The Cannes Film Festival is winding down with a little “Love.”
Gaspar Noé’s 3D tale of two young women and a young man engaged in a heavy emotional and sexual relationship saw its red carpet premiere in rainy Southern France on Thursday.
Not that the film wasn’t the center of festival buzz from day one, as its posters papered the luxurious beach town early on, depicting graphic scenes like three tongues enthusiastically exploring each other, extreme closeups of genitalia in underwear and web-only versions that were explicitly pornographic. All the steam from that buzz campaign appears to have evaporated.
“‘Love’ offers glimmers of the cinematic elements that have made Noé’s style both confrontational and fluid in the past. But none of that can rescue the underlying simplicity that hangs over each scene,” wrote Indie Wire.
“Largely hopeless, which is doubly annoying as I’ve had ‘masterpiece’ cued up for the last month,” wrote critic Robbie Collin of The Telegraph.
Love is Gaspar Noe's Eyes Wide Smut. #Cannes2015
— Martyn Conterio (@martynconterio) May 21, 2015
Not gonna deny the sex was hot in Gaspar Noe's 'Love,' but super straight-guy heteronormative #Cannes2015
— Jada Yuan (@jadabird) May 21, 2015
https://twitter.com/robbiereviews/status/601194450891755521
Alchemy has secured U.S. distribution rights to the film, TheWrap previously reported, which star Karl Glusman, Klara Kristin and Aomi Muyock. Curzon Artificial Eye scored UK rights and intend to screen the film in 3D.
Model Invasion
Swiss jeweler De Grisogono held a bash at Andre Balazs’ festival staple Hôtel du Cap, which saw a lingering Natalie Portman attend in addition to Mary J. Blige and a pack of models burning up runways and Instagram.
Cara Delevingne, Kendall Jenner, Chanel Iman, Karlie Kloss and Joan Smalls all attended, with executive appearances from the likes of Harvey Weinstein and wife Georgina Chapman. The next day, the glamorous pack showed for a Fendi luncheon hosted by Karl Lagerfeld.
Cannes Notable Deals
IM Global announced Wednesday that it has sold the rights to the Tom Hanks vehicle “The Circle,” costarring “It” girl Alicia Vikander, to a large number of independent territories in lieu of a multi-territory studio deal.
Based on the novel of the same name by Dave Eggers, the film follows a woman (Vikander) who goes to work for an Internet company called The Circle. The company, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users’ personal emails, social media, banking and purchasing with their universal operating system. She eventually takes up with a mysterious older man (Hanks).
Hanks produced the film under his Playtone banner. It was directed by James Ponsoldt, who also adapted the novel. UTA and CAA are co-repping domestic rights to the project, with UTA Independent Film Group aiding in financing with CAA.
IFC Films has acquired the U.S. rights to WestEnd Films’ “A Perfect Day,” directed by Spanish filmmaker Fernando León de Aranoa. The film, which premiered in Cannes, stars Benicio del Toro, Tim Robbins, Olga Kurylenko, Mélanie Thierry and Fedja Stukan.
Set in the Balkans in the mid-’90s, the film follows a group of aid workers as they try to resolve a crisis in an armed conflict zone. León de Aranoa, who co-wrote the script with Diego Farias, also produced under his Reposado banner with Jaume Roures of MediaPro and executive producers Patricia de Muns and Javier Méndez.
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