Cannes Diary: 201411 of 13
Cannes Diary, Day 1: When you're flying from Seattle to New York and heading to Cannes thereafter there's very few things you'd less want to read coming over the Gogo in-flight e-mail than: "Mssr. Simanton: I have a bad news.. I must change your accommodation. I know it since 1 week but I waited to tell you so I can find the best solution for you. I find an apartment in front of the Palais, XXXqm but there are cockroach everywhere."
Fortunately the solution found by my realtor was a pleasant and cockroach free (so far). The rather older flat was a third-floor walk-up on the other side of the Old Port at Cannes. It was small but homey. They promised to get the missing WiFi fixed and that the cafe downstairs wrapped it up at a reasonable time. As I discovered in the middle of the night what they did not plan to manage was the septic smell that filled the whole place if the doors and windows were closed. "Put a stopper in the sink and fill the sinks with water," was the advice given for coping with the stench. It worked.
That's can be an apt analogy to the Cannes experience. Everything looks glamorous and elegant. Culture oozes everywhere. But there's often an underlying off-ness to the festival that can be dealt with quickly and efficiently but it's a glaring reminder that even though Cannes may look like a fairy tale, the real world is not far behind.
No film may be facing that awful revelation more so than Grace of Monaco, Cannes Opening Night Film. It's Out of Competition, as the Opening Films so often are and, in this case, it's a blessing. They'd have called the Slaughter Rule for Grace and stopped it half-way through its first press screening.
Fortunately the solution found by my realtor was a pleasant and cockroach free (so far). The rather older flat was a third-floor walk-up on the other side of the Old Port at Cannes. It was small but homey. They promised to get the missing WiFi fixed and that the cafe downstairs wrapped it up at a reasonable time. As I discovered in the middle of the night what they did not plan to manage was the septic smell that filled the whole place if the doors and windows were closed. "Put a stopper in the sink and fill the sinks with water," was the advice given for coping with the stench. It worked.
That's can be an apt analogy to the Cannes experience. Everything looks glamorous and elegant. Culture oozes everywhere. But there's often an underlying off-ness to the festival that can be dealt with quickly and efficiently but it's a glaring reminder that even though Cannes may look like a fairy tale, the real world is not far behind.
No film may be facing that awful revelation more so than Grace of Monaco, Cannes Opening Night Film. It's Out of Competition, as the Opening Films so often are and, in this case, it's a blessing. They'd have called the Slaughter Rule for Grace and stopped it half-way through its first press screening.
PeopleKeith Simanton