Cannes 2014

Now on BBC News: Cannes 2014 with Tom Brook.

Hello and welcome to Cannes 2014. In today's programme, we will be

looking back at some of the highlights of this year 's Cannes

Phil Festival which draws to a close this week and. It is a beautiful

melting pot of world culture and the vision of the world through cinema.

I think it is extraordinary. It feels exotic to me. The history is

what I feel is palpable. The love of film. Coming up in the programme,

Nicole Kidman, she dabbled with her glamour but nobody liked her job. I

am very happy with it because for me, as an actress, you don't get to

play roles like this. Britain's Mike Leigh earned praise for his

biography of JMW Turner but insisted the picture was not about him. The

film is in no way any kind of a self`portrait. And British actor,

Robert Pattinson starred in a twisting satire of Hollywood. It

shows how crazy actors are. Also a picture from Africa showing Timbuktu

under the rule of religious fundamentalist. Subject matter that

the directors are emotionally overwhelming. And we follow a

British film making team at the festival who are trying to sell

their low`budget movie. I have been coming to the Cannes

Film Festival for more than a decade and I can't quite remember an

opening night picture being quite so reviled as M O Starling Nicole

Kidman. It tells the story of Greece Kelly when she was Princess consort

of Monaco. The film 's star, Nicole Kidman was a big attraction on

opening night. In the picture, put together by French director Olivier

Dahan, she plays Princess Grace who has given up Hollywood career to

marry Prince Rainier in Monaco. Alfred Hitchcock Hayes visit. You we

go into production in spring. Universal will pay you $1 million.

Well it's not about the money. Nicole Kidman, it was a role that

required work. The dialect, every part of it was, I had to study and

research. And then also trying to not put her on a pedestal because,

Grace Kelly, Princess Grace is on a pedestal for the world. It is the

story of a woman trying to figure out the obligations. Can she take on

a Llanrwst role in Hollywood or is she bowed to her husband, children

and the kingdom at a perilous time? Film arrived in Cannes amid

controversy. The way it was edited had displeased Hardy wine steam, the

film is to be done. He was a no`show on opening night. Princess Grace's

children were not happy with the film, even though they have not seen

it. I understand them, as children, protecting the privacy of their

parents. I understand that this is fictionalised at times. I understand

that, ultimately, there is an enormous amount of love and respect

in the way in which we have done the film and they also know they have

not seen the film. All of those things come into play.

But what was perhaps most newsworthy was race of Monaco's exceedingly

negative reviews. Critics revelled in choosing the nasty words possible

to describe the picture. Your is very funny because the movie opens

with a statement from Grace Kelly herself saying that people who

thought that her life was a fairytale got it all wrong. The

movie just reinforces at every turn all of these old cliches. But

despite all the negative feedback, Nicole Kidman maintained she was

pleased she had done the film. I and very happy with it because for me,

as an actress, you do not get to play roles like this. You do not get

offered... I don't get offered, I have never had the chance to do a

role where it is glamorous and vulnerable and sort of a

rollercoaster of emotions yet all in this particular era.

It wasn't a bad year for the British at Cannes with some half a dozen

offerings. Early on, veteran director Mike Leigh's Mr Turner made

a very favourable impression. It is a biography of the British landscape

painter, D W Turner. Portrayed William Lee by Timothy Spall. ``

brilliantly. Whiteley was there on red carpet with his cast. It is the

directors of film in competition at Cannes and his third period picture.

He has always been smitten by JMW Turner and has long wanted to put

together a biography. It really started to be an idea at the end of

the century. Turner is part of our culture. I have always loved his

stuff since the 60s. The discovery about his personality, I suddenly

thought, this is a potential character in my film. What he

painted was very cinematic. It does seem like a good idea and we have

spent all of the time since then trying to raise the money and

finally, getting to do it. My dear friend... To this blog is one of the

best performances of his career depicting Turner. He is not exactly

used to celebrity but there were or to grasp to be signed in Cannes.

Either London and he brings to sense of a London, a Cockney London. He is

very much out of Dickens. He is very understanding of the 19 century and

I thought his sensibilities would be right in the character who is a very

public 's character. What we have created is our interpretation of the

real guy. How do you view Turner is a human

being? As I was watching the film, the things about him I liked but

there were also things I do not like. That is right. What is

fascinating about him is he is flawed. He is absolutely likeable

and are remarkable. And, that is how you can only do him. As always with

my films, my job is to give it to you but not to resolve it. It is up

to you, the audience to decide what you feel about this guy. People seem

to be saying, that somehow you get to really understand him and

sympathise with him in a way even love him but the fact is he is

flawed. He has some extremely negative traits. You know the

duality about Turner who has good and bad part or is flawed, did you

see yourself in that way at all? Obviously, you have great strength

and I'm sure you have weaknesses and I'm sure you have weaknesses

too. You have good technique as a filmmaker, he had expected the. This

film is in no way any kind of a sort portrayed, other than the fact he is

an artist and we are artists who do these things. All of us, including

new, are complex and conflicted and have good and bad characteristics.

