Druggy road trips, soul-searching drama and stylish gangland flicks go head to head on the French Riviera this week as a galaxy of stars and directors converge for the Cannes film festival.
There used to be a culture of mainstream auteur cinema, of grown-up auteur cinema. That’s the cinema we should be seeing again this year
David Cronenberg, Ken Loach and Michael Haneke headline the pick of 22 international film-makers vying for the Palme d’Or award at the 65th edition of the world’s top cinema showcase from tomorrow to May 27.
Star-wise, the 2012 line-up promises to dazzle with Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Jessica Chastain, Kylie Minogue, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Brad Pitt just a few of the A-listers expected in town.
Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe, who herself never walked the Cannes red carpet, was chosen as the face of this year’s filmfest in a tribute 50 years after her death.
Palme d’Or-winner Nanni Moretti of Italy heads the jury, with help from eight jurors including the actor Ewan McGregor and fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier.
Festival general delegate Thierry Fremaux, who cherry-picked the selection from among almost 1,800 entries, was particularly excited about this year’s American crop.
“These past few years American cinema has been split between two extremes, with big studio blockbusters on one side, and small independent movies on the other,” he said.
“There used to be a culture of mainstream auteur cinema, of grown-up auteur cinema. That’s the cinema we should be seeing again this year.”
US director Wes Anderson strikes a joyous keynote with tomorrow’s opening film Moonrise Kingdom, a pre-teen elopement story whose star-packed cast includes Bruce Willis as a small-town cop.
Two US auteurs are running for Cannes gold: Lee Daniels’s keenly awaited The Paperboy stars Ms Kidman opposite John Cusack and Zac Efron in the tale of a reporter investigating a death row case.
The second is Jeff Nichols, whose Mud, about two teenage boys who form a pact with a fugitive, was a surprise entry.
Among the European giants, Austria’s Mr Haneke will show Amour (Love), starring Isabelle Huppert as the daughter of a woman hit by a stroke.
In the absence of Lars Von Trier − banned from last year’s festival after incendiary remarks about Hitler − fellow Dane Thomas Vinterberg injects a dose of icy Nordic drama with The Hunt.
Britain’s Mr Loach returns for the 17th time with comedy The Angel’s Share, about ex-offenders who turn to whisky-making.
One of three French film-makers in the race, Jacques Audiard has cast Ms Cotillard as a killer-whale trainer hit by a tragedy in Rust and Bone.
Romania’s Cristian Mungiu, who scooped the 2007 Palme for a Communist-era abortion drama, returns with Beyond the Hills about two orphans, while Italian Matteo Garrone takes on TV culture with Reality.
Asia gets a look-in with two South Koreans: Im Sang-soo with erotic thriller Taste of Money and Hong Sang-soo with In Another Country.
And Palme-winning Iranian Abbas Kiarostami returns at 71 with Like Someone in Love, a Japan-set tale about a student who works as a prostitute.
Showing until May 27
Main competition
Opening film: Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson (US)
De Rouille et d’Os (Of Rust and Bone), Jacques Audiard (France)
Holy Motors, Leos Carax (France)
Cosmopolis, David Cronenberg (Canada)
The Paperboy, Lee Daniels (US)
Killing Them Softly, Andrew Dominik (Australia)
Reality, Matteo Garrone (Italy)
Amour, Michael Haneke (Austria)
Lawless, John Hillcoat (Australia)
In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo (South Korea)
Taste of Money, Im Sang-soo (South Korea)
Like Someone in Love, Abbas Kiarostami (Iran)
The Angel’s Share, Ken Loach (Britain)
In the Fog, Sergei Loznitsa (Ukraine)
Beyond the Hills, Cristian Mungiu (Romania)
After the Battle, Yousry Nasrallah (Egypt)
Mud, Jeff Nichols (US)
You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet, Alain Resnais (France)
Post Tenebras Lux, Carlos Reygadas (Mexico)
On the Road, Walter Salles (Brazil)
Paradise: Love, Ulrich Seidl (Germany)
The Hunt, Thomas Vinterberg (Denmark)
Closing film (Out of competition): Therese Desqueyroux, Claude Miller (France)
Un certain regard competition
Miss Lovely by Ashim Ahluwalia (India, first film)
La Playa (The Beach), Juan Andres Arango (Colombia, first film)
Les Chevaux de Dieu (God’s Horses)
by Nabil Ayouch (Morocco)
Trois Mondes (Three Worlds), Catherine Corsini (France)
Antiviral by Brandon Cronenberg (Canada)
7 dias en La Habana (Seven Days in Havana), Benicio del Toro, Pablo Trapero, Julio Medem, Elia Suleiman, Juan Carlos Tabio, Gaspar Noe and Laurent Cantet (US, Spain, Argentina, Palestinian Territories, Cuba, France)
Le Grand Soir, Benoit Delepine and Gustave Kervern (France)
Laurence Anyways, Xavier Dolan (Canada/Quebec)
Despues de Lucia (After Lucia), Michel Franco (Mexico)
Aimer à Perdre la Raison by Joachim Lafosse (Belgium)
Mystery, Lou Ye (China)
Student, Darezhan Omirbayv (Kazakhstan)
La Pirogue (The Pirogue), Moussa Toure (Senegal)
Elefante Blanco (White Elephant) by Pablo Trapero (Argentina)
Confession d’un Enfant du Siecle (Confessions of a Child of the Century), Sylvie Verheyde (France)
11.25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate by Koji Wakamatsu (Japan)
Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin (US, first film)
Out of competition
Me and You by Bernardo Bertolucci (Italy)
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath (US)
Hemingway and Gellhorn, Philip Kaufman (US)
Midnight screenings
Dario Argento’s Dracula, Dario Argento (Argentina)
The Sapphires, Wayne Blair (Australia)
Maniac, Franck Khalfoun (France)
65th anniversary
Une Journée Particuliere (A Particular Day), documentary on Cannes backstage, Gilles Jacob and Samuel Faure (France)