I can’t contain my pride, check out the BBC News Online today:
“Romanian drama wins Cannes gold”
Jury head Stephen Frears was on hand to congratulate Mungiu
Romanian film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days has won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival
Following on my post on online dating (A Very Brief History of Dating), I have requested and been granted the permission to produce an anonymous case study of where modern day technology has taken our emotions.
A dear friend of mine, let’s call him M, is happily immersed in a relationship with his loveable, intelligent and exotic girlfriend. They’ve been together for a while now and things are looking on the promising side. Lately M has been showing signs of fatigue. He was less tolerant to silly jokes and his time with friends and family (be it on the phone or in person) has been sparse. Not one to leave such developments un-questioned, I took it upon myself to get to the root of the matter. What was going on? The man has a good job, a great partner, he is well liked and suddenly he decides that’s not good enough and sulks. WHY?
Roll on a couple of days later.
The setting: a posh pub in an affluent area of London.
The glasses: filled with velvety red wine.
The mood: tense.
ME: Go on now, M, what is up with you, you can’t fool me.
HIM (replying with a question, which always makes me think of that joke: Is it true that you always answer a question with another? Who told you that?): Is having an online lover cheating?
ME: I could have done with a bit of intro… Is an online lover cheating? Tricky one, my friend. Would you care to expand on the topic?
And expanded is what he did. He’d met this girl online. Hadn’t thought much of it, she was living on the other side of the world and he had actually found her friendliness irritating to begin with. She had seemed at ease with the situation while he was all awkward and confused as to what the point of that friendship was. So didn’t think much of it. It was something to do when he happened to be online, say hello and chat with this person. So far so good. I kept nodding in approval. I even said “Don’t be silly, everybody does that at some point. I had a friend I chatted with occasionally. He had praised my writing, I was prepared to make him a friend for life….”
But why did I think my situation had not led to similar consequences… I was still sane. M was drawn out and confused. He had basically fallen in the trap of the novelty of the situation: conversations became longer and longer, he used every spare moment to run to his computer and see if she was around and before he knew it, they’d become very intimate in those moments oblivious of their respective lives (they both had partners, whom they spoke so fondly about). It had come to a point when he was living this parallel reality, updated on the life of a faceless person on a regular basis, opening up to them, caring about them. Virtual talks, virtual walks, virtual flirting. The only thing “non-virtual” about this was his involvement.
What do you say to that? His girlfriend did not suffer a thing, maybe she put his tiredness down to hard work. He was not planning to meet that other person. He said he felt like he’s jumped on a train that was going nowhere. That sounds scary (although not unlike my tube journeys to work on a bad day).
As a friend I wanted to be non-judgemental. As a woman I got paranoid. What if Amore did the same, how would I feel? Not happy is the answer. But then again, what is it that drives a perfectly decent person to this kind of activities? Questions kept shooting through my head. I couldn’t think of an honest way to help him out. So I asked for some time to think about it, recommending that he took it easy in the meantime. Which depressed him, because I was clearly implying he was doing the wrong thing. But was it the wrong thing?
Here’s an analogy. In the world of film, traditionally rights were sold for TV, VHS, DVD, cinema chains, etc. Then internet came along and rights have been selling for online distribution. Would that mean that cheating has expanded its realms from the world of hotels, parks, his/her house to the all mighty internet?
What is your view on this? IS ONLINE CHEATING – CHEATING? I believe it is.
THE PREPARATIONS
For many who work in the film industry or in any field that touches upon it (as is the case with me), May is the month of re-visiting your wardrobe, doing a round of the free trials offered by the gyms in your area, generally the month of a late start of a much needed overhaul. Grey hairs covered – checked. What grey hairs?!? Eyebrows shaped – checked. Removing any sign of your ever being in touch with your masculine side, basically your slight “mustache” – checked. A facial while you’re at it, why not? That still leaves the big W: your wardrobe.
In case you wonder why May, well, that is when everybody who’s anybody in the world behind and in front of the camera heads to the Cannes Film Festival. Oh the glamour, the mixture of class and kitsch, the buzz of it all! One thing is sure for most of us though: Cannes is the one place where you’ll be wearing your most elegant black number (it usually comes down to a choice of black dresses with few other colours getting a chance).
