Hollywood loses top billing to Europe at Cannes

VETERAN Spanish director Pedro Almodovar leads the early running in Cannes this year with his bitter-sweet comedy Volver, as European cinema overshadowed Hollywood at the world’s biggest film festival.

Also catching critics’ eyes as the annual orgy of pictures, publicity and parties reached the halfway point, was a first-time filmmaker from Britain, Andrea Arnold, with Red Road and Turkey’s Nuri Bilge Ceylan with Iklimler (Climates).

“America is really performing badly this year,” said Mark Cousins, an author and commentator on cinema. “Asia is doing next to nothing in the competition, so it is really Europe that is shining with an old-fashioned approach to cinema.”