What would Cannes be without the yachts? They linger in the old port or in front of the Eden Roc, their owners never leaving their floating homes but instead holding court on the azure Mediterranean water. Only the not so rich (or potentially smartest) rent them out to production companies and film studios for parties and receptions. The others are in-your-face ostentatious, taunting us lesser humans who cannot afford such luxury. Let’s put this in perspective: According to Forbes Magazine, the yachts mooring here include the $6.9 billion David Geffen’s “boat”, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s (worth $17.5 billion) and Louis Vuitton’s French CEO Bernard Arnault ($37 billion). Yes, Sigmund Freud would have had a field day: whose is bigger? The biggest show-offs only invite people almost, but never quite, as rich as them.
What is so far lacking from this year’s festival are the scandalous stories and high jinx on the yachts and off. No Justin Bieber sneaking home in the wee hours of the morning, barely able to walk. No drunken supermodels slipping on the landing with smeared mascara and nipple slips. Speaking of wardrobe malfunctions – even in terms of fashion the scandals were so far limited to simply bad taste. Jury member Sophie Marceau is making sure that her 2005 chest exposure won’t happen again, there are no accidental see-through dresses, just intentional ones. And even on the filmmaker front, there are no verbal digressions (Natalie Portman slamming Israeli prime minister Netanyahu does not count – who doesn’t?), no Lars von Trier and the likes – so far. One can still hope for a little upheaval.
Because – so far – the scandals are limited to the screen. Amy Berg’s documentary An Open Secret takes the Hollywood casting couch to task, specifically the allegations surrounding director Bryan Singer. But because accuser Michael Egan has since dropped his lawsuit against the director, strategic cuts have been made and the doc now focuses more on the victims and on already convicted abusers in the industry. Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis, who himself was abused, is lending support to the film.
Another documentary that exposes a well-known (by most fashion insiders) travesty is the Andrew Morgan directed The True Cost. After seeing it you will never shop for cheap chain store clothes again: it shows the people who make them, and the impact the industry is having on our world – the more inexpensive the clothes, the higher the human and environmental costs. From child labor in Asian countries to unsafe and sometimes deadly working conditions. The True Cost was filmed in various countries, from the brightest runways to the darkest slums. It is produced by Livia Firth (Colin’s wife) who has been a tireless campaigner for fair trade green clothing for years.
Both these docs may have depressed festival audiences but they are not the only works that make viewers long for a light-hearted comedy – or at least a stiff drink. The latter should be easier to come by than the former. The Holocaust film Son of Saul left people filing out of the theater thoroughly shocked, saddened and very, very quiet. Joachim Trier’s first English language feature Louder Than Bombs, the story of a father and two sons coping with the death of their mother/wife who was a war photographer and died on the front lines, is no laughing matter, either. And then there are the films – that shall remain unnamed – that are depressing simply by lack of quality. But then again there’s always a stiff drink or two or many. And once one leaves the overpriced hotel bars and cafes along the Croisette, they won’t cost a fortune, either. Bottoms up.
Elisabeth Sereda

Yachts at sunset in Cannes

More yachts at sunset in Cannes

Paparazzi camping out in the cliffs in front if the Eden Roc with Geffen’s boat behind it

Jamie Packer’s huge yacht

Sophie Marceau attends the Premiere of ‘The Sea Of Trees’ during the 68th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2015 in Cannes, France

U.S. actress Rachel Brosnahan, U.S. actor Devin Druid, French actress Isabelle Huppert and Irish actor Gabriel Byrne pose during a photocall for the film Louder than Bombs at the 68th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes on May 18, 2015