similar-sounding-plot alert: Juliette Binoche plays a fading cinematic icon whose equilibrium is upset by an up-and-coming young actor (played by Chloe Grace Moretz), in the latest from Olivier Assayes. Binoche’s character then retreats to the mountains with loyal assistant Kristin Stewart.
Like mountains? Then you’ll love the latest from Turkish autuer Nuri Bilge Ceylon: a high-altitude meditation on isolation. It’s nearly four hours long and currently bookies’ favourite for the Palme d’Or.
