Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai received the single honor of
opening the 60th Cannes film festival on Wednesday with his latest
creation, My Blueberry Nights, starring singer Norah Jones
and actor Jude Law.?
Labeled as a road trip film,
My Blueberry Nights tells of
a blueberry-pie-eating girl who embarks on a journey across the
United States, seeking the meaning of love. It was screened on
Wednesday night as the first of the 22 official films in
competition at the festival, seeking to take home the supreme Palme
d'Or award.
After the screening, Hollywood Reporter critic Kirk
Honeycutt commented that "the blueberry pie may belong to Norah
Jones in a highly-watchable acting debut," while Variety's
Todd McCarthy praised the film, saying "Blueberry echoes
the director's biggest hit, In the Mood for Love, in its
moody melancholy, claustrophobic settings and highly decorative
shooting style."
Some Chinese critics disagreed, saying the film was too
reminiscent with Wong's classic Chungking Express (1994),
less popular in the West than In the Mood for Love
(2000).
Film insiders seemed united in praising the movie with Gong Li
labeling it a great movie, and speaking of her envy of the actors
who had the chance of starring in it. Andie McDowell lavished
compliments on Wong Kar-wai and singled out David Strathairn's
performance as being exceptional. However, actors said they love
it.
Earlier in the day, Jones, Law and Wong turned out in dazzling
style on the star-studded red carper opening ceremony. They were
accompanied by a bevy of famous faces with Chinese actress Gong Li,
Hong Kong star Maggie Cheung, India's Aishwarya Rai and France's
Juliette Binoche, actresses Andie MacDowell, Elizabeth Hurley,
directors Luc Besson and David Lynch, and Hollywood producer Harvey
Weinstein mingling and smiling for the cameras.
German actress Diane Kruger hosted the opening ceremony before
Blueberry Nights was screened, saying that "for 12 days we
will see films that will make us laugh, cry and sing," before the
nine-person jury reward the festival's best on May 27. This year's
line-up of judges welcomes British director Stephen Frears,
Australian actress Toni Collette, Turkey's Nobel-prize winning
author Orhan Pamuk and Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung.
Unfortunately, this year's festival will not see any Chinese
mainland participation after the last-minute shock pull-out by
Jiang Wen who was set to present his film, The Sun Also
Rises.
?(China.org.cn by Zhang Rui, May 17, 2007)
