Cannes darling Woody Allen will this year open the Cannes Film Festival with his new romantic comedy Midnight in Paris. A quite surprising choice considering many of those hot tipped to open the world renowned film festival were Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life or, considering the openers in recent years, the more mainstream Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides was considered a contender.
The news comes via The Playlist, who say that the film is about:
A family traveling to the titular city for business, including a young engaged couple who have their lives transformed throughout the journey. The film celebrates a young man’s great love for Paris, and simultaneously explores the illusion people have that a life different from their own is better.
I’m as huge a Woody Allen fan as the next man but in recent years his output has been very off the boil and incredibly disappointing. I don’t think he has made a great film since Everyone Says I Love You and his Cannes showing last year: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger was met with a more muted reaction. This however could turn the tide. For starters he’s got a fantastic cast including Marion Cotillard, Owen Wilson, Kathy Bates, Michael Sheen, Rachel McAdams and Adrien Brody among others. So it could turn out to be a fun film.
The Cannes Film Festival debuts on the 10th of May.
