|
|
Europe
Festival de Cannes 2004
Politics Dominates Cannes Int'l Film Festival
By Gautaman Bhaskaran South Asia Editor
 | French anti-globalization activist Jose Bove, left, gestures as he speaks on a balcony overlooking Cannes with director Michael Moore, who is presenting his film, "Fahrenheit 911," in competition at the 57th International Film Festival. | CANNES, French Riviera, May 25, 2004 — The Cannes International Film Festival concluded on a very political note. Although a bastion of trade and commerce, the Festival seldom lost sight of the fact that its primary business was to promote art. And, at Cannes, one has been seeing some splendid cinema ever since its inception some six decades ago. However, this May, American director Quentin Tarantino (whose "Pulp Fiction" and "Reservoir Dogs" caused storms in the celluloid world) and his largely British and American team of jurors decided to convert the Festival platform into a political arena by giving the top Golden Palm Award to Michael Moore's scathing critique of George Bush, "Fahrenheit 9/11." Admittedly, Moore's work, a pure documentary, is a devastating look at the way the Bush administration has conducted its foreign policy since 2000: the director reveals how Washington helped 20- odd relatives of Osama bin Laden to flee the U.S. soon after September 9, 2001, and analyses the intimate links Bush's family has had with the Saudi Royals, some of whom were related to bin Laden.  | Director Michael Moore | Moore's movie also tells us how America whipped up a wave of fear in order to prepare the nation for the war in Iraq. Armed now with the right to update his documentary, Moore plans to incorporate footage of the latest atrocities by U.S. military in Iraq. Little wonder, then, that Miramax, which produced "Fahrenheit 9/11" refused to distribute the film, under pressure from its parent company, Walt Disney. There is now said to be some rethink on this. For Moore, these things are passe: he has always courted controversy. At the 2003 Oscars ceremony, Moore's, whose anti-gun lobby "Bowling for Columbine" won a prize, ridiculed President Bush by thanking him for "sending us to a fictitious war." This year at Cannes, Moore told a Press conference soon after his movie was screened that he considered Bush to be an immoral President, and the director held him responsible for the body-bags that were arriving back home. But, Moore's work did not go well with the cinema fraternity at Cannes: critics were further upset when Tarantino awarded the Festival's highest honor to an essentially political document. "Fahrenheit 9/11" is no work of art. It is certainly not cinema in the strict sense of the term.  | Cannes Harbor | Cannes' film critics saw in the award a daring political move by Tarantino and his men to try and spoil Bush's chance of a re- election this November. Though, this may be a good thing — with half the world waiting for Bush to go — Moore's effort, while documenting an important fact in contemporary American history, has little meaning in a festival, which has all along aimed at creating an artistic ambience and at promoting classic cinema. "Fahrenheit 9/11" was not only allowed to compete — the first time in about 50 years that a documentary was being given this opportunity — but was also pushed into the front ranks at Cannes. Moore's arrival at Cannes was followed by a media hype, which incidentally was confined to the American and British Press. The French Press was far more subdued here. Later, Tarantino tried to salvage something out of the mess he had heaped up. He told a Press meet a day after the Golden Palms were distributed — it was the first time in the Festival's history that the jury had agreed to meet journalists after the awards — that "Fahrenheit 9/11" was viewed by him and his team as a pure work of art. "After all, there was nothing new that Moore was telling us. Most Americans knew these facts all along...So, we looked it Moore's movie as pure cinema, and not as a political document."  | Actresses at Cannes Chinese actress Gong Li, left; Indian actress Ashwarya Rai, center, and French actress Laetitia Casta, right, arrive to attend the screening of the film "Bad Education" during the opening of the 57th International Film Festival in Cannes, May 12, 2004. Courtesy Reuters | Going by this argument, one wonders why, at all, did Tarantino choose to give "Fahrenheit 9/11" the Golden Palm when there were at least half a dozen other films whose aesthetic value and content far outdid those in Moore's documentary. It is apparent that Tarantino let himself be clouded by a motive other than art. It was a political Palm. Undoubtedly so. Nonetheless, there is a good side to the Cannes' decision to give Moore a red-carpet welcome: "Fahrenheit 9/11" will now be seen by most of the world, and Bush's lies will be there out in the open. The President's chances at the coming re-election will be probably slim, reiterating in the process, the power of cinema to change world order. Moore has only reminded us how effective films can be as a vehicle of social change. Vive la cinema!
