When: A France release is certain. We’ll be very lucky if it makes it here.
Who: Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien‘s first film in another language that is not his mother tongue.
What: This is a part of a series of films to celebrate the anniversary of the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. Other contributing directors are Olivier Assayas, Raoul Ruiz and Jim Jarmusch. Formerly titled “Orsay”, this is about a little boy and his baby-sitter, a Chinese student, inhabit the same imaginary world and through their adventures they are followed by a strange red balloon. The boy’s mother is played by Juliette Binoche.
Why: Not enough people know who Hou Hsiao-Hsien is. What a shame.
When: Paramount Vantage – Cannes preem likely followed by June 7th release.
Who: Return to form for Joel (see pic) and Ethan.
What: Based on the Cormac McCarthy’s novel “Old Men,” this noir thriller set in West Texas, tells the blood-soaked tale of a man on the run with a suitcase full of money being pursued by a number of individuals.
Why: Film noir elements and greed spells Blood Simple and Fargo.
When: Surely a Cannes presentation followed by a small indie unit pick-up for the U.S.
Who: Famed music video filmmaker and photographer Anton Corbijn’s feature film debut.
What: Based on (the widow of Ian Curtis) Deborah Curtis’ Touching From a Distance, this is a biopic of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis. Matt Greenhalgh adapted the screenplay, which covers the last years in Curtis’ life, leading up to his suicide on the eve of what was to have been Joy Division’s first US tour in 1980.
Why: Corbijn is extremely close to the subject matter – a highly personal film.
What: Based on a short film that Wong shot in Hong Kong, this sees a shopkeeper fall for a mysterious female client who eats blueberry pies. Jones stars as a young woman who travels across America to find the true meaning of love, encountering offbeat characters along the way.
Why: Singer Norah Jones is supported by one hell of a talented cast.
When: Picturehouse Films Cannes, Venice or Toronto fest premiere plus a late calendar date.
Who: A rare, sprawling François Girard outing.
What: Based on the Alessandro Baricco’s novel, this is the story of a married silkworm smuggler, Herve Joncour, in 19th Century France who travels to Japan to collect his clandestine cargo. While there he spots a beautiful European woman, the concubine of a local baron, with whom he becomes obsessed. Without speaking the same language, they communicate through letters until war intervenes. Their unrequited love persists however, and Herve’s wife Helene begins to suspect.
Who: After stint with Altman, Paul Thomas Anderson will deliver.
What: This is based on the 1927 Upton Sinclair novel OIL. The book sees bribery of public officials, class warfare, and international rivalry over oil production. Sinclair’s story of a genial independent oil developer and his son, whose sympathy with the oilfield workers and socialist organizers fuels a running debate with his father. Senators, small investors, oil magnates, a Hollywood film star, and a crusading evangelist are the people that populate the pages of the novel.
Why: 20 bucks says Daniel Day-Lewis gets an Oscar nom.
When: Should get picked up by a subtitle-friendly unit such as SPC of IFC after a Cannes festival date. Released in May in Spain.
Who: Julio Medem of Sex and Lucia fame.
What: Original screenplay tells the story of Ana, a young girl who used to live on Ibiza with her hippy father but who moves to an artists’ hide-out in Madrid because she is an aspiring painter. It sees her fleeing her own fate after a hypnosis session allows her to glimpse parallel experiences she believes are past lives. The filmmaker describes the narrative as “the story-journey of Ana during four years of her life, from 18 to 22.
Why: Medem is one of Europe’s underrated filmic geniuses. Charlotte Rampling stars.
When: Paramount Pictures – March 2nd – bizarre shift in dates means that perhaps this is not your traditional studio film.
Who: Fight Club’s David Fincher.
What: Adapted by screenwriter Jamie Vanderbilt from Robert Graysmith’s 1986 “Zodiac” and the sequel, “Zodiac Unmasked: The Identity of American’s Most Elusive Serial Killer Revealed. Graysmith’s books trace the mystery of “Zodiac,” a serial killer who terrorized the San Francisco area from 1966 to 1978. The killer committed at least 37 murders and documented his exploits in taunting letters sent to the San Francisco Chronicle.
When: Killer Films will find highest bidder most likely after first Cannes screening. Update this now belongs to the Weinstein co. and a end of year release is in the projects.
Who: Master craftsman Todd Haynes’s most ambitious project.
What: This is a film about the life of Bob Dylan. Each story expresses an aspect of Dylan’s mercurial personality and each story is to be filmed differently, in a style appropriate to its theme: Woody (Franklin) – an 11-year-old black boy, always on the run; Robbie – a womanising performer (Ledger), always on the road; Jude (Blanchett) – the young androgynous rock star; John/Jack (Bale) – a folk idol who reinvents himself as an evangelist; Billy (Gere) – the famous outlaw, miraculously alive but growing old.
Why: Visual and aural treat is based on particularly original concept.
