Grace of Monaco To Open Cannes Film Fest

The 67th annual Cannes Film Festival is coming up May 14 to 25th and of course it totally takes over the town; this year 200,000 people are expected. The opening night film is Olivier Dahan's Grace of Monaco, with Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly. Unfortunately, all the fancy screenings and parties are for industry insiders only...not for you. But Cannes is primo for people watching with the best celebrity sightings at the red carpet entrance to the Palais des Festivals and at the Bar des Celebrites at the Carlton. And, as in years past, there are definitely open-to-the-public events around town that will let you feel the buzz, even if you can't actually hang with Scarlett, Sarah Jessica, Sofia and Sophia, all of whom will be there. Here are two of them.

“Cinema de la Plage” is a free, nightly movie screening under the stars, on Macé Beach, next to the Palais des Festivals. Shows begin around 9:30 pm (''usually'') and no tickets are needed. Yep, just show up. And because your comfort is paramount to me, I inquired about seats and blankets and was told that both will be available...if you arrive early of course. Here's the schedule: 

15 May Eight and a Half, Fellini 1963
16 May For a Few Dollars More, Leone, 1965
17 May The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, Leone 1966
18 May United Passions, Auburtin 2014
19 May Seconds, Frankenheimer 1966
20 May The Warriors, Hill 1979
21 May La Folie des Grandeurs, Oury 1971
22 May Polyester, Waters 1981
23 May Pulp Fiction, Tarantino 1994
24 May Purple Rain, Magnola 1984 

More info about Cinema de la Plage appears here.

And once again, the American Club of the Riviera will be hosting their fabulous Film Festival Lunch in Cannes on May 17.  The reception starts at noon and will be followed by a four-course meal; insights will be provided by film-world insiders and there will also be a quiz.  It's all held  at the Belle Plage Restaurant and everyone is welcome. Details are on the ACR website here...or you can contact BGintell@aol.com for info.  Seats for non-members are 59€ each but book soon as they're almost sold out.

My friend Jackie Pressman has lived in Cannes 14 years and looks forward the festival every year. Last year she told me that if they enter a drawing, locals can get special invites to come to certain red-carpet screenings...apparently it's the Mayor’s way of apologizing for all the traffic, crowds and commotion. "But the truth is the festival is exciting," Jackie says, "and we all love it down here. Many non-industry people come just to soak up the atmosphere." 

Grace of Monaco is set to hit U.K. theaters on June 6, with Warner Bros. distributing the film there. The film doesn't have a U.S. release date yet as the Weinstein Company pulled it from its 2014 release calendar back in January. Apparently there's been a dispute between director Olivier Dahan and Harvey Weinstein, with the former saying that his film is finished but that he doesn't want to sign off on the version that Weinstein wants like to release. "There are two versions of the film at this moment," Olivier told Libération in fall 2013, "mine and his … which I find catastrophic." Dahan also accused Weinstein of creating a Grace of Monaco trailer that doesn’t reflect the film, later insisting that the actual film conform to its trailer. 

But that's hardly the only controversy surrounding the film. The Independent reports that the Royal Family is ''furious'' about the movie...that Prince Albert is "spoiling for a right royal row"...and that Albert and his sisters feel the director completely ignored their feelings by making the film about their beloved mother in the first place. You can read the Independent article here and see the the UK trailer for Grace of Monaco here.

Posters:  Up top is the French poster for Grace of Monaco, below it is the English version. Between them is the 2014 Cannes Film Festival poster, designed by Lagency / Taste, Paris, based on a photogram from Federico Fellini's 8½. The organizers explain the choice: "In his films, Marcello Mastroianni continued to encapsulate everything that was most innovative, nonconformist and poetic about cinema." On seeing the poster for the first time, Chiara Mastroianni, the actor’s daughter, said  “I am very proud and touched that Cannes has chosen to pay tribute to my father with this poster. I find it very beautiful and modern, with a sweet irony and a classy sense of detachment. It’s really him through and through!”