‘ROBIN HOOD” IS CANNES OPENER

The 63rd edition of the Cannes Film Festival got underway Wednesday night with a screening of Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, starring Cate Blanchett and Russell Crowe. The film is not entered in the competition for the festival’s Palme d’Or. At a news conference prior to the screening producer Brian Grazer remarked that the screening at Cannes gives the film a prestigious launch before the world’s press. (Some 3,000 journalists are covering the festival.) “It’s very important. You have an opportunity to capture the whole world’s attention at a single moment,” he said. But it’s a risky proposition, particularly if the critical reaction is poor, as it has been. (See the separate synopsis of reviews.) Most reviewers have commented that the Robin Hood in this movie bears little resemblance to the one of lore. The film’s star, Russell Crowe, seemed only to hand them additional ammunition when he told the news conference, “Whatever you think you’ve been told about Robin Hood is a previously understandable mistake.” Later, in an apparent effort to make the film sound more relevant, he commented, “In my view, if Robin was alive today, he’d be looking at the monopolizations of the media.”