In Contention

Tag: Michael Haneke

  • Keep hidden

    In trying to disentangle the order of Martin Scorsese’s upcoming projects (in the wake of this week’s news that the master is taking on Sinatra), AwardsDaily’s Ryan Adams takes a peek at the range of titles that IMDB Pro lists on the director’s slate.

    I am mistrustful of IMDB’s information at the best of times, particularly with a director like Scorsese who seems to nurture multiple projects indefinitely. (For how many years has “Silence” been in the conversation, after all?) But I was intrigued and a little puzzled to see an optioned property titled “Cache” at the head of the list, with a projected date of 2011.

    Is this the long-mooted American remake Michael Haneke’s 2005 masterpiece, or is it unrelated? (There’s no accent aigu on the title, after all.) Can anyone enlighten me? I remember recoiling in horror when Ron Howard was mentioned in connection with the project a few years ago. Scorsese is obviously a step up, but a remake — by anyone — of Haneke’s very idiosyncratic film still strikes me as a dicey prospect, given how rooted it is in a very specific historical and political context.

  • SPC snaps up new Haneke film

    The White RibbonOne day into the Cannes festival and the gears of commerce are already grinding, with Sony Pictures Classics looking particularly alert. The independent outfit announced two substantial acquisitions today, most notably Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon,” a period drama themed around issues of fascism and community that is one of the bookies’ favorites for the Palme d’Or.

    SPC have pretty good instincts on the Croisette — last year’s purchases included “The Class” and “Waltz With Bashir.” As with Haneke’s last film, “Caché,” they will be handling all North American distribution, and they appear to have high hopes for the film. Here’s an extract from the press release:

    The White Ribbon is set just prior to the start of WWI, where the quiet life of a small German village is mysteriously eroded by a series of inexplicable events. The film is a co-production between X-Filme Creative Pool in Germany, Les Films du Losange in France, Wega Film in Austria and Lucky Red in Italy. THE WHITE RIBBON was produced by Margaret Menegoz (CACHÉ, Funny Games), Stefan Arndt (Run Lola Run, Goodbye, Lenin!), Veit Heiduschka and Michael Katz.

    “We have been pursuing THE WHITE RIBBON since it was a kernel of an idea in Michael Haneke’s mind. We are convinced this is his masterwork. It is a privilege and a pleasure to be releasing Michael’s latest film and to work again with him and his amazing producers Margaret Menegoz and Stefan Arndt,” said SPC in a statement.

    Not content with that coup, Sony has also nabbed U.S. rights to the festival’s closing film, “Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky.” (Not exactly that catchiest title, that.) Starring Danish star Mads Mikkelsen and telling the story of the affair between the two eponymous cultural icons, it is not to be confused with Anne Fontaine’s Audrey Tautou-starring biopic “Coco Avant Chanel,” which SPC is also distributing Stateside — as savvy commenter Glenn points out, this is likely a move to prevent a head-to-head biopic battle.

  • Cannes: sizing up the Competition, part one

    Penelope Cruz in Broken EmbracesWith the Cannes Film Festival only two days away, it’s time to take a long hard look (or just a look, if you prefer) at the 20 films in contention for the Palme d’Or, a typically eclectic bunch married by only one factor: all but one are from directors who have been in the race before. (And people accuse the Oscars of playing favorites.)

    Cannes is a notoriously tricky (and often well-nigh impossible) contest to predict: partly because the voting body is an ever-changing template, but largely because there’s been no time ahead of the festival for any kind of critical or popular consensus to build around the mostly unseen films on the shortlist.

    This may mean that in some cases the jury is susceptible to a film’s auteur cache — think “The Wind That Shakes the Barley” in 2006 — but it also allows for surprise attacks by less heralded titles on the basis of quality alone. Though it may seem an obvious winner in retrspect, few were talking about “The Class” last year before it snuck up on the last day and slayed the competition.

