Good Cannes – a festival with confidence, glamour, conspicuous wealth and a spring in its step.

No matter by what criteria you choose to judge it, this has been a good Cannes – a festival with confidence, glamour, conspicuous wealth and a spring in its step. Some years the sunshine, the enthusiasm of the crowds and the glamour of the red carpet processions can seduce you into thinking that everything seems fine; yet those elements can mask problems behind the scenes, and an industry gritting its teeth against hard times.
No one can say that about Cannes 2011. In the market, below stairs in the imposing Palais, where the festival’s most important films are screened, the dealing was frantic. Films have been bought and sold with a zest not seen on the Croisette in three years or more. If we’re still in the midst of a global recession, clearly a lot of people in Cannes have failed to receive that memo.
More likely, the global film industry has learned to re-position itself as an affordable form of entertainment for a recession era. Whatever the truth, there’s been an awful lot of product on offer in Cannes, and it’s been snapped up greedily.
Tellingly, Cannes 2011 was the arena in which two eminent (and related) film companies chose to proclaim their renaissance. The Weinstein Company, headed by brothers Harvey and Bob, was in bullish mood, announcing a dazzling array of upcoming movies by important filmmakers, including Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson.
Harvey Weinstein, buoyed by his success distributing The King’s Speech in the States, has been bidding like a gambler on a lucky streak; he reportedly snagged US distribution rights to The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep, after seeing just five minutes of footage.

Meanwhile, the brothers’ former company Miramax has rebooted itself. It hired a flotilla of speedboats to shuttle 150 international distribution executives to a brunch on a private beach at Cap d’Antibes, 10 miles from Cannes, to hear chief executive Mike Lang’s optimistic plans for the future. But it’s not just Miramax and the Weinsteins – several other companies were demonstrably in a buying mood.
By the same token, every luxury yacht in Cannes harbour has been leased by a film company. And the hospitality in Cannes seemed more lavish than in years. Several films, even modestly budgeted ones, were launched with a splashy beach party.
I can’t recall a Cannes where alcohol flowed quite so freely. I’m not talking routine rosé, but expensive champagnes, drinks with high-end brand names: Moët, Chivas, Martini. One imagines the Roaring Twenties felt a bit like this.
The films themselves lived up to the Croisette’s expansive, confident mood. No two critics will ever agree completely about any one film, but a festival competition that annually attracts filmmakers of the calibre of Terrence Malick, Pedro Almodóvar and Lars von Trier is doing something right.
There are those who feel Cannes gives a free pass to a small number of world-class directors such as these, inviting them to compete for the Palme d’Or irrespective of an individual film’s quality. And some of these filmmakers aren’t getting any younger. Is Cannes a closed shop that stifles advancement for younger talents?
I put this to Gilles Jacob, the festival’s veteran president. “We look at the new works of these filmmakers like the latest chapters in their books,” he said. “We see their work as a whole. And, anyway, even a lesser work by a great director is more interesting than the best work of a lesser one.” Of all the world’s film festivals, only this one can afford to think like that.
Yet Cannes 2011 also worked on a frivolous level. With such glamorous stars as Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp and Penélope Cruz tripping down the red carpet, there was enough top-drawer eye candy to suit all tastes .
People came out to see them, in droves. Last weekend it was impossible to move on that part of the Croisette near the Palais. And they didn’t just come to gawp: admissions for films to which the public are admitted were relatively high.
Finally, praise be, Cannes remains a world-class epicentre of sheer daftness. It manifests itself in various ways. Lars von Trier’s press conference observation that he “understands” Hitler caused eyes to roll at this man’s sheer perversity – and appalling lack of judgment.
The appearance of Cheryl Cole (you know, the left-back’s ex) on the red carpet in a plunging dress prompted a tabloid story that she had been offered three film roles. We shall see.
But the supreme moment of daftness was when a journalist (who should have known better) asked Angelina Jolie for her reaction to Osama bin Laden’s death. She replied, with commendable restraint, that maybe a press conference for Kung Fu Panda 2 wasn’t the ideal forum for such a discussion. Only at Cannes.