Celebration overhauls
My last day in Cannes started in the best way possible — with a terrific film. Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher is based on the true story of the murder of a champion wrestler by the eccentric millionaire John E du Pont. The film is beautifully layered, psychologically complex and desperately sad. It has wonderful performances by Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo and an unrecognisable Steve Carell, who I think, has redefined his career. I really hope Jane Campion and her jury rewards their work on May 24 at the closing ceremony.
Foxcatcher lifted the gloomy weather — after five days of glorious sunshine, clouds, cold wind and sporadic showers hit the Croisette The rain also forced us to interview Sonam Kapoor in a hotel room rather than the glorious seventh floor terrace at the Hotel Martinez. Sonam is here with sister, Rhea, and mom, Sunita. She said that she really doesn’t think about what fashion critics say about her red carpet choices because her dictum comes from Gabbar Singh: Jo dar gaya, samjho mar gaya. She added that she enjoys what she wears and picks clothes according to her mood. Like Freida Pinto, she too was in a ‘princess’ mood and therefore chose a voluminous Elie Saab gown for her first night. Sonam said she sat crosslegged underneath that elegant gown and watched Tommy Lee Jones’s The Homesman.
Attending the Cannes International Film Festival is something like running a marathon. There is no time to pause or take a breath. It’s an endless swirl of movies, meetings, interviews, press conferences and parties. It is, of course, the ultimate networking destination — I met a bewildering range of people from a classical dancer, to an Antwerpbased Gujarati jeweller, who comes here to sell diamonds to the Russians who arrive in yachts, to film programmers and festival heads. This festival is the greatest celebration of cinema on the planet.