Related Articles Tiger Man Mike Pandey Egypt's First Edition of El Gouna Film ... El Gouna Film Festival Opens with Sheikh ... New Egypt's El Gouna Film Festival to Add ... India Stands Shamed after Racial Attacks near ... The Dashing Pedro Almodovar to Chair Cannes ... Korean Cinema Comes to Chennai in India The Horror of Custodial Death Modi Is the Man We Need in India Mumbai¡¯s Child King The Cocktail at Cannes Cannes Film Fest Begins on a Hollywood Note Mumbai Terrorized Again Venice Lines Up Impressive Jury Cannes Film Fest Begins on a Delightful Note No Indian Movie at the Festival Meaningless Film Censorship This Bloody Life! Mumbai and Pusan Film Fest Establish Ties On Road, in Rage India Picks Wrong Films for Oscars Robert De Niro to Head Cannes Film Fest Jury Someone Killed Jessica, But of Course! Middle Eastern Cinema Hits Hard Dubai Film Fest Opener Dubai Film Fest to Unravel Diverse Selection Indian Police Cut Corners to Tackle Crime Goa Festival Not God's Own "West Is West" Sets IFFI Sailing Fine Cinema at the Coming Dubai Film Festival "The King's Speech" to Set the Fest Rolling Abu Dhabi Film Festival a Fantastic Mix of ... "Adoor Gopalakrishnan: A Life in Cinema" ... The Venetian Storm Frieda's Venice Jafar Panahi's Music Soothes Souls "Black Swan" Opens Venice Festival Festival to Bounce with Youthful Energy Shame and Scandal Plague Commonwealth Games Child Needs Compassion, Not Cane A Beast Called Beauty Adoor Gopalakrishnan: A Life in Cinema Bhopal Gas Tragedy: A Crime Called Bhopal Honour Killings Are India's Shame Cannes Film Festival And Poetry Cannes More Art Than Glamour This Time An Indian Pilgrimage to Cannes Maoist Rebellion in India Asians to Carry the Torch at Cannes Cannes Film Festival and Probables "Robin Hood" to Open Cannes Film Festival Persecution of Artists The Only Two Real Races This Year Curry Bashing in Australia US Director Tim Burton to Lead Cannes Jury India's Car Boom Creates Its Own Chaos Making Idiots Out of Men Indian Girls Find Paris Hilton¡¯s Shoes Too Hot Mexican Film Wins Top Prize at Marrakech Ben Kingsley Hopes to Be an Envoy for Cinema Movie Director Hopes Obama Would Solve the ... Nandita Das on Marrakech Jury A Decaying Film Festival Marrakech Festival a Boon for Local Cinema Panorama Selection Questionable IFFI to Open on a Note of Visual Lyricism South Korea to Be Focus at the Film Fest Dalai Lama¡¯s Tawang Visit Vexes Beijing Why Mumbai Film Fest Scores over Goa Mumbai¡¯s Young Movie Critics Ready to Tear ... India Is Still Hungry for Food Honor Killing through Lens at Mumbai Festival 11th Mumbai Film Festival to Open with Matt ... Film Festival to Showcase Some Gems Can India Host 2010 Commonwealth Games? A New Irritant in India-China Ties The Venetian Sorrow The Tiger War Israeli War Film Wins Venice¡¯s Top Golden Lion Politicians Livid over Festival Movie "Bad Lieutenant" Creates Bad Blood between Two ... Clooney and Damon Star Attractions at Venice Muslim Bashing Must End Mumbai Film Festival Prizes to Be among the ... An Indian Juror in De Sica Land India's Gays Can Now Love without Fear Moore's "Capitalism," 70 Other Films to ... An Indian Summer at the Lagoon City Festival May Be Strong on European Fare A Tamil Film with a Difference Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince:
But ... India Is Racist Too Hollywood Bungles in Bollywood The Tragic Tale of the Indian Tiger Cannes Jury Honors Chilling Tales Lars Von Trier¡¯s Sex and Horror Gems and the Cannes Film Festival Market and the Cannes Film Festival Keats Poetry, Campion¡¯s Reading Lou Ye¡¯s Controversial Disaster Clash of Titans on the Croisette Sexy Sirens and Political Propagandists Is Sharmila Tagore the Right Choice for Cannes ... The Stars in Cannes¡¯ Dark Skies Cannes Courts Controversy Indian Elections: A Circus of Villains Festival Unveils Lineup of Masters Beyond Bollywood¡¯s Melodramatic Mishmash India's Infrastructure at Breaking Point Guessing the Festival Goodies Kate Winslet the New Face of Brilliance Tarantino¡¯s ¡®Basterds¡¯ to Spit Fire at Fest Animated Film, Up, to Open Festival Smoking Screen Oscar-Rich Penelope Set to Master English Cannes Honours