That is as much as I would say. Any correlation between Turner and me is

relevant. The look of the film, it is remarkable. Presumably, a lot of

work went into getting the look right at times. It does resemble a

painting at times. Dick Pope who is a cinematographer who I have worked

if since 1990 and who is brilliant. He has done an amazing job. As I

say, we talked about as for bread long time and looked at the

paintings, looked at birth... Went to the Tate. If you do that over a

long stretch, it gets into your bloodstream. You start to see the

world in appropriate terms. All that informs how it was designed and how

it was shot and how we look at it. The object was to evoke Turner's

paintings in the look of the film. You have had a tremendous leap

positive reception at Cannes for the film. How do you rate Cannes as a

film festival was that you have been here many times and I know you have

attended other film festivals, what is it that you like or not about

Cannes? I think it is great because it celebrates something that is

alive and well and kicking and that is filmmaking in the world. It's

also great because it is the centre of world cinema outside and beyond

the reach of Hollywood. And although, Cannes as always is

plastered with great big awards put up by the American majors, they

still can't buy their way into the festival. They just have to sit

around and do their thing while real film from the world is celebrated. I

think it is good news, myself. I think it is a gas. I believe you to

be an man of great spirit and fine feeling. For Mike Leigh, it must

have been holding to receive so many positive reviews at Cannes. There

was also noteworthy that the 71 automaker quite clearly fascinate

young people in the industry who were drawn to listen to him

discussing the film and his career. And now onto a very different

phenomenon at Cannes, actor Robert Pattinson appeared on the red

carpet. The actor who gained heartthrob status tend to Cannes to

promote a very different picture. I've got to pay the bills. How is

your business? A dark twisted satire set in Hollywood from David

Cronenberg, he plays an inspiring actor `` aspiring actor and

chauffeur. You have a much more substantial role in the dystopian

Australian road movie, the Rover. He plays the younger brother of a man

who has stolen vehicle much beloved by an angry character portrayed by

Guy Pearce. In terms of an acting challenge, how did it push you? Is

it unlike you have done before? Just in terms of physicality but mainly

because the script and the part as well, it was so loose about what the

character was you could really be quite free to do almost anything. Is

this man your friend? Tell me where your brother is. To one scary thing

for me was doing too much. You just overload on weird ticks and staff.

`` stuff. It actually one of the easiest characters I have ever

played. What's happening in LA? This is a good festival from you because

you have another film here. What kind of comment is that film making

about Hollywood? It was pretty savage about almost everybody. There

is also a kind of weird mysticism to it. It is such a weird film. I find

all the winners in Hollywood really entertaining. No matter how dark and

self obsessed. It shows a lot of how crazy actors are.

You have been taking on really good roles in recent times. Do you feel

you have moved away from being pigeonholed as a Twilight person? I

don't know. I have been really lucky with script and it just so happened

that suddenly, these parts came along at the same time. I basically

still think exactly as I did years ago. I have approached everything

exactly the same. One of the defining characteristics of the

macro Cannes Film Festival is that it brings together the populist with

the rarefied. There are artistically fashion films that appear in

competition, buying for the Palm d'Or. Then there are those sold

through the brush consumerism of the Hollywood studio. `` fashion. On

Sunday morning of the first weekend of the festival, there was a

collection of ageing Hollywood men positioned on top of tanks. It was

an old`fashioned Hollywood PR stunt come to life. Promoting a

forthcoming action thriller, the expendables three. The world became

excited. They brought to big tanks here, it shot of the world. It was

really indicative of the love that people feel for Arnold

Schwarznegger, Sylvester Stallone. And Mel Gibson. People cheered and

took photos. You need something physical for people to photograph,

that is what they are here to do. How effective is a stunt like that?

Given how quickly information travels and disappears in the wide

world. Is it worth the studio doing that? With the expendables three, it

was worth it. They were showing two minutes of show reel of the film,

they did not give an indication of the plot but they were still on the

national newspaper websites and front pages all over the world for

bringing a couple of tanks on. It cost 1 million, but it will take 200

million, it easy. `` easy. Another studio picture, the animated How To

Train Your Dragon, was also trying to get every bit of publicity it

could in Cannes. The PR operation was highly organised, but there was

an unexpected event that made use at the premiere of the film. `` made

the news. The red carpet premiere of How To Train Your Dragon two is new

`` a prankster crawled under the lead of the film, America Ferrera,

and waved of photographers. `` under the dress of the lead of the film.

