For 12 days every year, the French Riviera resort town comes alive with all the sundrenched red carpet glamour you can imagine.
“Every time I go to Cannes, it feels like I’m entering the helicopter scene in La Dolce Vita,” Leonardo DiCaprio told The Herald Sun. “It’s an insane experience. The entire town is turned into a red carpet. Every hotel is a premiere. But at the same time, it is the mecca for the world to celebrate filmmaking and bold filmmaking.”
Opening the world’s most glamorous film festival this year will be Lurhmann’s The Great Gatsby, before it ends on May 26 with the presentation of the coveted Palme D’Or award for best film.
While hundreds of films will premiere, hoping to generate enough buzz to fill theatres, here are the 10 that are on our radar this year.
1. The Great Gatsby by Baz Luhrmann, Australia
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire and Isla Fisher, the famous adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel centres on a mysterious millionaire named Gatsby and the lavish, hedonistic world he creates.
2. Inside Llewyn Davis by the Coen Brothers (USA)
Starring Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, and John Goodman, the latest Coen brothers flick is one steeped in the 1960s folk music scene of New York.
3. Only God Forgives by Nicolas Winding Refn, Denmark
Starring Ryan Gosling and Kristin Scott Thomas, Only God Forgives is one of the most anticipated films at Cannes. Julian, a drug-smuggler thriving in Bangkok’s criminal underworld, sees his life get even more complicated when his mother compels him to find and kill whoever is responsible for his brother’s recent death.
4. La Venus A La Fourrure (Venus in Fur) by Roman Polanski, France
Starring Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathieu Amalric, Venus in Fur centres on an actress who is trying to convince a director of how she’s perfect for a role in his upcoming production
5. The Past by Asghar Farhadi, Iran
Starring Berenice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, Ali Mosaffa, this is the follow-up to Farhadi’s acclaimed Oscar-winner A Separation, telling the story of an Iranian man who returns to France to finalise his divorce, and return back to his native country.
6. The Immigrant by James Gray, USA
Starring Jeremy Renner, Joaquin Phoenix, and Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant follows Sonya, who falls prey to Bruno, a charming but wicked man who takes her in and forces her into a life of prostitution… until a magician comes along and tries to save her, that is.
7. Behind the Candelabra by Steven Soderbergh
Starring Matt Damon, Rob Lowe, and Michael Douglas, this film is based on the autobiographical novel recounting the tempestuous 6-year relationship between Liberace and his (much younger) lover, Scott Thorson.
8. Blood Ties by Guillaume Canet, France
Starring Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldana, Marion Cotillard, Clive Owen, and Billy Crudup, this French film is about two brothers from either side of the law who face off over organised crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.
9. The Bling Ring by Sofia Coppola, USA
Starring Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson, The Bling Ring clearly draws inspiration from the recent spout of celebrity robberies. Based on true events, it follows a group of fame-obsessed teenagers use the internet to track celebrities’ whereabouts to rob their homes.
10. Nebraska by Alexander Payne, USA
Starring Bruce Dern and Will Forte, Nebraska is from the director of our favourite booze flick, Sideways and is Payne’s follow-up to 2011’s The Descendants, again centring on a father’s relationship with his kids – in this instance, his estranged son, who he heads to Nebraska with to claim a million dollar prize.