Hey folks, Harry here with a fairly negative look at the next STAR WARS film from Cannes... Not exactly the sort of film one would associate with this very High Brow film festival. I know a couple of others that had a pretty negative reaction to the film. Including some very close friends. However, I do know that it seems to be far less than in previous prequel releases. The reported lack of applause at Cannes, well as I said in my review - this really isn't that type of film. Most of the action has a cloud of shrouded despair about it. At least that's how I read it. Can't wait for the Thursday Midnight screening!

hi Harry !

Here's yesterday's report. Tomorrow's report will be in later.

It was a mad day !

When I arrived in front of the gates of the Palais, at 6.30 a.m., ready to queue to get my tickets, I was only the 6th person ! Waiting from 6.30 a.m. to 9 a.m., when the gates open... you really have to want it !

But I was right : our organization only had 45 tickets for a hundred of persons. And when I had my own in my hands, I was really happy !

I definitely wanted to be well seated in the screening room, so I skipped "Batalla en el cielo", from the Mexican director Carlos Reygadas. It seemed that I was right to skip it !

By 4 p.m. a lot of tourists arrived to watch the climbing of the steps. Among them, a few eager persons like me were waiting in dress robes or tuxedos.

Thre sure was some presentation for this Episode III that Episode II didn't had : storm troopers were walking along the red carpet among the guests who were arriving, a Darth Vader and two imperial admirals were waiting at the top of the steps, the Prague Orchestra was playing live the music score.

It was also the first Cannes soirées with so many guest stars : gorgeous Sharon Stone, blond Michael Madsen, a lot of french actors and a part of the Star Wars cast : Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, Ian Mc Diarmid and Lucas himself.

I put on my blog pictures of the event : http://solamenn2.tooblog.fr

The day ended with a party by the sea, but nothing special really...

FILM REVIEW : STAR WARS III (with spoilers ! Beware !)

You don't like poor dialogues ? You don't like CG animation ? Then you won't like "Star Wars III" !

When I write "poor dialogues", I'm not even exagerating. It's not Jean-Claude VanDamme but almost : "Ani, a wonderful thing happened. - What ? - I'm pregnant ! - It's the most beautiful day of my life !" And I don't mention the Bruce Will-esque lines supposed to be funny but who made nobody laugh in the screening room.

As for CG animation, it's everywhere, all the time, even where Lucas could not have it. A good carpenter, a good stuntsman, a good animatronic, all this would have made it more real.

I don't even mention the new effects... The lightsabers during Obi-Wan and Anakin's battle on the volcan-planet leaves behind them some kind of "trail" that ruins the battle choreography which was good : since Episode I we were waiting for a fine lightsaber fight and now we have it...

Lucas is creating an interesting reflection about the quest for power, but that theme is totally ruined by some pitiful lines : "I want more power to save Padme !" Well, it's also true that however cute, I don't think that Hayden Christensen expresses a wide range of feelings.

Happily, the film is saved from galactical disaster by some scenes.

First, the Jedi slaughter, all around the galaxy is quite a successful moment, with, as a counterpoint, Yoda holding his chest like Obi-Wan did in "A new hope" after the explosion of Alderande.

But, most of all, there are the wonderful last 15 minutes. You could think that Lucas stepped back and let some hardcore fans do the end so much it is well done, so much we've come full circle !

It's also true that these are the only scenes where the actors are more important than CG animation, when CG is no more a displayed toy but remains in the background while beings are expressing themselves. And there are, in these minutes, all those little things that will make shiver all the fans : Uncle Owen on the same dune, standing the same way than Luke will in a few years, Leia as a baby being held in her adoptive's mother arms with Bail Organa on Alderand that we finally see, a young Antiles taking charge of C3-PO and R2, and the Emperor and Vader watching the early structure of the Death Star.

Tha actors really deserve applause. Except Hayden Christenson, who wasn't great in my opinion : when he learns Padme's death, he lifts his arms and screams "Noooo !" so unconvincingly and ridiculously !

Apart from him, they are all very good, including Jimmy Smits as Bail Organa, though he has a small part. My special mention goes to Ian McDiarmid. He plays with nuances, soberly and very subtly and he manaes with incredible savoir-faire to find back the character he had created two decades before ! But, last and definitely not least, the amazing Ewan McGregor, who became Obi-Wan, and most amazingly, who became Alex Guiness : I call him an incredibly skilled actor and someone who respects the fans !

In short : SWIII, I didn't really liked it except for the last 20 minutes !

And it was felt in the screening room that I was not the only one to think that : there were almost no reactions during the film and the applauses were quite cold and not long, especially for an Out of Competition film and a Star Wars film morevoer when the screening room is full of fans !