Tokyo! Pose

Coolest Film of the Festival (Part One)

16.05.08 / It has been clear from Day One, from the moment we first saw that blurry photo by David Lynch on the official festival poster: Cannes is cool again. Sure, you may find yourself doubting that coolness from time to time, but there’s always something here to remind you: Who’s the president of the jury this year? Sean Penn. His kind of cool is less “laid-back” than “back off!” — and that’s the right kind of message for a film festival to send in these uncertain times: Cinema matters, yes it does.And you don't have to be American to be cool in Cannes. Last night's cool moment arrived with the official screening of Tokyo!, a three-part film about that city directed by two Frenchmen and one South Korean. One of those Frenchmen, Michel Gondry, has singlehandedly expanded the definition of “cool” to include “intense” and “uncommunicative,” and it has been good to have him back here in Cannes. Bong Joon Ho and Leos Carax, who directed the other two parts of Tokyo!, make this a must-see (and indisputably cool) movie. — R.K.