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The article says it all.

This is why Blue Valentine is amazing. And why Derek Cianfrance is amazing. And Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are amazing.

And why this movie HAS to get rid of that silly NC-17 rating so other people can see it and realize how amazing it is too.

Before I Move On…

*photo courtesy of Julian Broudy

I’m home, and my fabulous trip to Cannes is over. I miss the place and I miss all my new friends.

But thankfully, I have pictures. And I have new friends who take incredible pictures and then post them all on Facebook for me to admire. So I’m stealing from them (with permission and crediting them, of course) and posting some of their amazing pictures here.

More Cannes for you– courtesy of Julian and Alek!

The American Pavilion

*photos courtesy of Julian Broudy

View of the Pavilions from the Marché.

The front of the American Pavilion.

Inside the American Pavilion Conference room

Many a blog was composed on the American Pavilion computers.

The Pavilion restaurant from the beach.

The Palais

*photos courtesy of Julian Broudy

The front of the Palais

The back of the Palais (on right) and Marché (on left)… The Entrée

des Artistes, behind the Palais, was where we could use

the restroom, and it was the facilitator of many star sightings.

The Marché

*photos courtesy of Alek Rost

The front of the Marché, where hundreds of films came with hopes

to be bought and sold. There were over fifty companies that set up

in the Marché, and it was a thriving, bustling place to be during the festival.

The halls of the Marché… Companies set up shop in swankily

decorated cubicles, where buyers could wander through and ask

questions, and then, if they were interested, set appointments,

and screen films.

The Short Film Corner, home of great short films and

the most popular happy hour at the festival.

And the Beautiful City of Cannes

*photos courtesy of Julian Broudy

a normal street

The beach walk from the hotel in Cannes La Bocca to the festival.

the view of part of the festival from the castle

Part of the street where I bought all my Christmas presents.

rooftop view of Cannes

And I just added these pictures of Cannes because I think my friend Julian is a talented photographer and I love these pictures…

Monday – Going Home

The American Pavilion had arranged for buses (at 3am, 7am, and 10am) to take students from Cannes La Bocca, where we were staying, to the Nice Airport (about an hour away) on Monday morning. I really enjoyed that bus ride (during the time I managed to stay awake), because it was nice to see another part of France. Even if it was still the French Riviera, at least it was the countryside in that area.

The problem with not getting to travel around Europe after the end of the festival is that all I got to see of France this time around was Cannes. Not that I’m complaining. I had an amazing time. But the trip only managed to wet my appetite for travel, and I can’t wait to go back to Europe… I’m thinking a backpacking trip after graduation is in order.

FLYING HOME VIA LONDON

My original flight to London Heathrow was for 9pm, as I thought when booking the flight that I’d want to spend as long a time in France as possible and thus I should get out of there as late as possible. Of course, by the time I got to the airport, the last thing I wanted to do was take a taxi into Nice (an area I knew nothing about) and lug my suitcase around while fighting to stay awake (as I was completely exhausted). So that left me with an entire day in the airport (got there at 11am) and an overnight in the London Heathrow airport. Or so I thought.

When I went up to the booking agent for British Airways to see about flying standby and getting into London early, she informed me that my flight for the evening had been canceled. Would I like to leave Nice on an earlier flight? And how about an upgrade to first class for the inconvenience? Yes and yes, thank you.

My flight still didn’t leave for another couple hours, but I went through security as soon as I was able to check in for my flight, and, taking advantage of my first-class status, I went to one of those exclusive business lounges for the first time in my life. All I needed for entry was a first class ticket, and I presented it proudly.

Of course, once I got in, I hadn’t the slightest idea what I was supposed to do from there. I noticed a delicious array of scones, muffins and yogurt on a counter, along with a coffee machine. Did I have to pay for that? I pretended to shuffle through my bag until I noticed a portly old gentleman approach, snatch a couple scones and saunter off. Must be free then. I got a yogurt, some granola, and coffee, and then found myself a little piece of sofa to kick back and relax before my flight.

Ten minutes before boarding time, I reluctantly put away my book and went down to my airport gate. A couple girls from the program were there, and we chatted while waiting in line to go through the gate. Well, waiting in line is putting it nicely. There were at least a hundred of us crammed into a tiny terminal area with low ceilings and not enough air conditioning, and saying that there was a line is insinuating much more order than actually existed.

