Cannes Capsule Reviews

[Yama Rahimi was our eyes, ears and now in more detail – our voice at this year's Cannes film festival. Here are some very handy reviews in easy-to-read, insightful capsule form. Enjoy!]

       

Babel is the last film in the trilogy that started with Amores Perros and 21 Grams by Alejandro González Iñárritu and his team that include writer Guillermo Arriaga and DP Rodrigo Prieto, composer Gustavo Santaolalla and others.

It is another intense, heartbreaking and devastating drama that has the same non-linear story telling as the previous film but this time it takes place globally in four countries on three continents.

One single gun shot in Morocco sends shock waves to the US, Mexico and Japan. For the next two hours or so you are just spellbinded by how Iñárritu weaves all the stories together. He manages to give us fully developed characters in this big ensemble cast that you care what happens every moment all the way to the conclusion of this great film that deals with alienation, responsibility, violence, terrorism, rivalry, and making choices but all in a subtle way without being preachy or contrived.

It's a towering achievement by Iñárritu and his crew and excellent cast that includes Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Gael Garcia Bernal but the films heart and revelation are Rinko Kikuchi as the mute Japanese teenager and Adriana Barraza as the maid. It's a great film by any means and sets the standard for the films to come this year.

"Volver" which mean "Returning" is about a group of women who are dealing with the trauma of abuse and death by returning to their roots both mentally and physically in order to heal. Penelope Cruz does a stunning return to her roots in Spain where she always gave great performances from Hollywood where she always ended up in mediocre material. Almodovar returns to his roots by revisiting his past and reunited with his muse of his earlier films, the great Carmen Maura. The cast is impeccable in this film which is the most mature work by Almodovar.

As always with Almodovar, he always manages to get away with so much by dealing with subject matters that you wouldn't think is appropriate on film, especially abuse and death as it is in this case. However he never goes too far and keeps the humor that makes his films a pleasure to watch.

Shortbus is the second feature by John Cameron Mitchell after the success of "Hedwing and the Angry Inch". He's the most courageous filmmaker in the US and this film will make waves and cause lots of controversy. He has managed to pull off the impossible by getting non-professional actors to perform sex but tell a story that will touch you.

"Shortbus" is a sex club in New York where people visit for either one or another reason concerning sex. The film opens with bang of all kind of sexual acts that are not erotic but shocking. After you are over the shock value one gets sucked into the lives of the characters which will either touch you or interest you. By the end – you think sex is another part of human being.

"Shortbus" is the first film of its kind where the sex is up front in your face but used to make a point and tell a story rather than use it as a gimmick. The last film that comes close to it is the French film "Romance" by Catherine Breillat but this film much more successful.

I had my reservations about it specially since I wasn't a big fan of "Hedwig" but to watch it with more than 2000 thousand people at the most prestigious festival was quite a treat. The sex at first was shocking and draw giggles from the audience but after the film’s final credits rolled up one notices that it wasn’t the vulnerability of naked bodies but the honesty of the character that makes one care. It got a standing ovation from audience. It's a daring peace of work of art. I'm wondering what John Cameron Mitchell is up to next. The "actors" are quite good and go on having careers with the worst behind them.