Though Cannes had an action-packed 24 hours (a jewel heist, a man firing blanks into a crowd), competition films from Arnaud Desplechin and Kore-eda Hirokazu were sluggish. A meal prepared by a chef to the stars was consolation.
The sun is back, but competition films from admired Asian auteurs were particularly bleak: Jia Zhangke's "A Touch of Sin", a scorching portrait of contemporary China, and Asghar Farhadi's "The Past", a melodrama about romantic and familial conflicts.
August is a month like few others, with cities and countries coming to a near standstill as temperatures rise. It has also been surprising fertile territory for filmmakers.
Michael Haneke becomes the sixth filmmaker to win two Palmes d'Ors but the past has shown directors often find it hard to move on after the second prize.
The 65th Cannes Film Festival opens Wednesday. To predict a winner, one need often look no further than the president of the jury. This year it is the Palme d'Or winner from 2001, the Italian Nanni Moretti.
Claude François was the biggest-selling French singer of his time and was the creator of one of the most famous songs of the 20th century. In the English-speaking world though he is practically unknown.
The Artist's Oscar success is not going to prompt a rush among studios to make silent films but it might find some of cinema's most wonderful films a new audience.
