Cannes Classics selections are not on top of my must-see list whenever I attend the Cannes Film Festival — I’ll attend a screening here and there, such as I did last year with Christopher Nolan presenting his own restored 70mm version of “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Almost everything that is shown in this Cannes sidebar is restored in 4K, that is a major sell for many people, I’m not necessarily one of them. So which of this year’s titles might I report back on?
A 4K restored version of Dennis Hopper‘s “Easy Rider” could be in the cards. Hopper’s film will be shown on the 50th anniversary of its Cannes debut. Peter Fonda will attend the screening. I was never big on “Easy Rider,” always thought it felt like a product of its time for its time, but I’m willing to give it another shot, especially if it means it’ll be screened in 4k.
A 4K remaster of Stanley Kubrick‘s “The Shining” will be shown as a midnight screening with special introduction from Alfonso Cuaron. Sold! The mastering was done at Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging. The color grading was done by Janet Wilson with supervision from Stanley Kubrick’s former personal assistant Leon Vitali. No, Cannes has never been known for its midnight crowds, but I have the sneaking suspicion this screening could play very well.
Three restored Luis Bunuel films will be shown this year: His 1950 masterpiece Los Olvidados, a glorious teenager movie that also features one of the first examples of violent adolescent rebellion on-screen. The other Bunuel’s being shown are the classics, Nazarín and L’Âge d’or, the latter of which is high on my priority list as it is a full-fledged 4k restoration.
A restored version of Lina Wertmüller‘s Seven Beauties (’75) will also screen. I named the film one of the 10 greatest movies ever directed by women in my, now, much-read Awards Daily article. I’m not overhyping it either. It’s really that damn good. A mix of the ugly with the beautiful , the heart-rending with the grotesque. A 90-year-old Wertmuller will be there to introduce the film with star Giancarlo Giannini in attendance. Wowza.
Then there’s a 4K restoration of Oliver Stone‘s maddening “The Doors.” I haven’t seen the film since, oh, the mid-to-late ‘90s. All I can remember is there being a miscast Meg Ryan, a well-cast Val Kilmer, Stone’s usual obsessions with excess and the fact that the filmmaker concentrated more on the Morrison’s wild hijinks rather than the incredibly poetic music he made with the band between 1967-1971. I will be in attendance for that screening, but am willing to walk out of it.
Vittorio De Sica‘s “Miracle in Milan,” Milos Forman‘s “Loves of a Blonde” and John Huston & Oswald Morris‘s “Moulin Rouge” (’52) will also be screened.
The ‘Smile’ franchise has a new director. David Bruckner, who made “The Night House” and the 2022 “Hellraiser” reboot, has been hired to direct “Smile 3” for Paramount.