#79. Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s The Young and Prodigious Spivet
Gist: Spivet is a 12 year-old prodigy with a passion for cartography and scientific inventions. One day, he receives an unexpected call from the Smithsonian museum telling him that he is the winner of the very prestigious Baird prize for his discovery of the perpetual motion machine and that he is invited to a reception where he is expected to give a speech. Without telling anyone, he sets out on a freight train across the U.S.A. to reach Washington DC. Cast includes Helena Bonham Carter, Judy Davis, Rick Mercer and Callum Keith Rennie.
Prediction: This promises to be more along the vein of Amelie (which the festival Gilles Jacob regretfully passed up on when it was offered to the Croisette in an uncompleted form) and though Jeunet doesn’t make regular appearances at the festival (his first was 95’s The City of Lost Children) we can imagine The Young and Prodigious Spivet will be present as a huge billboard on the Croisette (France release date is in October) but if there isn’t any U.S productions in the Out of Competition section, then maybe this will grab a spot.