They cannot just have her walking down the carpet uneventfully, they

had to have someone going under her skirt! It is to Riddick! I will not

let anything happen to you. `` it is brilliant. Compared to other

festivals, it certainly feels global. But when you look at the

films that were in competition this year, large areas of the planet were

excluded, Africa was all but forgotten. Except with one film set

in Mali, beautifully shot, but dealing with a harsh reality.

Timbuktu is set to be the first film to look at the takeover of Northern

Mali by Islamist militants in 2012. It is the story of local herdsman

who accidentally kills a fisherman `` a local herdsman. He bears the

full brunt of Islamic law, played by Ebrahim Ahmed. You must have had an

emotional connection when you were shooting this film, you were dealing

with events that had an impact on you because of what happened in

Mali. TRANSLATION: Absolutely, it is very touching, what you see in the

film affected thousands of people in the north of the country in Mali. It

is moving for me and moving for others, and I am happy that the film

can be shown here, that people around the world can see the film

and learn the story, and find out what place in our homes. Lives were

upended in Northern Mali in 2012, the director, raised in Mali, is

connected to the trauma of those times. He was overwhelmed at the

press conference by the film. It was important for him to show the

audience is not only the horror but the beauty of Mali and its people.

TRANSLATION: Beauty is important to me, and fundamental. It is beauty

that will save humanity, and that is what the film is about, despite the

complex and difficult is and what separates us. It is up to all of

us, to do what we can to embrace other people and embrace humanity in

ourselves and in other people. We have to recognise that even the

fundamentalists have in them a sense of humanity and it is important to

acknowledge that humanity and other people otherwise we destroy that

humanity. `` humanity in other people. The film shows local women

fighting back, looking at the activity of Islamist militants in

Mali. TRANSLATION: The unfortunate events in Nigeria now will give a

greater impact to what the film shows all across the sub Saharan

countries and around the world. But Timbuktu is just a film, can it make

that much difference? TRANSLATION: A film in itself cannot resolve a

problem but allows us to reflect which is important. If people are

willing to reflect, and embrace the film, that allows them to help bring

them further. Timbuktu has been well received at Cannes, but the leading

man says that the film will not be complete until the people of Mali

see it. Many talented directors come to the film festival with the hope

that the film that they have passionately created will land a

distribution deal. They have to work very hard, because there is a lot of

competition and they need to get attention. We followed a filmmaking

team who shot a drama in Grimsby and Cleethorpes, not exactly a part of

the world you associate with moviemaking.

All kinds of industry highflyers come, but there are also low`budget

films and directors who come to the film festival to put their pictures

into the market. Basically, a gigantic clearinghouse where people

come from around the world to buy and sell the films metrical their

films. I had to stay a few days. Ian and Rebecca Wendy with their picture

Pleasure Island, where Ian has the leading role. It chronicles what

happens to a soldier who returns home to Grimsby, where he reconnects

with a childhood friend, was not altogether harmonious results. For

Ian Sharp, it was like moving into a different world, sitting in front of

the famous redcarpet steps of the filmfest. I feel like I don't belong

here. I am not there yet, I do have to get to that level. It will come.

His wife Rebecca Felber bringing the picture here was a logical, if not

inexpensive move, once they finish the film `` his wife Rebecca felt.

The best thing for us is to go somewhere like a film festival to

show it and what feedback we get, and the response. We have to make

sure we target the right audience and the right sales agents as well.

You know that guy? I worked for him. Although Pleasure Island is an

accomplished picture from the first time director, it was not an easy

challenge to get people to pay attention. We do not have a star,

let's say, there are certain elements to it that makes it a

harder sell. I guess we are at the lower ladder, competing even with

the films that would be struggling to get distribution all sales

attached, and stuff like that. You bring it here, because it is the

chance to meet all of the distribution and sales in one place.

It is where everyone comes. A Pleasure Island filmmaking team were

trying to meet as many people as they could who could help them with

their film. We have had scheduled meetings, we have gone to particular

sales agents, and distribution companies from across the world. In

Germany, the UK, America, we have introduced ourselves and talked

about the film. People were not exactly banging down the doors to

see the film but earned praise. Including the approval of a

co`ordinator of an Other Film Festival, bitterly looking for

movies. `` another. I stayed until the end, even though I wanted to

hurry to see another film. There's more to producing a film than

winning a producing deal. Making Pleasure Island advance the career

of all of those involved, and they have made it clear that you can go

to areas of Britain not associated with feature filmmaking, and make a

film that earns respect. There has never been a film based on that

area, and we did that to liberally. I hope people will see it, there is

a nice beach, or whatever, there is a PR, there is a lot of stuff going

on. ``a pier. That brings our look back at some of the highlights of

the film festival to a close. We hope you have enjoyed the programme.

From me, Tom Brook, and the rest of the production team here on the

French Riviera, it is goodbye, as we leave you with some of the sights

and sounds of this year 's Cannes Film Festival.

(ACCORDION MUSIC). Hello there. They say that patience

is a