Clint Eastwood Renowned French Star to Chair Cannes Jury Fable of Mr Benjamin Button: Riveting Cinema The Mangalore Molest Aamir Khan Film Is a Bad Copy It May Well Be the End of Agony in Sri Lanka Woody Allen¡¯s "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" International Film Festival of India Mumbai Terror Marrakech Int'l Film Festival Has Grown Marrakech Int'l Film Festival Marrakech International Film Festival Shambled Secularism Benegal¡¯s Sajjanpur Birdwatchers Venice Festival Blues Venice under the Hollywood Spell ? A Riveting Movie on Islam's Crisis Venice Festival a Haven for World Premieres Pakistani Films Come to India, at Last! Tamil Super Hero Rises Again The Comic Fantasy The Smoking Screen! Bollywood and Beyond at Stuttgart New Film May Spell Hope for Bollywood Indian Cinema Feeds Deceit An Indian Film on an American Power Plant India Not At Cannes Cannes Line-Up Writer Taslima Nasreen Forced Out of India India Inspires World Fashion Mills & Boon "Jodhaa Akbar" Creates Controversy in India Sania Mirza Subject to Ridicule in Native India Sarkozy and Bruni Love Causes Moral Outrage India and the Oscars Marrakech International Film Festival Reviewed Paranoid Park Cannes 2007: Killings The Spy Case The Good and the Not So Good Bollywood Superman First Kashmiri Film in 20 Years Chinese Influence Seems Unstoppable Cannes Film Festival 2006: Minimalism, Too Cannes Fest Prizes Cannes Film Festival 2006: Great Delights The Da Vinci Code Missing Tigers The Despair of Tibetans Trilateral Stratagem To Slow China's Growth Sri Lanka Crisis Hollywood Movies Doing Well In India Peace Pipe Mangal Pandey: The Rising Honda Clash Bush-Manmohan Singh Pact Satyajit Ray, Still India's Most Noted Movie ... Ban on Cigarettes in India "Match Point" Excoriated by Britons Crisis In India¡¯s Hindu Nationalist Party Manmohan Singh¡¯s One Year 58th Cannes International Film Festival Begins Indo-Pakistan Cricket Diplomacy U.S. Visa Refusal The 7th Deauville Asian Film Festival Closes Seedy Film Journalism Indian Tigers Butchered in Broad Daylight No Oscar for Scorsese, Yet Again Nepal in Turmoil As King Sacks PM Deuba History Repeats in Struggle for Free Press India Could Have Prevented Tsunami Deaths Argue over Freedom on Internet "City of Gold" Dubai Stands like Oasis in ... Towards a Solution to the Kashmir Problem India & China Rising Bush Victory and India Indian Robinhood After 9/11, World Links Muslim with Violence India's Great Heritage Taj Mahal in Danger "Kashmir": A Never Ending Thorny Issue The Village -- A Silly Joke Jakarta Bombing Aimed at Aussie ... Millions of Indians Go to Bed Hungry Sri Lanka's Ethnic War Knows No End Over 600 Tibetan Monks, Nuns Should Be Freed India's Schoolgirl Killer Hanged in Controversy 3 Kidnapped Indians Endure Agonizing Torture Musharraf's Sets Deadline on Kashmir Usefulness of Nepalese Monarchy in Question Temple of Learning Turns into Grave of Death AIDS Keeps Threatening the Poor in Asia, Africa Fearful of Dowry Parents Kill Newborn Girls Hot Discussion on Death Penalty in India India's Flag of Democracy Kept Unfurled Intolerance Grows before India General Election Fears of Strife Continue in Sri Lanka Torture, Rape Occur in Indian Classroom World Leaders Must Take Stand against Nukes India's Cities Prosper as Country Folk Starve India, Pakistan Form Friendly Ties Cell Phones Bring Joy, Sorrow World Over
Other Articles by Gautaman Bhaskaran
Tiger Man Mike Pandey Egypt's First Edition of El Gouna Film ... El Gouna Film Festival Opens with Sheikh ... New Egypt's El Gouna Film Festival to Add ... India Stands Shamed after Racial Attacks ...
Gautaman Bhaskaran is a veteran film critic and writer who has covered Cannes and other major international festivals, like Venice, Berlin, Montreal, Melbourne, and Fukuoka over the past two decades. He has been to Cannes alone for 15 years. He has worked in two of India¡¯s leading English newspapers, The Hindu and The Statesman, and is now completing an authorized biography of India¡¯s auteur-director, Adoor Gopalakrishnan. Penguin International will publish the book, whose research was funded by Ford Foundation.
back
|
|
|
|
|