Our Cannes Diary: Day 2!
As the weekend nears, excitement is brewing even more furiously on the Croisette as day trippers gather to gawk at stars like Chris Rock, who is here for Madagascar 3. Goodness knows what will happen when Brad Pitt is in town. The French visitors got particularly worked up when their very own Oscar winner Marion Cotillard came to town to promote the film Rust & Bone, in which she plays a lonely accident victim who forms an unlikely bond with a bouncer turned fighter. It's a tale of triumph over adversity as well as a relationships drama and a jolly good one at that.
Also making waves is a film called Beasts of the Southern Wild, an American indie about a little girl growing up in a wilderness that's a serious flood danger zone. It's a touching tale and refreshingly original. Cast and crew were brought on stage before the film - it's always quite weird applauding people before you've sen their film but they deserved it, as it turns out. The two stars, who play father and daughter, spend most of the film soaked in mud (and booze, in his case) but looked contrastingly fresh in a white suit and sparkly white dress respectively.
The parties continue apace with Chopard celebrating emerging talents with a big bash on Thursday and every hotel beachfront hosting some do or other from early evening. I headed to a couple of bashes down at the marina where there was a splendid view of a firework display as well as a procession of what seemed to be cruise ship crew in full uniform. Friday brought an invite to Chivas House, a rather chi chi beachfront venue, to see a short film by Wong Kar Wai. Le weekend will doubtless bring more merriment and movies - shall report on Monday.
Crazy Cannes titbit:
Unofficial media hangout The Grand Hotel is littered with industry types each night lounging around on what appear to be inflatable but surprisingly sturdy sofas. This is where we come to pay an extortionate amount for rose wine and gossip about important things like which celebrities are the most difficult to deal with (I couldn't possibly spill). As if to prove she is not one of those, a very tall and elegant Karen Gillan popped in last night and mingled with the real people. Well, real ish.
