Summer And Nature Scenery

The Cannes celebration of its opening-night film The Great Gatsby went into the early-morning hours despite a monsoon-like downpour that had some guests with flimsy umbrellas wondering how they were going to get back to their hotels. When I left around 2 AM, though, there was no sign of winding down despite the horrid elements caused by Mother Nature. In an understandable party mood thanks to the strong U.S. opening last weekend, Gatsby director Baz Luhrmann pronounced himself pleased with the way everything went down for certainly one of the most elaborate afterparties Cannes has seen since Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge premiered here in 2001. In fact, I asked Luhrmann how this party compared to that. “I love it. It’s far more chaotic because of the rain and all,” he said. “I think Jay Gatsby would have loved it too. ‘Screw the rain,’ he would have said.” Luhrmann was frequently out on the dance floor whooping it up with the likes of Warner Bros Marketing topper Sue Kroll, co-star Isla Fisher, his agent Robert Newman (Yes!) and even Cannes programming wizard Thierry Fremaux, who told me that “so far” he is very pleased with the way the festival is going. Of course, it just got started. The first film Fremaux ever programmed ... Read More »

From Nature magazine