Picking Cannes pix
Only a few are thus far set for unspooling
New films by such key international directors as Nikita Mikhalkov, Leos Carax, Takeshi Kitano, Zhang Yimou, Pedro Almodovar, Arturo Ripstein and Marco Bellocchio will be featured on the Croisette, while many other pictures are poised for consideration or are not yet finished.
Facing a deadline of April 22, when the complete program will be revealed at a Paris press conference, fest topper Gilles Jacob is said to be "way behind" in firming up a list and is watching several films per day in an effort to cover all his bases.
Hottest rumor a week ago was that the most eagerly anticipated film of the year, George Lucas' "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace," would make its international debut on closing night, but 20th Century Fox has scotched that report. Lucas and the distrib want the space epic to be perceived as "a people's film" unmarked by any festival affiliation.
Amiel isn't closer
Fox also denied that Jon Amiel's "Entrapment," starring Sean Connery, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Ving Rhames, would be the closer, although the romantic suspenser looks headed for the Riviera in a different slot. Pic is set to open in the U.S. on April 30.
Carax's French drama "Pola X," starring Catherine Deneuve and Katerina Golubeva, is scheduled to bow in France on May 12, and is therefore likely to either kick off the 52nd edition of the Cote d'Azur event or play the second day.
Among the films definitely headed for the Competition is Mikhalkov's historical romantic drama "The Barber of Siberia," starring Julia Ormond and Richard Harris. English-lingo epic, in which the director portrays 19th century Czar Aleksandr III, has received a mixed reaction in Russia since its Feb. 20 premiere, although a different cut is reportedly being prepared for international consumption.
Sure shots to show
Other sure titles include Kitano's "Kikujiro's Summer," a road movie in which the Japanese actor-director plays a veteran yakuza and helps a young boy look for his father; Mexican vet Arturo Ripstein's "No One Writes to the Colonel," an adaptation of the Gabriel Garcia Marquez novella with Salma Hayek and Marisa Paredes; Italian vet Bellocchio's "The Nanny," from a Pirandello story, starring Valeria Bruni Tedeschi; and Zhang Yimou's "Not One Less," set in a country school in China.
Among the other leading contenders for the Competition are Atom Egoyan's thriller "Felicia's Journey," based on a William Trevor novel; Alan Parker's adaptation of Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes" with Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle; Anthony Minghella's adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley" starring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Cate Blanchett; Kevin Smith's "Dogma" with Ben Affleck; Aleksandr Sokhurov's "Moloch," about Hitler and Eva Braun; Patricia Rozema's adaptation of Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park," featuring Embeth Davidtz; and Jim Jarmusch's "Ghost Dog" with Isaach de Bankole, Forest Whitaker, Damon Whitaker and Paul Diomede.
Probably Ang Lee
Also looking like strong possibilities are Diane Kurys' "Children of the Century" toplining Juliette Binoche; Valeri Pichul's "Sky in Diamonds," about a boy born on the centenary of Chekhov's birth; "La vie de Jesus" director Bruno Dumont's "Humanity"; Ang Lee's Civil War drama "Ride with the Devil"; Chen Kuo-fu's "The Personals" from Taiwan; and Giuseppe Tornatore's "The Legend of the Pianist on the Ocean," depending upon whether the director and Fine Line can agree on a cut.
Among films being considered for the Official Selection are: Roman Polanski's thriller "The Ninth Gate," toplining Johnny Depp, Lena Olin, Frank Langella, James Russo and Emmanuelle Seigner; Steven Soderbergh's "The Limey," starring Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda; Bruno Nuytten's "Passionment"; John Sayles' "Limbo," with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Casey Siemaszko and Kris Kristofferson; Wayne Wang's "Anywhere but Here," a drama about a mother and daughter starting a new life in Beverly Hills, with Susan Sarandon, Natalie Portman and Hart Bochner; Tim Robbins' "The Cradle Will Rock," the story of Orson Welles' staging of the populist musical; and Scott Hicks' "Snow Falling on Cedars" with Ethan Hawke.
Likely to be listed
Other likely entrants are Istvan Szabo's "A Taste of Sunshine," the saga of three generations of a Hungarian Jewish family featuring Ralph Fiennes and William Hurt; Michael Winterbottom's "Old New Borrowed Blue," a romantic comedy set in Northern Ireland with Christopher Eccleston and Fionnula Flanagan; Michael Cacoyannis' "The Cherry Orchard"; Raul Ruiz's "Time Regained"; Rashid Benhadj's "Mirka," a drama toplining Gerard Depardieu and Vanessa Redgrave; cinematographer Christopher Doyle's directorial debut "Away With Words"; and U.K. director Lynne Ramsey's "Rat Catcher."
Almodovar's latest, "All About My Mother," looks headed for an Out-of-Competition unspooling, while two films appear to be locked for the Un Certain Regard sidebar -- Wang Xiaoshuai's "Vietnam Girl" from China and "Criminal Lovers" from "Sitcom" helmer Francois Ozon.
Status of Chen Kaige's "Assassin" remains to be seen, as the director is recutting the film after poor receptions in Japan and in its mainland China preem late last year. Mike Leigh's Gilbert and Sullivan biopic "Topsy Turvy" will reportedly not be ready in time for the fest, while the widely talked-about "Notting Hill," starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, also will not be turning up on the Croisette, as the producers reportedly feel the film doesn't need the fest hoopla to give it a good launch.
(Adam Dawtrey, Benedict Carver, Chris Petrikin, John Hopewell, David Rooney and Liza Foreman contributed to this report.)
