64th Festival de Cannes – Cannes Classics Lineup

A few days ago the fest unveiled the films in the Cannes Classics section that showcases heritage cinema, allows re-discovering films and screens restored prints. This year the section has fourteen (14) films, five documentaries, a Masterclass by Malcom McDowell, and some other surprises.

These are the films.

Feature Films
Clockwork Orange, Stanley Kubrick, USA, 1971
La Macchina Ammazzacattivi (The Machine to Kill Bad People), Roberto Rossellini, Italy, 1952
A Bronx Tale, Robert De Niro, USA, 1993
Il Conformista (The Conformist), Bernardo Bertolucci, Italy, 1970
Rue Cases-Négres (Sugar Cane Alley), Euzhan Palcy, France, 1983
Puzzle of a Downfall Child, Jerry Schatzberg, USA, 1970
Hudutlarin Kanunu (The Law of the Border), Lufti O. Akad, Turkey, 1966
Niemandsland (No Man’s Land), Victor Trivas, Germany, 1931
Les Enfants du Paradis (The Children of Paradise), Marcel Carné, France, 1945
Despair, Rainier Werner Fassbinder, Germany, 1978
Le Sauvage (The Savage), Jean-Paul Rappeneau, France, 1975
Chronique d’un été (Chronicle of a Summer), Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin, France, 1960
L’Assassino (The Assassin), Elio Petri, Italy, 1961

Short Films
Le Voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon), Georges Méliès, France, 1902, 16’

Documentaries
The Look, Angelica Maccarone, Germany and France, 2011
(*) Corman’s World: Exploits Of A Hollywood Rebel, Alex Stapleton, USA, 2011
Belmondo … Itineraire, Vincent Perrot and Jeff Domenech, France, 2011
Kurosawa, la Voie (Kurosawa’s Way), Catherine Cadou, France, 2011
Il était une fois… Orange mécanique (Once Upon a Time … A Clockwork Orange), Antoine de Gaudemar and Michel Ciment, France, 2011

(*) First Film, competes for Camera d’Or

Have to admit that this year there are quite a few films in this selection that I haven’t seen with some that call my attention. Of course have seen Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange that fascinated and yes, scared me when I saw it a very long time ago, which reminds me to share that this year there are some Stanley Kubrick activities in France and if you haven’t check the amazing exposition and retrospective at la Cinémathèque Française, I strongly suggest you do at their official site that has many opportunities to explore the exhibitions and different activities; the only thing I’m missing is actually go to Paris and visit la Cinémathèque! Sigh. By the way, Cannes Classics will screen a restored print that celebrates the 40th anniversary of the film.

As find very interesting the info about Georges Méliès’ most famous film I reproduce what the press release says:
Found: A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la lune)
The color version of Georges Méliès’ most famous film, A Trip to the Moon (1902) is visible again 109 years after its release: having been long considered lost, this version was found in 1993 in Barcelona. In 2010, a full restoration is initiated by Lobster Films, Gan Foundation for Cinema and Technicolor Foundation for Heritage Cinema. The digital tools of today allows them to re-assemble the fragments of 13 375 images from the film and restore them one by one. The premiere of the film will take place in May 2011 with an original soundtrack by AIR.

The 2011 documentaries are all about films and as the press release says: “Films about movies are also films. Like a novelist writing a literary essay on the work of another writer, a filmmaker can tell in pictures the history of cinema. Each year, Cannes Classics focuses on these documentary films, which are also films.” So these documentaries trace Kurosawa’s life and work, Charlotte Rampling career, Roger Corman bio, Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange film, and Jean-Paul Belmondo.

Also there is an addition to the Cannes Classics selection that was announced minutes ago and will be screened as part of the event Egypt, guest country.

Al Bostagui (Facteur), Hussein Kamal, Egypt, 1968

To check the official press release go here and here for today's announcement.

Maybe is because haven’t seen many films or maybe because organizers changed the section structure, but I find that this year the section is more interesting than in previous years. Nevertheless now comes the hard task of waiting until I’m able to watch some of the selection films.

Cheers!