Belmondo, Rampling, Kubrick, Kurosawa and Corman: Cannes 2011 Includes 5 Film History Docs in Classics Program

The 2011 Cannes Classics program was unveiled, and five new documentaries centered around film history are to be screened as part of the bill, which includes newly restored 35 mm or HD prints of A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick, The Conformist (Il Conformista) by Bernardo Bertolucci, and Despair by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, among eleven other classics. The documentaries scheduled to run are as follows:

The Look by Angelica Maccarone (Germany / France, 2011, 95′)
The film chronicles the life of long time actress Charlotte Rampling, who looks to have collaborated on the project with Maccarone. She’s been working in the industry since the mid-60s, and is still going strong today with notable roles in last year’s Never Let Me Go, and Lars Von Trier’s latest, Melancholia.

Corman’s World: Exploits Of A Hollywood Rebel by Alex Stapleton (USA, 2011, 125′)
Stapleton’s doc looks back at the life of the legendary producer-director Roger Corman, who helped propel the careers of such names as Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese and Monte Hellman. His production company, New World Pictures, which is responsible for a long list of memorable B-movies, also handled US releases of art house imports by the likes of Fellini, Truffaut and Bergman. Corman himself will be at the event to introduce the film. The film premiered earlier this year at Sundance.

Belmondo … Itineraire by Vincent Perrot and Jeff Domenech (France, 2011, 86′)
Though there are few details about this doc and its directors abound, the film looks to be a biography of French New Wave star, Jean-Paul Belmondo. Though still working as an actor today, mostly in stage productions, he will always be remembered for his roles in the films of Godard, Melville and Resnais.

Kurosawa’s Way (Kurosawa, la Voie) by Catherine Cadou (France, 2011, 52′)
Cadou’s name can be found in the credits of Kurosawa’s Dreams as an actress, but in day to day life she was actually the master film maker’s assistant and translator. Her documentary on Kurosawa’s life, contains much unseen footage of the legend at work.

Once Upon a Time … A Clockwork Orange (Il était une fois… Orange mécanique) by Antoine de Gaudemar and Michel Ciment (France, 2011, 52′)
Gaudemar and Ciment reflect on Stanley Kubrick’s disturbing adaptation of A Clockwork Orange. Two years ago Gaudemar directed a similar piece on Godard’s Contempt, titled Il était une fois… Le mépris. The film will play along side several other Kubrick related events, including a Masterclass by Clockwork star Malcolm McDowell, which will be moderated by Ciment, who has served on the Cannes Jury and is a distinguished Kubrick expert.