Cannes Film Festival 2017: Who won, who lost in the first week?
CANNES, France — The 70th annual Cannes Film Festival is in full swing on the French Riviera, where espresso-swilling journalists far outnumber the spiffed-up actors and directors unveiling their latest projects. Despite heavier security and softer star power than years past, cinephiles have been blessed with a bounty of awards hopefuls and streaming options since Wednesday's kickoff. We round up the highs and lows of the fest so far.
LOSER: Netflix
The biggest name on the Croisette this week wasn’t Clint Eastwood or Kristen Stewart, but Netflix, which made its inaugural trip to Cannes in competition with two films: Bong Joon Ho's zany sci-fi adventure Okja and Noah Baumbach's neurotic New York comedy The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected). But it hasn’t been smooth sailing for either title, since festival organizers announced that starting next year, movies without a French theatrical release won’t be eligible for the prestigious Palme d'Or award.
Both movies earned boos from festival-goers during their opening credits, while Okja hit an additional speedbump when the film was stopped roughly seven minutes in because of a projection error, spurring even more shouts from the agitated crowd until it restarted 15 minutes later.
WINNER: Netflix
There's no such thing as bad publicity. The streaming giant all but dominated the conversation throughout the week and became a go-to topic at most news conferences. It helps that Okja and Meyerowitz are among the best-reviewed films of the festival so far, with enough star power to drive viewers' interest no matter the platform.
WINNER: Wonderstruck
Todd Haynes’ eagerly anticipated Carol follow-up may put the director back in Oscar contention this year, after earning mostly raves from critics for his tender, whimsical crowd pleaser, which tells the parallel stories of two deaf children (Oakes Fegley and Millicent Simmonds) in different eras. Nominations for score, production design and costumes are most likely, but don’t rule out Haynes’ frequent collaborator Julianne Moore, who learned American Sign Language (ASL) for her role.
WINNER: Will Smith
Many scratched their heads when the Suicide Squad actor was selected for Cannes’ in-competition jury, whose job is it to see all eligible feature films and give them awards at the end of the festival. But aside from a brief dustup with jury president Pablo Almodóvar about Netflix at the opening-day news conference, Smith appears to be fitting right in at the glitzy fest: partying with Rihanna and Kendall Jenner, snapping selfies with fans and breaking it down with fellow juror Jessica Chastain for a brief red-carpet dance party.
WINNER: Timely projects
Stateside, movies are still lagging behind TV when it comes to tackling current politics. But that’s not the case on the other side of the ocean, where three films so far this week have addressed the European migrant crisis: refugee superhero movie Jupiter’s Moon, Vanessa Redgrave’s documentary Sea Sorrow and Michael Haneke’s Amour follow-up Happy End. 120 Beats Per Minute and They each center on LGBTQ issues, while The Revenant director Alejandro González Iñárritu harrowingly re-creates a U.S.-Mexico border crossing from the perspective of migrants in virtual-reality simulation Carne y Arena. And then there's Eugene Jarecki's Promised Land, which compares America's rise and fall to Elvis Presley's.
LOSER: Studio movies
Cannes is typically a pit stop for big-name summer tentpoles on their way to theaters, welcoming a steady mix of eventual blockbusters (Mad Max: Fury Road) and box-office bombs (The BFG). But studio fare is nowhere in sight on this year’s lineup, which instead favors more unorthodox European films such as alien romantic comedy How to Talk to Girls at Parties and Ruben Östlund’s droll morality play The Square.
WINNER: Rihanna
Elle Fanning, Naomie Harris and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan have enchanted with fairy tale-inspired frocks on the red carpet. But none can hold a candle to Rihanna, who radiated rock-star chic in a bridal-esque Dior gown and sunglasses when she arrived at the Palais des Festivals Friday night.
LOSER: Bella Hadid
Weeks after she landed in hot water for promoting the disastrous Fyre Festival on Instagram, the model made headlines yet again on Cannes’ opening night. Although Hadid's high-slit silk gown cracked numerous best-dressed lists, most people remember her unfortunate wardrobe malfunction, when she accidentally flashed her underwear for photographers on the red carpet.
