As I stand here at the Petit Carlton on the rue d'Antibes, I find it hard
to believe that the last film festival was a year away. I am, experiencing
the sensation known as "Camp Cannes", the secure feeling that you are
someplace where everybody knows you, you know the scene, and happen to end
up drinking every night for ten days in the same bar as you did last year.
I am talking to my friend Jared Harris, who is awash with glory after the
opening night "Un Certain Regard" screening of "I Shot Andy Warhol", in
which he co-stars in a critically-acclaimed role as Andy. Jared is off to
Los Angeles for either the Los Angeles premiere or a press junket after a
9:30 AM interview the next day. At the moment Lael Lowenstein from
"Instyle" magazine is asking him about his favorite places, times, memories
and smells. Jared turns the tables on her, and she realizes that being
questioned is tough and that she should have her answers at the ready...
I look down at my watch. It is 4:30, and some people are still arriving
for a last beer before calling it a night.
The unfortunate highlight of the night was when a drunk "Cannois" screeched
up to the Petit Carlton's intersection, nearly flattening Jared and some
other members of our entourage whereupon the driver was motioned at (some
say that he struck the car with his foot, but I didn't see that) by
Sundance topper Geoffrey Gilmour. The driver stopped, got out, and started
yelling in French at the tuxedo-clad Gilmour, and then pushed him into the
potted planter. The crowd was clearly pro-Gilmour, which frustrated the
driver who returned to his car. Jared said "He is getting something out of
his car" in his clipped english accent. This something turned out to be a
knife which was brandished at Gilmour before the driver was restrained by
his friends. Thankfully no one was hurt.
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