    With those caveats on the table, here’s a film-by-film (10 today, 10 tomorrow) rundown of this year’s lineup, detailing the Cannes credentials of each director, and offering some thoughts as to where they may sit in the competition. I make no promises — except that at least half my speculation will likely be proved wildly wrong in a fortnight’s time.

    “BROKEN EMBRACES” (Pedro Almodovar)

    The pitch: Already widely seen and reviewed, the film marks a return to film noir territory for the Spanish master, a complex melodrama headed by Penelope Cruz as an actress trying to rid herself of an aging lover. (Spanish dialogue)

    The history: On his two previous Competition appearances, for “All About My Mother” in 1999 and “Volver” in 2006, Almodovar entered the race as the bookies’ favourite, only to land the consolation prizes of Best Director and Best Screenplay, respectively.

    The outlook: Reviews so far have been kind, if reserved; several critics appear to delight in Almodovar’s trademark color-saturated visuals and off-kilter humor, but few have suggested that this ranks among his finest works. Almodovar is surely overdue for the festival’s top honor, but if a more unanimously lauded work like “Volver” couldn’t do the trick, my guess is that “Broken Embraces” won’t either. I think the jury may pass altogether.

    (more…)

  • Almodovar, Campion, Lee in Cannes lineup

    Abbie Cornish in Jane Campion's Bright StarThe official list of films competiting for the Palme d’Or at next month’s Cannes Film Festival is out, and while it’s not a very surprising list — it’s been a given for some time that “Inglourious Basterds,” “Broken Embraces” and “Antichrist,” among others, would be in the mix — it still an exciting one, packed to the gills with auteur works from both regular visitors (Michael Haneke, Ken Loach) and long-absent ones (Jane Campion, Alain Resnais).

    I’ll dig into the selection in more depth later, but for now, here’s the list:

    “Broken Embraces” (Pedro Almodovar)
    “Fish Tank” (Andrea Arnold)
    “Un Prophete” (Jacques Audiard)
    “Vicenre” (Marco Bellocchio)
    “Bright Star” (Jane Campion)
    “A L’Origine” (Xavier Giannoli)
    “Map of the Sounds of Tokyo” (Isabel Coixet)
    “The White Ribbon” (Michael Haneke)
    “Taking Woodstock” (Ang Lee)
    “Looking for Eric” (Ken Loach)
    “Spring Fever” (Lou Ye)
    “Kinatay” (Brillante Mendoza)
    “Enter The Void” (Gaspar Noe)
    “Thirst” (Park Chan-Wook)
    “Les Herbes Folles” (Alain Resnais)
    “The Time That Remains” (Elia Suleiman)
    “Inglourious Basterds” (Quentin Tarantino)
    “Vengeance” (Johnnie To)
    “Face” (Tsai Ming-liang)
    “Antichrist” (Lars Von Trier)

  • Correction!

    I knew when I tapped out my “year in superlatives” post last week that something was bugging me about my Best Poster pick.  I had forgotten something, I just knew it.  And as much as I loved the “W.” one-sheet I picked, I don’t know, it didn’t feel right.

    Then I was reading through this list of the year’s best posters and it clicked.  Even though I despised Michael Haneke’s “Funny Games” remake with every fiber of my being, this was a brilliant piece of work.

    So, correction appended.

  • AMPAS invites 105 to the party

    The Academy has officially announced the 105 people it has invited to join its ranks this year; they range from obvious recent winners (Marion Cotillard, Diablo Cody), to cool commercial forces (Judd Apatow, Sacha Baron Cohen), to less glamorous but equally deserving names such as documentarian Nanette Burstein and composer Michael Giacchino.

    Looking down the list, it’s hard to believe that certain veterans weren’t already members; take Ruby Dee, for example, or Jack Fisk, or one of my personal writing heroes, Jean-Claude Carriere. Knowing that such vital artists could be voting sure aids the credibility of the awards – though I have a hard time imagining Michael Haneke hunched over his ballot, agonising over the nominees for Best Original Song.

    The full list of 2008 invitees is after the jump. Your thoughts, as ever, welcome.

    (more…)