There are many clichés about the Cannes Film Festival conveyed notably by Television. These clichés have become rooted in the spirits and the collective imaginary and they are resisting. I have been in Cannes for 24 hours and to my surprise my “Cannes fantasies” are already vanishing.
The first of all these ideas one has before coming to the Croisette is that in Cannes, during the ten days of the festival and in every sections, we just see big films (you must understand good, very good!) First screening since I arrived, and first deception. Yes, at the Cannes Film Festival, the cinematographic quality is not always here. Cannes is the most beautiful, media important, etc, festival in the world; it does not mean that there are only good films…
Nevertheless it is indeed very important for the career of a film to be in Cannes, which remains the best place for the promotion of a film. The stamp “Festival de Cannes” is something like the best quality label one could imagine for a film ; it will participate a lot in the promotion of its releases, giving the film a visibility which it might not enjoy without a Cannes selection.
I’m running now to the next screening… because the essential here is to see many and many films, as many as you can. Whatever the quality!
PS : I know I did not mention to you, my dear readers, anything about this film I wrote about as my first cinematographic deception. I will rather write about films I like…