CANNES 2010 REPORT: BIUTIFUL & CARLOS, THE JACKAL


By George Leon

 Biutiful (beautiful)  the story of a man involved in illegal activity who is confronted by an old childhood friend, who is now a police officer. Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and starring Javier Bardem. It is Iñárritu's first directorial feature since Babel and his first film in his native Spanish language since his debut feature Amores Perros. The film is scheduled to compete for the Palme d'Or

At the heart of Biutiful is the intimate, powerful story of Uxbal, a man who finds himself desperately alone, trying to maintain his balance between survival in a marginal neighborhood and safeguarding the future of his young children who are floating aimlessly through life. So, you can all guess that Bardem is playing Uxbal, and who could be better choice for this kind of role? The perfect guy that we all remember from titles like  No Country For Old Men or The Sea Inside and Between Your Legs.

The film is one of five productions in a $100 million deal between Gonzalez Inarritu, Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo del Toro, and the film companies Cha Cha Cha, Universal Pictures, and Focus Features International. Soundtrack by Gustavo Santoalla and Cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto, AMC ASC.


 Olivier Assayas’ highly-anticipated Carlos has been added to the lineup for the Cannes Film Festival in an Out-of-Competition screening slot in its long 5hr 30min version and also it is to be shown as a three-part TV drama on television Canal+.

 
Assayas’ biography of the famed terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sanchez is a five-and-a-half hour opus starring Edgar Ramirez, Julia Hummer and Alexander Beyer and centers on Venezuelan revolutionary Ramirez Sanchez, who lead a terrorist organization that raided OPEC headquarters in 1975 before being caught by French police.
The mini-series is set to air in the US on The Sundance Channel at some point this year, and the shorter version will be released theatrically by IFC Films.