Our Cannes previews wrap up today with a quick look at a few of the films playing under the Un Certain Regard banner and a quick tour of the official out of competition selections. You can check back a few days for our Palme d'Or Competition and Critics Week/Directors Fortnight previews. Stay tuned as the reviews and news start to roll in tomorrow!
Office dir. Hong Won-chan (Midnight)
Lacking major stars, featuring a familiar serial killer story and coming from a first-time director, Office doesn’t immediately jump off the page, at least until you discover that director Han Jun-hee is best known for putting pen to paper on both Na Hong-jin’s The Chaser (2008) and The Yellow Sea (2010).
An entire family is murdered and the serial killings are traced to a company office. Detective Jong-hoon comes in to investigate.
The major name in the cast here is Ko A-sung, the young star from both The Host (2006) and Snowpiercer (2013). Beyond that, a number of talented performers fill out the ensemble cast, including Park Sung-woong, also appearing in Un Certain Regard title The Shameless, and ace supporting star Bae Sung-woo. - Pierce Conran
Cemetery of Splendour dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul (UCR)
Everyone's favorite impossible to pronounce Thai director returns to the place that won him the Palme d'Or (for Uncle Boonmee) with this follow up to Mekong Hotel. Cemetery of Splendour tells the story of a lonely housewife tending to a soldier. Strange dreams and/or hallucinations are undoubtedly involved. - Ryland Aldrich
Love dir. Gaspar Noe (Midnight)
Strap on your seat belt (or is it bondage belt?). We finally have Noe's follow-up to Enter the Void. Are you sure you're ready for this? - Ryland Aldrich
The Shameless dir. Oh Seung-wook (UCR)
Billed as a ‘hard-boiled melodrama’, The Shameless marks the return of Oh Seung-wook, whose last foray behind the camera came 15 years ago, though he has also been responsible for writing some of modern Korean cinema’s most important films (Green Fish, 1997; Christmas in August, 1998).
Jeon Do-yeon, a former Cannes Best Actress awardee for Secret Sunshine in 2007, plays a hostess bar owner, the lover of a man (Park Sung-woong, who is also in Cannes with Office) who goes on the run after taking a man’s life. Kim Nam-gil features as the detective on the case who gets too close to the madam.
Oh’s debut Kilimanjaro put great actors in a gangster thriller with a difference and bristling dialogue. A blend of Korea cinema’s beloved crime and melo genres from its best writers, The Shameless is one to watch out for. - Pierce Conran
Irrational Man dir. Woody Allen (Out of Comp)
Woody's latest is about a philosophy professor who falls for a student. Since all most people tend to care about when it comes to Woody is who is in it, here is who is in it: Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Parker Posey, Jamie Blackley, Meredith Hagner, and Ben Rosenfield. - Ryland Aldrich
An (AKA An: Sweet Red Bean Paste) dir. Kawase Naomi (UCR)
Kawase follows-up Still the Water with this tale of an ex-con-turned-baker and lonely old lady who connect over the titular treat. - Ryland Aldrich
Journey to the Shore dir. Kurosawa Kiyoshi (UCR)
Asano Tadanobu and Fukatsu Eri star in Kurosawa Kiyoshi's follow-up to Seventh Code. This one follows a wife on a journey to thank those who helped her long lost husband return home. - Ryland Aldrich
Amy dir. Asif Kapadia (Midnight)
A documentary about the late singer Amy Winehouse might not seem like the most obvious midnight affair. But what if I told you it was the follow up feature from the director of the incredible documentary Senna? I'm on board. - Ryland Aldrich
Madonna dir. Shin Su-won (UCR)
Featuring Pluto (2012) helmer Shin Su-won on megaphone duties and Bedevilled’s Seo Young-hee on the screen, Madonna was already looking like one this year’s most promising Korean films even before its Cannes invite. With Pluto, Shin demonstrated her terrific command of style and blew a gale of fresh air into the done-to-death high school/revenge films.
An assistant nurse cares for an ailing man in need of a heart transplant, whose son is trying to secure his inheritance. A new female patient suffers a mysterious accident and the son tries to get her heart for his father by offering the nurse a large sum. In need of the money, she looks into the patient’s past but is shocked by what she finds out. - Pierce Conran
A Tale of Love and Darkness dir. Natalie Portman (Out of Comp)
Natalie Portman has previously directed shorts, including one for the anthology New York, I Love You. Her feature debut is this adapatation of the Amos Oz autobiography about the early years of Israel. - Ryland Aldrich