But the awesome advantage to such chaos is that I got to stand in line next to Tim Burton while we waited. And then, as the Nice airport makes you take a bus from the gate to the plane, I got to stand on the bus next to Tim Burton for close to fifteen minutes (as it took them forever to let us off the bus). My only observations are that his hair is crazy (only rock stars and directors can pull that off without looking like complete hooligans) and he says “fuck” frequently and in very unnecessary places.

LONDON HEATHROW

Alexis, one of my roommates from the American Pavilion, has been studying abroad in London for the last semester and still had a week left there after the festival. So instead of having to hang out in the London Heathrow airport overnight, I took the subway (or tube, as they say) to her flat and stayed the night there.

I was just happy to have a hot shower and a free place to stay for the night (that wasn’t the airport), but I got more than I could have hoped for when Alexis took me on a walking tour of London and I found out that she just happens to live within walking distance of everything important in London.

We walked by the London Eye (the world’s largest Ferris wheel), over the Westminster Bridge, past Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, through St. Jude’s Park, past Buckingham Palace, down the mall that leads up to the Palace, and stopped at a small restaurant overlooking Trafalgar Square to eat dinner. I was in heaven.

The only thing that would have made the moment better was if I’d remembered to bring my camera. After two weeks of being in a foreign country, you’d think that my camera and I would be inseparable. But I definitely didn’t anticipate such an awesome tour, so I think I figured I wouldn’t need the camera. Oops. Oh well. This just means that I’ll have to return to London someday.

The overnight in London was the perfect ending to an amazing trip. I feel so lucky to have seen three countries, two of which were practically free (thanks to the airlines), and to have been a part of the largest film festival and film market in the world.

Day Twelve – Sunday (LAST DAY)

On the last day of the festival, all films in competition are always shown one more time for those who may have missed it when it was screened during the week. Wanting to see a couple films, I woke up early on Sunday morning (much earlier than I would have preferred) and went down to the festival to get in line for Biutiful. I was farther back in line than I would have liked, but I was very happy when I got into the movie anyway.

Biutiful, directed by Inaritu and starring Javier Bardem, was an extremely intense movie. It was like getting a bucket of ice water to the gut before the day had really even begun. The movie was so well done (and Bardem did such an incredible job) that I have no doubt it will come to the States, and I’d be surprised if Bardem didn’t get an Oscar nom for his role.

After Biutiful, I left the theater and promptly got in line again for Another Year, a British film directed by Mike Leigh. Another Year was the best reviewed film of the festival, so I really wanted to be sure and see it. It was a fun (and funny) film, but it was just as the title suggests—another year in the lives of these crazy people. There wasn’t any real climax or resolution (a lot like Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger), so the movie ended feeling a little unresolved. But the characters were so lovable and insane that I left feeling satisfied anyway. And then later, when I found out that director Mike Leigh doesn’t really use scripts and lets his actors improvise during scenes, I fell in love with the movie even more. Those actors have incredible talent.

END-OF-THE-YEAR PROGRAM GET-TOGETHER

The American Pavilion hosted one last get-together for all the students in the program, which gave us a chance to see each other again, take pictures, and exchange contact information (though the beauty of Facebook is that most of us will keep in contact there, making email addresses almost irrelevant).

I took this opportunity to take lots of pictures of the people I’d been spending the last two weeks with, since I had noticed that almost all my pictures of this trip have been of places and not people.

My roommate Bess, Julian and me

My boys!

Lisa, Justin, Josh, Julian and Lauren

Pip and Ryan playing the trombone and banjo to Lady Gaga.

Gabby playing M.I.A.’s Paper Planes on the banjo

LAST FRENCH DINNER

For my last dinner in France, I ate escargot– snails!!! It was actually quite delicious. I liked them better than the moules frites (muscles and fries) that Sam to my right ordered. And now I can say that I’ve had two of the classic French dishes while in France.

Day Eleven – Saturday

I went to work on Saturday, but since the festival was basically over by then, there were almost no customers at the pavilion. So I lounged out on the beach right by the pavilion for pretty much the entire day, hanging out with friends and at one point, taking a deliciously long nap with the gently-lapping waves as my lullaby.

EVENING

Later that evening, my friends and I went out to a nice dinner (since we’d been eating baguette sandwiches on the go for the last week and a half straight and wanted a change). We walked up this super narrow, rather steep winding street by the bus stop (the same street that leads up to the castle) lined with small romantic restaurants. There were eighteen of us in the group, and the deciding factor on choosing from one of the many was that we finally found a place that had eighteen available spots.

