Cannes 2004

[mutinyco]

I hear he even sucks the blood of white virgins!

[ElPandaRoyal]

I hear he makes some films

[MacGuffin]

Truth wins at Cannes, says Moore
Source: The Star



MICHAEL Moore's unceasing campaign against US President George W. Bush gained momentum yesterday when his new film Fahrenheit 9/11 became the first documentary in 48 years to win the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

"What have you done?," said an overwhelmed Moore when he took the stage to accept the award that culminated a typically awkward and unpredictable, but atypically politicized, four-minute ceremony. At the announcement of the major prize, the Palme d'Or, the tuxedo and evening-gown studded crowd stood on its feet and cheered.

Looking to jury president Quentin Tarantino, Moore joked, "You did that just to mess with me," before moving on to more serious matters.

Admitting that the last six months, during which Fahrenheit 9/11 has been at the centre of a highly publicized dispute with The Walt Disney Company over its distribution future, Moore said, "I have a sneaking suspicion that what you have done will ensure that the American people will see this movie. I can't thank you enough for this.

"Many people want the truth put away, put in a closet," he said, "and you have taken it out of the closet."

Quoting President Abraham Lincoln, whom he described as "a different kind of Republican president," Moore said, "`Give the people the truth and the republic will be saved.'"

Alluding to the U.S. election in November, Moore concluded by saying he wanted to dedicate the next six months to "making sure that those who have died in Iraq have not died in vain."

Fahrenheit 9/11 may become the most financially successful documentary in history – bettering Moore's own record, set by Bowling for Columbine, which won an Oscar and netted about $US120 million ($172 million). It is the first documentary to win the Palme D'or since Jacques Cousteau's The Silent World in 1956. The award should result in a rush by distributors willing to show the film in the US, where it is currently without a backer.

Nurturing his image as an underdog, Moore has alleged that Walt Disney chief Michael Eisner stopped Disney's edgy subsidiary, Miramax Films, from distributing the film in the US because Disney did not want to endanger tax perks it enjoyed for its theme parks in Florida, where Mr Bush's brother, Jeb, is Governor.

However, insiders said Disney was never going to distribute the film and did not renege on any deal because of political pressure.

A White House spokesman responded to Moore's French triumph by saying "it's a free country" and "everyone has the right to say what they want".



As predicted, the awards granted by Tarantino's jury — which also included the American actress Kathleen Turner, British actress Tilda Swinton, Hong Kong filmmaker Tsui Hark and others — was eccentric in its choices.

After providing special Jury Prizes to Irma P. Hall's performance in Joel and Ethan Coen's The Ladykillers and the Thailand-made Tropical Malady, Tarantino's jury awarded the best scenario prize to Agnes Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri for Jaoui's Look At Me, best director to Tony Gatlif for Exiles, best male performance to 14-year-old Yagria Yuuya for the Japanese-made Nobody Knows and best actress to Maggie Cheung's performance in the French-Canadian-U.K. co-production Clean.

The jury's Grand Prize was awarded to the hyper-slick and violent Korean revenge drama Old Boy.

While the presentation of the Palme d'Or provided the climax to a festival that has been considerably more political, both on and offscreen, than most in memory, Moore's comments weren't the only to stir the crowd with rhetoric.

Winning a prize for his short film Flatlife, filmmaker Jonas Geirnaert of Belgium, implored the organizers of the festival to make it "more like a film festival and less like a business festival," and left the podium after telling Americans "Don't vote Bush." Later, the president of the jury awarding the prize for best first feature, Tim Roth, endorsed the sentiment and re-stated it.

Karen Yedara, an Israeli director whose film Or won the Camera d'Or for first feature, took her time at the podium as an opportunity to castigate the Israeli government for its recent actions in Gaza. Referring to the "condition of slavery" currently being imposed on "three million Palestinians," she said, "I love my country but I want to help Palestinians get what they deserve."

The festival concludes tomorrow with a first: A press conference in which Tarantino's jury will discuss their choices and deliberations.

Also at Cannes, two short animated films from Canada's National Film Board won four prizes. Chris Landreth's 3D-animated film Ryan won the Kodak Discovery Award, the Young Critic's Prize and the Canal + Prize for Best Short Film, while L'homme sans ombre (Man Without A Shadow) by Georges Schwizgebel won the Young Audience Prize.

[SoNowThen]

Bring on the heat, baby. I'll take it all. F 9/11 gets the longest applause in Cannes history. Hmm. At a festival that's shown 8 1/2, La Dolce Vita, L'Avventura, Pulp Fiction, Taxi Driver, the list could go on and on. It was a political move, and that's what disgusts me. It'll be nothing more than a footnote in cinema in the future. Those other movies mentioned above are NOT footnotes. I don't have to see this to gauge the reasoning of giving it a prize. I just held out the naive hope that Cannes was about the movies.

So everyone can be mad about my opinion. Whatever. Someone had to say something. Now let's go on for 7 pages about how I'm "wrong". Preach to the choir.

[Sleuth]

I hear he doesn't like products, and that he eats light. The light of children.

I want to rip this off SO BAD

[rustinglass]

dude, where does your hatred for the movie come from? you haven't even seen it yet. is "political" your only argument? What's wrong with being "political"? How do you know it's only a footnote? oh, do you have a time machine?

And even if you did see the film and hated it, what's this "I thought cannes was about film"? It's not "Cannes" giving out the awards, it's the jury and tarantino, the president, is known for being apolitical, and he's known for his wide knowledge of cinema.
Why don't you, like myself, hope that the film is that good, instead of bashing it and the whole film festival?

[mutinyco]

It will only be a footnote if Bush wins. If he loses, and this influences the voting, it will go down as one of the most important films ever made.

