Beyond the Multiplex: Cannes

"A Scanner Darkly" -- This is Richard Linklater's other film at Cannes, besides "Fast Food Nation," which premiered in competition. (No director has ever had two films here in the same year before.) A rotoscope animation in the mode of Linklater's culty "Waking Life" -- that is, a perversely hypnotic blend of cartoon and live action -- this is adapted from Philip K. Dick's novel and features a delightful cast as a household of drug-addled Southern California lowlifes. Keanu Reeves is the brooding special agent in a shape-shifter suit, assigned to spy on his own friends; Robert Downey Jr. is the more-than-slightly-sinister (and hilarious) alpha male know-it-all; Woody Harrelson is the Lebowski-esque goofball; and Winona Ryder is the cute chick with a secret (or several, as things turn out). On one hand, "Scanner Darkly" is a paranoid futuristic thriller, but on the other it's a pitch-perfect portrait of life in deadbeat slackerdom and Linklater's funniest, loosest movie in years.

"Bug" -- Another Directors' Fortnight film, this one from Hollywood veteran William Friedkin ("The Exorcist," "The French Connection"), who's been virtually drummed out of the business in recent years. That made him perfect for a Gallic rediscovery, but I can't claim he didn't earn it. This paranoid, surreal thriller is a bit arty and claustrophobic, but check out the casting: Ashley Judd is a waitress fleeing a violent ex-husband (Harry Connick Jr.) and hooking up with a mysterious loner (Michael Shannon) in a dead-end residential hotel. Yes, there are bugs. Or perhaps I should say maybe there are bugs.

"Jindabyne" -- Ray Lawrence, the Australian director whose last film was the 2001 international hit "Lantana," was back at Cannes (after 21 years) with this tale of four Aussie locals on a fishing trip who find a dead body. As with a similar discovery in "Lantana," this event sets in motion an unexpected chain of circumstances. The setting here is rural rather than urban, and one could argue that Lawrence has restaged the basic subject matter of his earlier film in new surroundings. Still, it's a powerful, compelling blend of thriller and character drama that should have long legs and a broad reach.

"Free Jimmy" -- International Critics' Week, the other Cannes sidebar competition, closed out its proceedings with this Norwegian-British adult animation about a pill-popping elephant in a mismanaged Russian circus who escapes and leads a cast of scumbags on a cross-country chase. Characters are voiced by Woody Harrelson, Kyle MacLachlan and Jim Broadbent. Haven't seen it, but can't wait.

Just Maybe
"Princess" -- Another dark animated film, and another from the Directors' Fortnight, this clammy tale from Danish director Anders Morgenthaler follows a former missionary priest who sets out to avenge his dead sister, a porn star known in the trade as Princess. Violent, explicit and passionately moralistic, this isn't likely to reach anything resembling a mass audience. But I have a hunch it could be a midnight movie that generates talk.

"Exterminating Angels" -- Director Jean-Claude Brisseau, something of a minor bête noire in French cinema, got in trouble a few years ago for requiring aspiring actresses to bare both flesh and fantasies during auditions. So this is the semi-autobiographical tale of a filmmaker who discovers that the hot young things he's screen testing are eager to test sexual taboos, mostly by making it with other hot young things. It's highbrow French trash, but there's definitely an audience for that.

"Red Road" -- The only first film in the main Cannes competition, British director Andrea Arnold's "Red Road" is a gritty, surprising and well-crafted tale of crime, retribution and forgiveness, set in the notoriously scary housing projects of Glasgow. British films have played well in the United States lately, and "Red Road" offers a compelling central performance by Kate Dickie, and a side of Scottish life tourists never see.

"Days of Glory" -- Algerian-French director Rachid Bouchareb's gripping combat drama follows a group of Algerians who fought in de Gaulle's free French army during World War II, even though many had never set foot in France. It has obvious topical relevance here, amid national soul-searching after last year's riots in the Arab neighborhoods of suburban Paris and other cities. Does any of that translate to non-Gallic audiences? Not much, but "Days of Glory" is unquestionably a powerful film shedding light on a dark corner of French history. With the right handling, upscale Americans could become interested.

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