Dinner was fun. It’s always fun to get to hang out with friends and talk about the festival. Also, I decided that I needed to order a traditional French dish, so I ordered frog legs in a cream sauce. It was delicious (though, hating to sound cliché, it did taste like chicken).

NOTE ON THE FRENCH

French people hate it when you act too American. Be loud and obnoxious, and you are guaranteed to not get into anything– bars, movies, or restaurants. My friends, bless their hearts, go turned away from the Debussy Theater (for the screening of Another Year) for acting too American (and for wearing beach shorts and flipflops–“Zees ees not the beach,” they said). You know, I’d probably feel the same way too, if a bunch of rowdy foreign youngins came and tried to get into my respectable establishment.

And on the same note, French people (in the south of France) seem to love it when you try to speak French. Their appreciation and respect for you increases and they instantly treat you better the moment you crack out your textbook high school French.

Adding a Few Pictures

I’ve finally gotten a fast enough internet connection, so I am uploading all my pictures now. Take a look again at the posts “Day Six – Monday” and “Day Seven – Tuesday.” I added some pictures to both posts.

The International Village

Here are more pictures of the International Village. Lots of countries from around the world rent tents and promote their country’s film industry and films.

The tents along the beach…

Inside a few more of the pavilions:

Inside the Turkish Pavilion (I think).

This picture in the Moroccan Pavilion spanned an entire wall. Its gorgeous!

~~~~~

It’s beautiful here. I love it. I love the ocean, I love the people, and I love the town. I will most definitely return to Cannes someday (preferably soon).

Pictures of the American Pavilion

I realized that I still haven’t uploaded pictures of where I’ve been working these last two weeks.

The inside of the American Pavilion, looking toward the water.
The bar is on the left and the outside patio starts on the right,
wraps around the front and then there’s a little to the left.

The front patio… My friend Chris is the fellow in the t-shirt
on the right. He’s from Boston and has the true heart of an
entrepreneur. He will be rich someday, no doubt about it.

The view of the beach from the American Pavilion. The white tents
are all the other pavilions, which make up the International Village.

And……

THE VIEW!!!!!!!!!!!

This is what I get to admire every single day for at least six hours. Lucky me!

Day Ten – Friday

My friends and I walked to the American Pavilion this morning instead of taking the bus (a twenty minute walk or so), and it was beautiful. The sidewalk goes along the beach and I watched the boats glide along and the waves roll into the sand as we leisurely strolled along.

It was kinda funny though– I guess I forgot that the beaches here are nude beaches. Today was the first time I’d walked the beach on a legitimately warm day (warm enough to lounge around in a swimsuit), and let me tell you, the boobies were out to soak up the sun. It’s pretty amusing, because most of the time, its the fifty-year-old ladies who don’t wear their tops (and not the younger ones). I think its probably because they’ve gotten past the point where they receive cat calls and stares, so they are more comfortable baring it all.

When we walked toward the Palais, I noticed that there seemed to be quite a few police cars and policemen walking about. The vehicles, full of men in uniform, lined the entire stretch of sidewalk in front of the Palais, bumper to bumper (about three blocks). Some of the policemen (at least half) were also wearing riot suits– shoulder pads, arm & leg guards, and thick vests. They kinda reminded me of Batman’s suit.

We found out later that the intense increase in security today is because the festival is playing a film about French colonization of Algeria (negatively portraying France and their history), and there are a number of people who aren’t happy about the film. As a result, there was a protest here at 10:30am that the police had to ensure stayed peaceful.

I haven’t heard of any other riots or protests occurring since then, but the policemen are still out and in full force. They extra check you when you enter buildings, using wand metal detectors at every door now, and they look in all bags at all doors (instead of just at important events in the theaters). And while I was walking back to the pavilion from the restrooms (they are way too far away to be convenient), I noticed three men in all black standing on top of the roof of the Majestic, a hotel right across the street from the red carpet. It’s all a bit intimidating, but I’m glad to know that there isn’t a likely chance that things will get out of hand, thanks to the hovering Batmen on the rooftop terrace.

Jean-Claude Van Damme

One of the older AmPav kids (a business kid) is interning at a small production company, and the other day, he got to teach Jean-Claude Van Damme how to turn on a microphone.

I saw Van Damme later on his yacht. I think someone was taking official photos of him, because there were huge flags flying over the boat that said JCVD (his initials), there were large posters on the back end of the boat with his face plastered on it, and on the back deck, near where he was standing, was a large stuffed lion.