Today's screenings include Visage (Face), and the plot revolves around one of France's most visited attractions: the Louvre. It also features Map of the Sounds of Tokyo.
Synopsis of Face:
A Taiwanese filmmaker makes a film based on the myth of Salomé at the Louvre. Even though he speaks neither French nor English, he insists on giving the part of King Herod to the French actor Jean-Pierre Léaud. To give the film a chance at the box-office, the production company gives the role of Salomé to a world famous model. But problems arise as soon as filming begins... Amidst all this confusion, the director suddenly learns of his mother’s death. The producer flies to Taipei, to attend the funeral. The director falls into a deep sleep where his mother’s spirit does not seem to want to leave her old apartment. The producer has no choice but to wait, alone and lost in a strange city. As after a very long voyage, filming will resume with all who were lost in the underground of the Louvre.
Synopsis of Maps of the Sounds of Tokyo:
Ryu is a solitary girl whose fragile appearance is in stark contrast with the double life she leads, working nights at a Tokyo fishmarket and sporadically taking on jobs as a hit-woman. Mr Nagara is a powerful impresario mourning the loss of his daughter Midori, who has committed suicide. He blames David, a Spaniard who runs a wine business in Tokyo. Mr Nagara's employee, Ishida, was silently in love with Midori and hires Ryu to murder David. A sound engineer, obsessed with the sounds of the Japanese city and fascinated with Ryu, witnesses this love story which searches the shadows of the human soul, reaching deep into places where only silence has the power of eloquence.
Today's schedule
COMPETITION - Grand Théâtre Lumière
08:30am and 7:00pm: VISAGE (Face) by Tsai Ming-liang – 2h1812:00 noon and 10:30 pm: MAP OF THE SOUNDS OF TOKYO d’Isabel Coixet – 1h49
UN CERTAIN REGARD - Salle Debussy
20h00 – CLOSINGPrizes and screening of awarded films
COURTS-METRAGES – Salle Debussy
11:00am:MISSEN (Missing) by Jochem De Vries – 12’
ARENA by João Salaviza – 15’
KLUSUMS (Silence) by Laila Pakalnina – 14’
RUMBO A PEOR (Worstward) by Alex Brendemûhl – 12’
LARG OG PETER (Lars and Peter) byDaniel Borgman – 15’
L’HOMME A LA GORDINI (The man in the blue gordini) by Jean-Christophe Lie – 10’
THE SIX DOLLAR FIFTY MAN by M.Albiston, L.Sutherland – 15’
CIAO MAMA by Goran Odvorcic – 10’
AFTER TOMORROW by Emma Sullivan – 15’
2:30 pm : Salle Bunuel
Short Film in competition
LE CINÉMA DE LA PLAGE
8:30 pm : Belle Roscoe ! 45’9:30 pm: WATTSTAX by Mel Stuart – 1h38
Find out more about the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
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Image of Visage (Face) scene, copyright Cannes Film Festival