& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Festival

Cannes film festival with ballet, French swashbuckler and Monica Bellucci

AFP, France
THE 12-day feast of celluloid and hype that is the Cannes film festival opened on the French Riviera Wednesday with an off-beat ballet performance, a glamorous Monica Bellucci and a lightweight French swashbuckler.
The event, which will climax May 25 with the award of the prestigious Palme d'Or for best film, boasts a crammed programme of screenings of new films from around the world, ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to intimate productions from relative unknowns.
The 20 films selected to vie for the Palme this year will form the core ofthe festival, but a staggering 700 other titles will also be shown in special screenings, parallel official sections and the bustling market, where deals are made and films are bought and sold.
Highlights in the programme include "The Matrix Reloaded," which will be shown out of competition Thursday and "Mystic River," a thriller directed by Clint Eastwood which is one of the Palme nominees.
Many of the estimated 30,000 industry types and journalists attending the festival will also be seen at the dozens of exclusive parties for which the event is famous.
Most of the parties are lavish
soirees designed to promote films, suchas abigbashSaturdayfor"Ter-minator 3" in the presence of Arnold Schwarzenegger, though some — held in villas overlooking Cannes — are simply excuses for excess.
The first of the daily ceremonies that allow international celebrities to sweep past some of the 3,000 accredited media members saw Meg Ryan, whois on this year's jury, Penelope Cruz (without companion Tom Cruise, who is working), Andie MacDowell, Prince Albert of Monaco and Gina Lollobrigida walk the red carpet into the main festival building.
Italian beauty Bellucci walked on stage to greet them, dressed in a long pearl-grey Dior number that made her stand out in the darkened theatre.
After a nervous speech and the presentation of each member of the jury, she introduced a bizarre number involving ballet dancers from the French city of Marseille smearing themselves with paint to a soundtrack that brought out snatches of dialogue against the noise of a whirring film projector.
Bellucci then called on Cruz and Vincent Perez, the two stars of the opening night's film, "Fanfanla Tulipe," to officially bring the curtain up on the festival.
"I declare the 56th Cannes film festival open," the two said simul-
taneously.
Their film, a French swashbuckler set in the time of King Louis XV that was screened out of competition, got a lukewarm reaction during its press screening earlier in the day, with one critic describing it as "fluff."
It was likely to be quickly forgotten Thursday, however, when the competition for the Palme d'Or starts in earnest — and when the long-awaited "Matrix" sequel screens ahead of a slick launch party in a mocked-up future complex.
Security at the festival, usually tight anyway, was stepped up this year, with the 2,000 police and private guards especially vigilant
because of the suicide bomb attacks against Westerners in Saudi Arabia on Monday.
Barricades twinkled in the sun, newly-installed video-cameras swept the scene and officers enforced parking bans and stringent bag- and body-screening.
Security was "at the maximum" level, city police chief Andre Trouve said.
Adding another unwelcome reminder of reality, French health authorities handed accredited festival-goers a leaflet describing what to do in case of suspected symptoms of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).