[modage]

dude, where does your hatred for the movie come from? you haven't even seen it yet. is "political" your only argument? What's wrong with being "political"?

i think SNT is just saying that he thinks this won, not because of how great a film it is, but because everyone in hollywood and outside of the US, like france, hates bush.  it won because of the politics, not because michael moore is doing something revolutionary with THIS film over his last few.

[kotte]

It will only be a footnote if Bush wins. If he loses, and this influences the voting, it will go down as one of the most important films ever made.

This is what I actually think will happen. I believe this is the most important documentary ever made.

[modage]

It will only be a footnote if Bush wins. If he loses, and this influences the voting, it will go down as one of the most important films ever made.

This is what I actually think will happen. I believe this is the most important documentary ever made.

why?  you havent seen it yet either.  isnt making that sort of statement just as ignorant as SNT saying this makes the palme lose all credibility?

[kotte]

It will only be a footnote if Bush wins. If he loses, and this influences the voting, it will go down as one of the most important films ever made.

This is what I actually think will happen. I believe this is the most important documentary ever made.

why?  you havent seen it yet either.  isnt making that sort of statement just as ignorant as SNT saying this makes the palme lose all credibility?

You're absolutely right.
I've heard and read so many things about, I'm just absolutely excited.

But yeah, it was a bit ignorant.

[ElPandaRoyal]

But yeah, it was a bit ignorant.

I actually don't think so. You did not see te film yet, but you feel like it can have something that might change things... that is a proof that it can be important.

[mutinyco]

Yeah, I didn't say it would be one of the BEST films ever made. I said it would be one of the most IMPORTANT. Please learn the difference. On another note:

Moore's Politics on Center Stage at Cannes
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: May 23, 2004

Filed at 1:55 p.m. ET

CANNES, France (AP) -- ``Fahrenheit 9/11'' put Michael Moore's politics at center stage at the Cannes Film Festival. And there they stayed, right up to the closing act, when he accepted the top prize.

The message of Moore's film -- that White House foreign policy since the Sept. 11 attacks has been disastrous -- generated so much sympathy here that jury president Quentin Tarantino worried Moore might misinterpret the jury's intentions.

``When I was on stage with Michael Moore, I knew all this politics crap would be brought up,'' the ``Kill Bill'' director said Sunday, a day after awarding Moore the Palme d'Or, the festival's highest honor.

So ``I just whispered in his ear and said, `I just want you to know it was not because of the politics that you won this award,''' Tarantino said. ```You won it because we thought it was the best film that we saw.'''

The whispered exchange between the two Academy Award winners underlined how much effect Moore's politics had on this festival.

The awards ceremony started out with a political statement inspired by Moore. Belgian director Jonas Geirnaert, a winner for his short film, used his first big break as a filmmaker to talk about Moore's movie and urge Americans not to vote for President Bush.

Moore's Cannes appearances have given him a much wider following internationally, including in Europe, where people love his anti-Bush message and are charmed by his folksy all-American image. His documentary about gun culture in America, ``Bowling for Columbine,'' won a special prize here two years ago.

The new movie had one of the longest standing ovations in recent memory -- which may have had something to do with his politics as well as his filmmaking. But Moore says he wants to be judged on his skills as a director.

``If I wanted to make a political speech, I'd run for office,'' Moore told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. ``I'm a filmmaker, and I wanted to make a movie for people to go see it.''

``Fahrenheit 9/11'' accuses the Bush camp of stealing the 2000 election, overlooking terrorism warnings before Sept. 11 and fanning fears of more attacks to secure Americans' support for the Iraq war.

Moore's assault on U.S. policy got him into trouble with Disney, which refused to let subsidiary Miramax release ``Fahrenheit 9/11.''

He is still trying to work out a deal for U.S. distribution but thinks the win at Cannes will guarantee him an American audience. He also cites the makeup of the nine-member jury -- four out of nine are Americans -- as proof of the strong reaction the film could have in the United States.

``I would be surprised within the next 24 hours if we don't have somebody,'' Moore said. ``Miramax has been fielding calls all day.''

He hopes to have the film in U.S. theaters by July. But he is cynical about how much impact it could have on the U.S. presidential election in November.

``If some of those (viewers) end up going and deciding to become good citizens by exercising the right to vote, great,'' he said. ``But let's be honest. ... You have to start with pretty low expectations in terms of the political end of this when you live in a country where half the people don't vote.''

The new movie is darker in tone than ``Bowling for Columbine,'' and includes grisly war footage. But the filmmaker also mixed in humor to get his point across -- a talent that the jury singled out in explaining what made Moore special.

Moore's sense of humor came out on awards night, too, when he couldn't resist thanking his ``cast'' -- the U.S. Cabinet, and particularly Bush, whose speaking blunders turn up in the movie.

``He's got the funniest lines in the film,'' Moore joked. ``I'll be eternally grateful to him.''

[Jeremy Blackman]

It was a political move, and that's what disgusts me. It'll be nothing more than a footnote in cinema in the future.

Has Roger & Me become a "footnote"? Have other political movies become footnotes?

Do political movies in general disgust you? Does political movies winning awards disgust you?

Do political movies that you disagree with disgust you? Does political movies that you disagree with winning awards disgust you?

So everyone can be mad about my opinion. Whatever. Someone had to say something. Now let's go on for 7 pages about how I'm "wrong". Preach to the choir.

Do you really hope to have any meaningful discussion about this with that amount of cynical baggage? And what is that supposed to mean after you said this?

Bring on the heat, baby. I'll take it all.

[mutinyco]

Just imagine The Conformist and Taxi Driver without their politics!