Cannes: Day 9 — Bellocchio, Polls and What’s Screening

Last night, Marco Bellocchio’s “Kidnapped” screened, it’s a competition title, but will likely not win any awards on Saturday.

Steven Spielberg was once supposed to direct this true story of Edgardo Mortaro, a baptized 6-year-old Italian Jewish boy who gets taken away by Italian authorities in the 1850s.

Bellocchio’s film never really find its footing. It’s consistently in search of a narrative groove, but feels clunky and obvious instead of revelatory. It’s a real shame due to the rumors that this could be 83-year-old Bellocchio’s final film. I hope it’s not.

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You can’t see everything at Cannes and every year there’s a handful of under-the-radar films that I seem to have missed.

This year, the big one seems to be Un Certain Regard title “The Delinquents” — a 3-hour Argentinian bank robbery movie that has had some critics glowing. There are no other screenings for it, so I’ll have to wait until it gets released theatrically.

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Today’s competition films are Hung Tran Anh’s “The Pot A Feu” and Nanni Moretti’s “A Brighter Tomorrow. Tomorrow it’s Catherine Breillat’s “Last Summer” and Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days.” On Friday, it’s Ken Loach’s “The Old Oak” and Alice Rohrwacher’s “La Chimera.”

Below is the SCREEN grid, the most popular critics poll conducted at Cannes. Every year, 12 notable film critics, from around the world, are asked to participate.