Dreaming of Cannes: Let's Go Back to Cannes with Ryan Gosling #book2movies

Ryan Gosling and Nicholas Winding Refn at Cannes after Refn’s Best Director Win for Drive

My husband and I will be traveling in Europe while the Cannes Film Festival is taking place. We could have arranged things so we would be in Cannes during the two week festival which runs from May 13 through May 28, except for the fact that there’s no room at the inn. And if there was a room, we couldn’t afford it. The famous fest drives room rates sky high and way out of our price range. But by the time we get to Cannes, in the last days of our month long sojourn, the red carpet will have been rolled up, the stars gone home, the hundreds of international journalists returned to their corners around the world, the glitter gone. 

We’ll keep our eyes out for stragglers, Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning and Colin Farrell from The Beguiled (book by Thomas Cullinan), Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams from Wonderstruck (book by Brian Selznick). Kristen Stewart making her directorial debut. A sighting of Joaquin Phoenix is possible, the star of You Were Never Really Here (book by Jonathan Ames) will be at Cannes along with director Lynne Ramsay. Ramsay, the director of We Need To Talk About Kevin, is famously the woman who walked away from Jane’s Got a Gun a day before it was supposed to go into production.

Amazon bought the rights for You Were Never Really Here for about 3.5 million dollars. Being described as a revenge fantasy and compared to Drive, you can expect to see it on your home screen sometime later this year.

You Were Never Really Here is about a war veteran (Joaquin Phoenix) who attempts to save a young girl from a sex trafficking ring but alas things go horribly wrong. 

Since it is making its debut in Cannes, presumably Joaquin Phoenix and director Lynne Ramsay will be seen on the Croisette, walking the red carpet. A heady affair for both director and actor, to have the film accepted to Cannes, especially to compete for the festival’s highest prize, the Palme D’Or.  

I wish I could be there, to see it all in person. Instead, let’s see if we can find some way to share the thrill. Oh, I know! Since You Were Never Really Here is being called a revenge fantasy akin to Drive, let’s watch Ryan Gosling and director Nicholas Refn when they took Drive to Cannes in 2011.

Addicted to Ryan Gosling (like moi) Here’s a longer version.

About the book:

‘A hammer was Joe's favorite weapon. He was his father's son, after all.

Joe has witnessed things that cannot be erased. A former FBI agent and Marine, his abusive childhood has left him damaged beyond repair. So he hides away, earning a living rescuing girls who have been kidnapped into the sex trade.

Now he's been hired to save the daughter of a New York senator, held captive at a Manhattan brothel. But he's stumbled into a dangerous web of conspiracy and he s about to pay the price.

Brutal and redemptive in equal measure, You Were Never Really Here is a toxic shot of a thriller, laced with corruption, revenge and the darkest of inner demons.

'A good choice for lovers of Michael Connelly, Lee Child or Vince Flynn who are interested in character-driven thrillers' Chicago Tribune

'A dark thriller full of attitude and heart. ... Ames is at his best here, creating a complex and sympathetic character and a detail-rich, believable story that is hard to forget'San Francisco Chronicle

Jonathan Ames is the author of nine books including Wake Up, Sir! (published by Pushkin Press) The Extra Man, I Love You More Than You Know and the graphic novel The Alcoholic. He also created the hit HBO comedy Bored to Death, starring Ted Danson, Zach Galifianakis and Jason Schwartzman, as well as Blunt Talk, starring Patrick Stewart. He lives in New York.’

I’ve never been to Cannes. I’m an introvert at heart, so the idea of being swept up in all the festival’s excitement is a bit too sturm und drang for me. It is actually more terrifying to me than exciting. On the other hand, I live a very ordinary—but exciting to me—life. My chances of going to the Cannes Film Festival are zero. How about you? Is that on your bucket list? Or perhaps you’ve been to Cannes and it’s all old hat to you. Tell us about it!

Connect to Dreaming of France where Paulita is in the midst of preparing for a huge trip to France.