The film Heath Ledger was making when he died, "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," will feature at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The Terry Gilliam production was delayed by several months after Ledger’s death from an accidental overdose last January, before Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law stepped in to complete his role. It will screen out of competition. In competition previous winners Quentin Tarantino, Ken Loach, Lars von Trier and Jane Campion join fellow cinematic giants Pedro Almodovar, Ang Lee, Michael Haneke and Park Chan-wook in the battle for the Palme d’Or. The official selection, announced Thursday, also confirmed that the festival will open with a 3-D animated film for the first time. “Up,” the latest from Disney Pixar, will premiere in Cannes on May 13th. However, all eyes will be focused on the main competition where the jury, led by French actress Isabelle Huppert, will have their work cut out. Included are Tarantino’s World War II film “Inglourious Basterds,” featuring Brad Pitt, and Lee’s “Talking Woodstock,” a comedic take on the legendary rock concert, with Liev Schreiber, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Emile Hirsch.
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Campion, who won with “The Piano” in 1993, returns with “Bright Star,” a film about the poet John Keats. Almodovar again has Penelope Cruz as his leading lady in “Broken Embraces,” while Ken Loach’s comedy “Looking for Eric” sees former Manchester United and France footballer Eric Cantona return to the silverscreen. Park leads the large Asian contingent with “Bak-Jwi” (“Thirst”), which follows a priest who becomes a vampire. Competition will also feature Von Trier’s “Antichrist,” Haneke’s “The White Ribbon,” Isabel Coixet’s “Map of the Sounds of Tokyo” and Italian Marco Bellocchio’s “Vincere.” The film festival runs from May 13 to 24.
