Cannes Private View

Italian director Daniele Luchetti, we are told, chose the title My Brother Is an Only Child in tribute to ’70s singer Rino Gaetano, who wrote and recorded a song by that title. The general texture of Gaetano’s song sounds influenced by John Lennon’s “Mother,” but the title was presumably filched (with the tense changed from past to present) from American writer Jack Douglas’s 1959 bestseller, large portions of which, at a certain point of my life, I could recite from memory. Young Yakuza is Jean-Pierre Limosin’s second film to be presented in the official Selection after Tokyo Eyes (Un Certain Regard, 1998).

Jean-Pierre Limosin concerning his meeting with the Yakuza boss, M. Kumagai:

“He asked me if I would be interested in filming from inside a Yakuza clan. I answered that I thought it was impossible. I mentioned the two Japanese documentary filmmakers who had been stabbed while carrying out an investigation, as well as the director Juzo Itami who had got slashed in the face by a gang after the release of his fictional film which presented a caustic view of the mafia. He insisted, all the same, for me to come see what a Yakuza clan was really like.”

A wayward Japanese youth’s apprenticeship with the Nipponese mafia provides an intriguing premise but little substance in French docu “Young Yakuza.” Like Japan’s other cultural touchstone, the geisha, the Yakuza have found expression in both Japanese and Western movies seeking to reveal arcane practices and strict hierarchy, but have remained veiled in secrecy. Pic observes rather than delves. Due to no fault of the filmmaker, docu loses direction due to an absconding protagonist. Fests may want to take a peek, but a lack of meat will disappoint.

At docu’s beginning, concerned mother Mrs. Watanabe considers a proposal from a friend that she hand over her unemployed, criminally disobedient son, Naoki, to the local yakuza gang boss in order to mold her boy into a more disciplined and useful member of society.

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After i have talk about Dev Anand that interest with Cannest Film Festival 2008 in last post. Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman starrer Guide (1960) has been invited for a screening at the Cannes Film festival in the classic section of the world.

Highly excited about his film and the honor it is generating even today, he said he misses his brother Vijay Anand who had directed the film. The Cannes Film Festival is one of the prestigious festivals. Incidentally, Guide had also been chosen as India’s official entry to the Oscars in 1964.

The Cannes Film Festival will commence in May. Meanwhile, Dev Anand will be busy with his next film Chargesheet, a murder mystery exposing corruption in the police force.

“This is the first time, I will be going to Cannes,” smiles Dev Anand.

His movie – Guide - has been invited by the Cannes Film Festival in the Official Classic Section of World Movies.

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