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Cannes 2016: Indie Honors Punk, Spielberg Warns Of VR Takeover, And Captain Fantastic Has Oscar Buzz

By Ny MaGee
Published on: 12:59 PST, May 19, 2016

Iggy Pop charmed the Cannes crowd with personal stories from his past and thoughts on everything from politics to drugs to rock ‘n’ roll. The legendary rocker joined acclaimed indie film director Jim Jarmusch during a photo call this week for their documentary Gimme Danger, which focuses on Iggy’s punk band The Stooges.

“If you want to ask a question to Mr. Iggy Pop, please shout it” said the moderator when he began the session, with Iggy Pop adding that he’s “half deaf,” Billboard reports.

The documentary is being showcased in the Midnight Screenings section of the 69th international film festival. The Stooges are considered the main influencers of the punk movement and the film uses new footage and photos to tell the story of the iconic band.

“I saw the film for the first time last night and it really hit me, ‘oh Christ I’m a product of those times,'” said Iggy Pop, whose real name is James Newell Osterberg, Jr. He shared with the crowd memories from the wild shows The Stooges performed in the 60s and 70s.

“I was on acid in more than several of the clips in the movie when I was young. I would go from feeling very aggressive to breaking out in laughter,” he said.

Sixty-nine-year-old Iggy was also asked about his views on drug use now. “The drugs — everybody should just drop that s**t,” he said. “For me, the best is a very good wine, but weed is okay for most people.”

He added: “All can say is I don’t drug up anymore. I don’t do it. I have wine with dinner and that’s about it.”

Iggy’s confident stage presence, past drug addition, and signature look of not wearing a shirt is part of his iconic image, and during the Cannes press conference, he was asked whether or not he would come shirtless to the red carpet gala later on Thursday night.

“Would you like me to come to the carpet with no shirt?” he said, getting plenty of cheers. “Well, no shirt it is. I’ve been thinking about it. My manager thinks I should wear a shirt. But now it’s decided.”

Another buzzworthy movie debuting at Cannes is Steven Spielberg’s latest The BFG, about a young orphan is kidnapped by a big, friendly giant. The director opened up to France24 about reading the classic Roald Dahl book that inspired the film to his seven kids and how he still gets nervous before premieres.

Huff Post Tech also notes that the director is not all that impressed with the emerging virtual reality movie-making industry, which has a pavilion at this year’s Cannes festival dedicated to the immersive technology. Spielberg said such movies will “take hold in a profound way” but also warned that it’s “a dangerous medium.”

“The only reason I say it is dangerous is because it gives the viewer a lot of latitude not to take direction from the storytellers but make their own choices of where to look,” he said. “I just hope it doesn’t forget the story when it starts enveloping us in a world that we can see all around us and make our own choices of what to look at.”

Check out The BFG trailer below.

Viggo Mortensen’s performance as a widowed father-of-six, free-spirited children in Captain Fantastic is stirring up talk of potential Oscar contender. Nominated previously in the Best Actor category for his performance in David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises, Viggo offered up a prime piece of advice for his young co-stars as they marched up the red carpet for the film’s Cannes premiere Tuesday night.

“I told them that this is not just any red carpet, this is the most important red carpet in the world,” Mortensen says, recalling the event the next day. “I said that they might not be able to ever do it again, so they should appreciate it and enjoy.”

The comedy-drama debuted to critical acclaim at January’s Sundance Film Festival, but Mortensen says the Cannes reaction “shows there’s a momentum building in the way this movie is understood.” There’s also a serious political message in the film which Viggo believes will resonate when Captain Fantastic is released July 8.

“This is not an ideological or political story in any way, it’s just a story about people trying to find balance individually and as a group,” Mortensen says. “There are not heroes or villains. But you’re left maybe with the idea of at least opening your mind and listening to other people.”

Cannes 2016 is not only embracing the usual auteurs, but this year the festival also opened the door for streaming video giants, allowing Amazon to make its debut with five films, including Woody Allen’s Cafe Society.

[Photo by Thibault Camus/AP Images]

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