CANNES FILM FESTIVAL: THE 10 MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS IN OUR OPINION, AND WHY

The 2014 Cannes Film Festival, from 14 to 25 May, presents a very rich program, including official competition, section A certain regard and films out of competition. As we have told you here, there are many films and stars expected, but here we want to point out the ten films that we are looking forward to the most, the ones that we can't wait to see, for one reason or another. We tell you about them below.

1. Grace of Monaco

Played by a gorgeous Nicole Kidman and directed by star biographies specialist Olivier Dahan, who had already chronicled Edith Piaf's life in La vie en rose, Grace of Monaco tells the difficult years of the former Hollywood diva, tempted by a return on the scene but imprisoned in court life.

Why we care: for the life of Grace Kelly, for the interpretation of Nicole Kidman, and why not, for all the period dresses and jewels on display.

2. Saint Laurent

2014 was a very curious year for the figure of Yves Saint Laurent, who passed away in 2008. Two films have been shot about him, the first has already been released in Italy, and we told you about it here, with the interview to director Jalil Lespert. The one in competition at Cannes instead sparked several controversies: it was in fact disavowed by Pierre Bergé, a powerful French character, historical companion of Saint Laurent, who instead baptized Lespert's film. Saint Laurent by Bertrand Bonello, in competition at Cannes, sees Gaspard Ulliel in the role of couturier, and the participation of Léa Seydoux and Jérémie Renier, the most admired young talents in France in recent years.

Why we are interested: to find the differences with Lespert's film, and to understand the reason for the controversy.

3. Maps to the stars

David Cronenberg is now an almost permanent presence at the Cannes Film Festival. His disturbing films have changed their style a lot, since the days of Videodrome, but even with a new, almost Hollywood-like patina, they never cease to disturb. In Maps to the stars acidly tells a Hollywood family and the characters that revolve around them, including a "neurotic actress (Julianne Moore) and an aspiring actor limo driver (Robert Pattinson, who returns with Cronenberg after Cosmopolis).

Why we care: for the story about Hollywood and its obsessions ... and for the sex scene in a limo between Julianne Moore and Robert Pattinson.

4. The wonders

Alice Rohrwacher is the only Italian director competing in the official selection (besides Asia Argento with his Misunderstood in the section A certain regard). His film, The wonders, takes advantage of the presence of his sister, Alba Rohrwacher, and Monica Bellucci. It is the story of a family that lives in close contact with nature, whose life is about to change radically with the entry of two destabilizing characters in their own way. A contemporary fairy tale?

Why we are interested: because it seems a very atypical story, from the appreciated director of Corpo celeste, and to see two very different, almost opposite actresses on stage together: Rohrwacher and Bellucci.

5. Clouds of Sils Maria

Clouds of Sils Maria is the story of a famous actress, now advanced in years, who sees the role that earned her fame played by a young actress, while she is offered the role of the old mother of the protagonist.The sense of decadence and the memory of the past will lead her to take refuge with her faithful assistant in Sils Maria. What looks like a Eve versus Eve in an intellectual key it could be a surprise, because the director is Olivier Assayas and above all because the cast is all star: Juliette Binoche plays the diva, Kristen Stewart is her faithful assistant, while Chloë Grace Moretz is the young actress ready to replace Binoche in the spotlight.

Why we care: It looks like an intriguing rivalry game that could come off the screen and materialize on the red carpet

6. The captive

Canadian director Atom Egoyan returns to talk about mysteries with a thriller: in Ontario a little girl mysteriously disappears, and in the following eight years of research, the lives of all those who revolve around her change irremediably. The desperate dad is Ryan Reynolds, the investigator on the hunt for the child is Rosario Dawson.

Why We Care: To see how Ryan Reynolds and Rosario Dawson fare in a challenging role.

7. Deux jours, une nuit

Marion Cotillard is the protagonist of the film in competition by the Dardenne brothers, who have always been attentive to the hard world of work and realism. In Two days, one night, Cotillard is Sandra, who must convince her co-workers to forgo their bonus in order for her to keep her job. Will solidarity or selfishness prevail these days?

Why we are interested: to see Marion Cotillard, always very good, in action in a film that is all too current.

8. Misunderstood

Asia Argento returns to be a director with a story that seems autobiographical: a little girl desperately seeks the affection of her two parents, who seem to have completely different interests. The two protagonists are Charlotte Gainsbourg and Gabriel Garko, while the girl is played by Giulia Salerno.

Why we are interested: for the presence of "another daughter of art from" atypical childhood, Charlotte Gainsbourg, for Gabriel Garko for once away from television screens, and for the bizarre cast, among which the singer Max Gazzè stands out.

9. Lost river

Ryan Gosling's directorial debut immediately wins the competition in the section A certain regard. The film suddenly changed its title, the initial one was How to catch a monster, and tells the life of a single mother who changes radically when her son discovers a secret way to a utopian world under the water. A mysterious and almost fairytale plot that cannot fail to attract attention.

Why we care: for Gosling's directorial debut, for the presence in the cast of his partner (or ex?), Eva Mendes, and because the protagonist mother is played by Christina Hendricks, the curvy secretary of Mad Men.

10. Eleanor Rigby

Ned Benson's film, in competition in the section A certain regard, tells the love story of a married couple from New York from two separate points of view: his (James McAvoy) and hers (Jessica Chastain). It was presented in separate chapters at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival, but in Cannes it comes as a single film in two chapters.

Why we care: it looks like a love story that experiences from the point of view of the structure, and remembers for this film how Sliding doors or 500 days together. And then there is the talented Jessica Chastain ...