Although it was expected since Cannes “hearts” Sean Penn, Doug Liman must be pinching himself over the news of being included in the Main Competition, and in the company of the three names of Leigh, Kiarostami and Mikhalkov. After all, when you consider he made Jumper, then Fair Game might be a powerful political film. Out of today’s 16 films named in the Main Comp (still at least 5 or maybe 6 more films to be named at a later date), it would appear that Mikhalkov’s might be in the running for the longest run time. Here are four of the 16.
Another Year — Mike Leigh
Leigh has presented only three film in Cannes, won Best Director for Naked and the Palme d’or for Secrets & Lies and though. I think there might be a better chance for this to be ready for Venice, his latest could slip in. Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, David Bradley, Lesley Manville, Philip Davis and Karina Fernandez — the Flamenco Teacher in Happy-Go-Lucky star in this situational drama…
The Certified Copy — Abbas Kiarostami
Based on an original script by Kiarostami, this tells the story of an English author (William Shimell) finds himself in Italy to promote his latest book and give a lecture on the subject of the relationship between originals and copies in the world of art. At the lecture he meets a French gallery owner (Binoche) and they decide to waste a couple of hours in the alleyways of a village in the southern parts of Tuscany…
The Exodus – The Fortress: Burnt By The Sun 2 — Nikita Mikhalkov
Taking place in post-war Russia, this revisits the characters of Mitya (Oleg Menshikov) and Col. Kotov (Nikita Mikhalkov) who were “killed” in the original film…
Fair Game – Doug Liman
This is based on the lives of Valerie Plame and Ambassador Joseph Wilson, the married couple drawn into a D.C. firestorm. Plame’s status as a CIA agent was revealed by White House officials allegedly out to discredit her husband after he wrote a 2003 New York Times op-ed piece saying that the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq…