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More Cannes secrets revealed…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the terrible parts about the Cannes experience is that all the good things seem to happen at the same time. It’s almost like you have to pick what you miss…
The secret/private screening I went to last night was “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada,â€? and the mystery man sitting behind me with his wife was none other than Tommy Lee Jones. Once he muttered a single phrase in that distinct voice—I knew it was him. I shifted down in my seat so that I wouldn’t block his view. Only later did I come to realize that the screenwriter and actress from the film were also in attendance.
The film was originally in competition for the Camera d’Or, the prize given for best directorial debut. Earlier this week, “Three Burials,� was disqualified from competition in that category because of a previous project that Jones had directed.
“The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada� stars Tommy Lee Jones, Dwight Yoakam, Barry Pepper, and January Jones. In the story, Melquiades Estrada is found murdered and partially buried in the desert. The local police do nothing to investigate the crime and bury him in a pauper’s grave. It is left to his best friend, played by Jones, to track down the murderer and give him the proper burial he had wanted.
My expectations for the film were not so high so I was ultimately surprised at how well it comes off. Jones was smart enough to not overload the film with famous celebrity friends (a la “Ocean’s Twelve,�) that might take away from the story. I knew Jones was a smart man, but I was still impressed with his attention to detail especially concerning the image. In the production notes for the film, he went in depth about his visual influences that he relayed to cinematographer Chris Menges. “My sense of color comes from Mexico, Mondrian, Matisse, Jean-Luc Godard, Akira Kurosawa…that’s just the way I look at color.�
Though it could’ve easily taken home the Camera d’Or if it wasn’t disqualified�I’m sure the film will be successful and might even garner Jones a Best Actor Award.
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