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T H U R S D AY, M AY 1 8 , 2 0 0 6Cannes Day ThreeQuote of the day:Ian McKellen at "The Da Vinco Code" press conference --"I'm veryhappy to believe Jesus was married. I know the Catholic Church hasproblems with gay people and I thought this was absolutely proof thatJesus was not gay."The Wind That Shakes The Barley *** 1/2(Lumiere Theatre)The first terrific film of the festival; received strong applause at thefinale, especially for a film showing this early in the fest. It's aclear-eyed and very sad look at Ireland in the 20s when the Irish votedfor independence, fought against the British troops but then itspoliticians signed a peace treaty that made no one happy and led to thepartition and Irish killing Irish. Cillian Murphy is a young man headingoff to London to work in a hospital. His brother Teddy is a fiery leaderof the rebellion/resistance. We see the casual abuse and bullying byBritish troops (almost inevitable in such a situation). Cillian's train isdelayed when the driver refuses to transport British soldiers and isbeaten up. Cillian just can't leave and he joins up. We see their training,their fighting, ambushes, violence -- none of it is stirring or exciting;just necessary and brutal. One poor Irish lad reveals the location ofrebels after the British threaten his mother and sister. Cillian is orderedto execute him in one of several very powerful scenes. It's simple,direct, dreadful. When the treaty is signed, Cillian's brotherunexpectedly dons the uniform of the Irish. The endless debates aboutwhat to do, friends and lovers fighting over compromise versus brutalall-out war -- the film doesn't really take sides (though it's hardly insympathy with the British; how could it be?). The movie just shows itand shakes its head sadly. At the end of the film, there is thankfully noscroll about what's happened since. it doesn't have the heart to detail80 more years of misery.My Bloody Phone -- so it's more than two days and I still can't place aninternational call, putting a bit of a crimp into my work. I head back tothe FNAC store where the same young man deals with 17 customers ata time in the phone section. I catch him at a down moment thoughNext Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G . C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: Cannes Day Threehttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/05/cannes-day-three.html
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FAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (17)▼ July (3)1939 -- The Greatest Year ForMoviesSwimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (7)► 2008 (86)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SAaronBiboyMichael in New York POPSURFING.COM: Cannes Day Threehttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/05/cannes-day-three.html
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POPSURFING.COM: Cannes Day Threehttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/05/cannes-day-three.html
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