Cannes Update: Heath Ledger’s Farewell

The Cannes festival took a bittersweet turn yesterday with the screening of director Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, starring Heath Ledger in his final performance before his death in January 2008. In the film Ledger plays a snake-oil salesman, attempting to hang himself from a London bridge, who is rescued by a traveling theater troupe and introduced to a magic portal that allows him to travel to different worlds that exist within other people’s imaginations. Ledger died before shooting had been completed, and Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell all stepped in to fill out what became a multiple-personality role. Shown out of competition, the film ended with an onscreen dedication to Heath.

Also screened yesterday was Drag Me to Hell, a comedy-infused horror movie by Spiderman director Sam Raimi, about a cursed loan officer tormented by the devil.

Shown on Wednesday, director Quentin Tarantino’s much-anticipated Inglourious Basterds premiered to mixed reviews. Set during World War II, the film stars Brad Pitt as the leader of a small group of Jewish-American soldiers sent out on a mission to terrorize and kill Nazis in occupied France.

With only two days of screenings left, the buzz now is about who might take the coveted Palme D’Or prize, to be awarded Sunday. Jacques Audiard’s The Prophet seems to be the strongest contender, but other films including Bright Star, Vincere and Antichrist are still in the running. The winner might just shock and surprise festival fans as much as some of the films have.

Read all our coverage of the 62nd Cannes Film Festival.