Vintage Cannes

By the time Akira Kurosawa and Martin Scorsese met on the Croisette in 1990, both were already celebrated master filmmakers. Scorsese had one Palme d'Or (Taxi Driver) and one Best Director prize (After Hours), plus three nominations for the Palme (Alice Doesn't LIve Here Anymore, The King of Comedy and After Hours) and one Golden Globe nomination for Raging Bull.

If you grew up under the spell of Captain Jack Sparrow you will probably  find it difficult to believe that, back in 1990s, Johnny Depp was the muse of independent filmmakers both stateside and abroad, and a regular Cannes fixture - in competition, not to promote some massive blockbuster. Our multi-nominated and Best Actor Golden Globe winner was in Cannes twice with (a young, bold) Tim Burton, in 1990 for Edward Scissorhands and in 1994 for Ed Wood - nominated for a Palme d'Or and responsible for the most coveted promotional item on the Croisette, that year: a black t-shirt with 'Mon prochain film sera meilleur' ('My next film will be bettter') inscribed in giant pink letters.

By the time Heaven's Gate landed on the Croisette, a trail of rumors, allegations and serious problems was following it like a hound from hell. Hot from the success of 1978's The Deer Hunter - which received six Golden Globe nominations, with Michael Cimino winning as Best Director -  Cimino stirred a bidding war for his next project, the period drama, Heaven's Gate.

After catching the attention of the international film circuit with a trio of powerful pictures firmly rooted in Taiwanese culture - Pushing Hands in 1991, The Wedding Banquet in 1992 and Eat Drink Man Woman in 1993 - director Ang Lee quickly did a turnaround and launched himself into a series of varied projects. First came his adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, and then, in 1997, another literary adaptation - the family drama The Ice Storm, writen by James Schamus from Rick Moody's eponymous novel and an official selection, in competition, at Cannes that year.

The 1970s hit the Croisette hard, amd Cannes fell deeply in love with the sex, drugs and rock 'n roll generation that was shaking Hollywood to the foundations. An unsung master among giants, Hal Ashby became the darling of the 1978 edition of the festival with his soulful, blistering Coming Home, the story of what happens to warriors after the war is over.