We’re halfway through the Cannes Film Festival, and talk turns from “What party invites have you got?” to “So, who’s going to win the Palme D’Or, then?” It’s basically the prize for Best Picture, and this year the jury, headed by Sean Penn, is choosing between 22 films. Ten of those contenders have now screened to the critics, and so far the hot contenders are Three Monkeys (from Turkey), 24 City (China) and Waltz With Bashir (Israel). This morning I caught the new film from Belgium’s Dardennes brothers, who’ve won the Palme D’Or twice before. (What do you mean, you’ve never heard of them?) If they win this time, that will be an unprecedented triple victiory, and judging by their new effort, Silence Of Lorna, it could well happen. Trade paper Screen International polls critics from ten countries and crunches their votes into a handy chart, so spare a thought for poor film Service, set in a family-run porn cinema in the Philippines, which has an average score of 0.6 out of 4, apparently the lowest ever recorded in the chart’s existence. Yes, even worse than the legendary Brown Bunny, which drew loud boos a few years ago. I thought Service was OK, albeit bonkers, and unlikely ever to be released in British cinemas. It also features a highly memorable sequence where one actor lances an enormous boil on his butt cheek. Yum.
heat’s Film Editor Charles Gant is at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.