We´re still not entirely sure what Terrence Malick´s
generational drama “The Tree of Life” will be, but we can safely say
that it will be one of 19 new films contending for the Palme d´or at the
that were announced by the festiva´s organizers on Thursday.
Also on
the feature competition slate for this year´s festival, which runs from
May 11 to 22, are Pedro Almodóvar´s “La Piel Que Habito” (“The Skin I
Live In”), starring Antonio Banderas as a plastic surgeon seeking his daughter´s rapists; “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” a drama directed by Lynne Ramsay (“Morvern Callar”) and starring Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly; “Melancholia,” from the Danish filmmaker Lars Von Trier
(“Antichrist”); “Sleeping Beauty,” from the novelist turned first-time
filmmaker Julia Leigh; and “Ichimei” (“Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai”)
from the Japanese director Takashi Miike.
The festiva´s opening night film,
which is not shown in competition, is Woody Allen´s “Midnight in
Paris.” Other features that will be shown out of competition this year
include “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” directed by Rob
Marshall, and, just to make things interesting, Jodie Foster´s latest
film, “The Beaver,” starring Mel Gibson.