There's a strict caste system for us film critics,here to cover the Cannes film festival. A handful of critics who have been coming here,year on year,for several years ,have the coveted white badge. Which allows them to get in anywhere they like,without queuing. Then there is the pink badge with the yellow dot,which is also quite useful,because it sets you apart from those on the complete bottom rung. Which is me,with my plain pink badge. The ushers take one look at it,and send me off to either the very front of the auditorium,or to the balcony,nothing in between. With nothing but determination and my lowly pink badge,I set off to see the big ticket Hollywood film which is in competition,'Lawless'. It is a well made ,well acted film ,based on a true story,about the 1930s America when Prohibition was in full force. Directed by John Hillcoat,starring the super sexy Tom Hardy,and the girl who's on every one's lists these days,Jessica Chastain,it turns out to be a film that wears its gratuitous violence on its very attractive sleeve. I forget how many times Shea LaBeouf is battered,how many brains are blown out,and I close my eyes when a throat is being cut,the sawing sound filling my ears. It is a film I might watch when it comes to my neighbourhood multiplex,but this,in Cannes competition? The cast shows up for the after-the-movie presser,and I watch it from the lobby on the big TV screen ( the press conference room is full to bursting,places having been staked out even as the film is on). But I cannot linger because I have to be right back in a long queue for the next film. ** And that turns out to be the real thing. Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu's ''Beyond The Hills' is the kind of film one comes to festivals for : a deeply personal,deeply immersive experience,which leaves you sated. It tells the story of two girls who have clearly shared a physical relationship,and who are now on opposite sides of a huge divide. Voichita seems to have gone over to the Church,and given herself up to service. Alina arrives,and her coming to the monastery ,ruled by a priest and a senior nun ,throws everything to turmoil. Mungiu's 'Four Months,Three Weeks,Two Days' opened the International Film Festival of India a few yeas ago,and it is a film that has stayed with me.It is about a girl who finds herself pregnant and tries to get an abortion,and title refers to the day in her life when she is in the process of trying to end the pregnancy. The director's style is deceptively simple,and he says the most complex things by keeping it simple. I'm ushered right to the front row,from where I can't read the subtitles. I use desi wiles to get to the back,and find myself a better seat : so much for the pink card! ** There's another film I have marked on the schedule,but I am all full up. Can't watch anymore. I call it a day. More films on the morrow.
