Cannes 2009: Jim Carrey stops by

Jim Carrey made a fleeting visit to the film festival to introduce his gay rom-com I Love You, Philip Morris.  “I’m just a cog in the machine” he exclaimed to the audience before being rushed off to promote his other film in Cannes A Christmas Carol.  I Love You, Philip Morris tells the story of Steven Russell who is determined to live the high life at any cost (even if it risks jail).  When he meets the love of his life, Philip Morris (Ewan MacGregor), he promises to stop the lies and charades.  Whilst not always everyone’s cup of tea, for me Carrey is always rather captivating and definitely holds this film together.  This is more than can be said for his co-star Ewan MacGregor who has a rather dodgy Texan accent and even dodgier blonde highlights not to mention an embarrassingly clichéd character.  The whole basis of this film is the fact that the couple are gay and at times it feels like this is something of a novelty, perhaps even a gimmick that the film rests on.  Although perhaps we should be grateful for any representation of gay relationships in mainstream Hollywood at all. 

One director who repeatedly succeeds in a more subtle exploration of sexuality is the great Pedro Almodovar.  Broken Embraces, his latest film has all the strengths you’d expect from the Spanish auteur – vibrant and zealous use of colours and genuine stories of passion, love and human relationships.  In particular the relationships between parents and children (seen in many of his films, especially All About My Mother perhaps his most celebrated achievement) are explored here.  At times Broken Embraces feels like a colourful noir and whilst there’s a sense that this is perhaps not one of Almodovar's best films it is strong nonetheless.  It’s also nice to hear a Cat Power song part way through, suitably melancholy for the scene in question.     

Following Broken Embraces one lady in the queue next to me expressed her pleasure at seeing “mad men rather than mad women” on the big screen.  A reference perhaps in part to Antichrist, which screened the day before, but also to Vincere, the Italian film by Marco Bellochio about Mussolini’s secret lover and child, Ida Dalser who was condemned most of her life to a mental hospital for her constant insistence that she was the wife of Mussolini (and the mother of his son).  It's a particularly tragic story and expertly told by Bellochio, the only thing I would say is that it’s a shame that there is not more of the quiet observation that Bellochio used to such effect in his previous film Buongiorno, Notte.