ONCE YOU ARE THERE – PART ONE THE WORK
You get to Cannes. You do your behind-the-scene hectic work, reminding yourself that it might be tiring and at times repetitive, but running up and down the Croisette still beats sitting down all day in front of the computer in an office reminiscent of its previous use, a hospital. This small but world famous place is as much about the business of selling film rights as it is about glamour and stars.
Hectic and tiring it may be, but you have to make darn sure that you do all the running around dressed in your best attire. Casual in Cannes is a costly affair. The Cannes look involves expensive linen items, so Primark will have to take a step back (don’t worry, I will return). That place demands more from your look in two weeks than London ever will in a lifetime. Cannes is also extremely demanding of one’s social skills. While back home it will be years before you bump into someone in the street, that changes in Cannes. From the moment you arrive until you get on the plane to come back, you are constantly bumping into people you know, you want to know, people who know you and whom you don’t remember. You are also constantly surrounded by your work colleagues, many of whom are friends, but with whom you would maybe not choose to spend so much time back home. In that way I suppose the situation is no different from other trade fairs.
ONCE YOU ARE THERE – PART TWO THE FILM AND THE RED CARPET EXPERIENCE
The evenings are good. If you are lucky and want to make your presence at the Festival worth your while, you take to the red carpet to the premiere of some film you A) may have always wanted to see or B) you wouldn’t otherwise pay to see in the cinema. It largely depends on your luck on the night, in other words on the free invites that come your way. My red carpet events range from Nurse Betty to Shrek II via Matrix II. And yes, I am not going to be all blase and fake indifference towards the plethora of actors, directors and writers that unfold before your very eyes when attending a red carpet event. It is most definitely a unique cinematic experience..
Equally important though is your moment on that red carpet. Lights, camera, action: up those stairs you walk feeling a million dollars. To the left and the right of the red carpet you can catch the humming of hundreds of photographers and passers by, all looking straight to where you are or through you in the hope of a Cameron or a Keira. Not sure I would like to be in the spotlight like that for real, day in day out. God, the pressure of no privacy would drive me mad… Just as well that I am from the very-behind-the-camera crowd and a snippet of pseudo-celebrity will do me just fine, thank you very much.
Once the slow-mo walk up the famous stairs in the Palais de Festival is done, you are in essence an over-dressed cinema goer with the added bonus of maybe brushing shoulders with Al or Woody if they happen to be attending that same premiere.
THE AFTER FILM PARTY
The film starts and ends, you hopefully enjoy it, the talent comes on stage afterwards and you all clap with varying degrees of sincerity. Then comes a possibly even more exciting time of the experience: the after film party.
Less and less distributors organize the massive after-film parties they used to throw in the early 90’s. Nonetheless, every year you get to attend a bash thrown in honour of some high profile production. These parties happen in two main locations: by the sea or on the grounds of glamorous villas up in the hills of Cannes. I prefer the second category.
What you do after the film is go to a pick-up point where buses await for the guests to jump on and be taken to the villa. The atmoshpere is all round jolly. Yet again, you are bound to bump into someone you know and even vague acquaintances start showing promising friendship potential in the euphoria leading up to a good night. Once you get past the scary bouncers you are “on the other side”. Everyone is elegant and in a good mood, the music flows and so do the drinks. Not much food unless you are willing to queue for hours at the buffet areas, which loses its appeal after a while. You dance and smile and meet and greet and even if it’s work and your real mates aren’t there, you don’t feel that what you are doing is working. I, for one, love this perk of the job. Occasionally, you have to contain yourself from throwing idolizing glances in the direction of mega-celebrities who pass you by in a casual manner. You have to act cool…
These parties are about networking, I suppose. It is actually surprising how much gets done in that apparently informal and relaxed environment. The conversations you often overhear are revealing the 24/7 nature of this business: “ I have a script I would like you to look at”. “ I think I have a big star line-up for my next production. I can’t tell you who just yet” ( probably because they themselves don’t know yet….); “I am setting up this fund for film financing”
Unlike a “real party” you have to keep your wits about you a bit more, but not as much as you’d think.
The next day starts with its 8am meeting, you chit chat about the fun ( or lackthereof as it may be the case) during the night before and then head for pretty much the same pattern. For at least ten days.
Is this in line with how you envisaged Le Festival?
