2012 Cannes Film Festival Predictions: Alain Resnais’ Vous n’avez encore rien vu

Gist: Loosely translated to ‘You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet’ – or, hopefully, the hipper and smoother ‘You Ain’t See Nothin’ Yet’ – when it comes to Resnais and his kitty munchies, we can only nod our heads and say “yes Alain, you’re probably right.” Based on Jean Anouilh’s play Eurydice, the story for this one revolves around a group of actors who have gathered in the house of a deceased playwright for the reading of his will. The cast will include most of the regulars from the last decade of Resnais’ filmography, and all signs point firmly toward ‘awesome’ on this one.

Prediction: This has been quite the roller coaster ride in terms of our ‘is it or isn’t it?’ guessing game. At once a sure thing for a Cannes berth, we all pretty much forgot about what may be Resnais’ last film when it was announced for an awkward April French theatrical release. In the past few weeks, though, the film was pushed back to a September release, re-igniting its Cannes prospects significantly. Has Resnais hit a snag in finishing up the film, or is this purely a move to allow for a Croisette upset? We’re leaning toward the latter, and this is now a major wild card that really could play anywhere in the Official Selection. We’ll play it safe and call a slot in UCR, but don’t rule out a Competition slot, where Resnais can attempt to right the wrong of snubbing Wild Grass with a non-descript Lifetime Achievement Prize in 2009. pfft.