Cannes Buyers Ramp Up, With "Two Lovers" In Play

If there's been much grumbling from the Croisette and the rather sleepy array of booths at the Cannes film market, the festival did manage to close out its first week with signs of commercial life. Most critics reluctantly dismissed Steven Soderbergh's Che marathon as needing more work and a lot more excitement, and middling reports about Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York seemed to dim that picture's distribution prospects. Meanwhile, the most fervent buzz centered on James Gray's Two Lovers (see our column here), as epitomized by Variety's warm review
and another, admiring take from the Hollywood Reporter. Anne Thompson's report of wide interest in Two Lovers expanded on the Variety review, and THR's correspondent also had a wise thesis on how it might best be sold:

When Gray was last at Cannes -- all the way back in 2007 -- buyers ran around chasing his period crime drama "We Own the Night" for prices north of $10 million. This year the reactions are more measured, and in the end that may be the best thing for both director and movie.

Despite a general sluggishness in deal-making, as THR described, an IFC.com report on the slowly building pick-up business perforce took into account the separate IFC distribution arm's vigorous early pace, which seems to be continuing.

Despite a general, low-budget stirring, the festival, with just three days to go, is still waiting for its catalyzing marketplace moment--with Gray's film in the pole position.

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