AFTER A comparatively quiet 10 days, the Cannes Film Festival, which ends tomorrow, finally garnered some good old-fashioned controversy when yesterday's premiere of Rachid Bouchareb's Outside the Law(Hors-la-loi), a drama of the Algerian resistance, drew protests to the streets outside the Palais des Festivals.
Security was stepped up considerably as police in full riot gear prowled the area checking attendees’ accreditation documents.
Outside the Law, follow-up to the same director's acclaimed Days of Glory, focuses on three Algerian immigrants who become involved in the domestic armed struggle against the French during the years leading up to their country's independence. Protesters carried banners accusing Bouchareb and the festival of being anti-French.
When asked if he expected the controversy, Bouchareb, who is of Algerian descent, replied in the negative.
“Not at all,” he said. “It is a cinema film – nothing more. Everything that’s happened with the film today raises questions. There are still questions over France’s colonial past and where it is going.” To that point, the festival has been somewhat more subdued than usual. The volcanic ash appeared only briefly, but the continuing economic meltdown slowed down activity in the market section and relatively few films received universal raves.
“It felt less desperate than last year,” Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures, argued. “But I would still say the word for the atmosphere was cautiousness. Everyone had a lot of caution about the buying of films and where the business is headed.” For all the gloom, Cannes still managed to put on a decent show in the closing days.
On Thursday, Naomi Watts was in town to attend the premiere of Fair Game. Doug Liman's film, a zippy thriller, stars Ms Watts as Valerie Plame, the CIA operative whose identity was allegedly revealed by government officials when her husband blew the whistle on inconsistencies in the case for the war against Iraq.
Earlier that evening, Ken Loach, former winner of the Palme d'Or, Cannes' top prize, appeared on the red carpet at the premiere of his new film, Route Irish. Initial reviews of Loach's picture, a serious thriller concerning misdeeds in occupied Iraq, were respectful, without being overly enthusiastic.
By way of contrast, Mike Leigh, the other British director in competition, remains favourite to take the Palme d'Or. Leigh has held poll position since Another Year, his latest ensemble drama, screened last weekend. The only other film that has, so far, received across-the-board hurrahs was Xavier Beauvois's Of Gods and Men(Des Hommes et des Dieux). Detailing events preceding the murder of seven French monks by Algerian Islamic extremists in 1997, the film could be seen as a neat complement to Outside the Law.
All will be revealed at the closing ceremony tomorrow night.