Cannes 2009: Sex and moping

We’ve cast an eye over two mixed bags of sex ‘n’ angst in Cannes these past couple of days.

First up, Adrift (A Deriva), about a family vacation on a highly photogenic stretch of Brazilian beach.

There’s trouble in paradise, naturellment – namely the meltdown of writer Mathias’ (Vincent Cassel) marriage to Clarice (Deborah Bloch).

Mathias is having an affair with a slinky American (mostly mute Camilla Belle), a secret uncovered by his eldest kid Filipa (Laura Neiva), a 14-year-old experiencing her first summer of love.

Shown out of competition, it’s a perfectly polished piece of work – but struggles to stand out from the crowd: too few fresh insights to offset the familiarity, too little humour to leaven the strife.

Playing against type and acting in Portuguese, Cassel retains his usual spark but there’s a meandering, listless feel to the whole. What’s more, there’s only so far you can sympathise with mopey, monied folk holidaying in heaven.

The sex is a bit coy, too – not an accusation you can chuck at Map Of The Music Of Tokyo.

There’s palpable heat between wine-fancying Spaniard David (Sergei Lopez) and fishmarket worker Ryu (Babel’s Rinko Kikuchi) during their liaisons in a Tokyo love hotel.

Slight spanner in the works, though – Ryu’s a hitwoman on the side, hired to off David by the businessman who blames his daughter’s suicide on the European.

It’s contrived, convoluted set-up – but wrangled with a measure of elegance by director Isabel Coixet (My Life Without Me).

Performances veer from impressive (the physical stuff) to stilted (whenever the leads have to speak in a non-native tongue).

Good to see Lopez playing a more sensitive type than his usual leering sociopaths (Harry He’s Here To Help, Dirty Pretty Things), too.

Points deducted, though, for a post-credit bit that undercuts the tragic ending with a shot of someone shuffling towards camera disguised as a tree.

Definitely not a golden palm...

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.