The big arrival yesterday, (Day 2) was Daniel Day-Lewis, here to plug his latest, the highly touted oil tycoon drama, “There Will Be Blood”. Today, Sunday, day number three, the conference hall was festooned with the appearance in the flesh of smouldering dark haired beauty, Penelope Cruz, the Spanish star being accompanied by hairless British actor Ben Kingsley, and Catalan femme director Isabel Coixet, representing the competition film “Elegy” in which Ben and Pen are the improbable focus of love interest. At the press conference table seated next to each other they comprised a remarkable visual contrast as Penelope has an amazing pile of brown hair topping off her delicate features that looks almost like a haystack – enough hair to easily cover two heads, whereas Sir Kingsley (he has been knighted and the word “sir” was clearly printed on the name card in front of him) was sporting a completely shaved crown with not even a strand or two at the neck – the Cueball and the Haystack. 

Sir Ben looking no different than he did as Ghandi, the role for which he won the Best Actor Academy Award, 1982, was quite straightforward but discrete in answering questions regarding his feelings for his beauteous younger co-star.  “We create characters who love each other on the screen and as characters we do – aside from the fact that working together intently on the film over a period of time creates a certain feeling of intimacy among all of us” (nodding towards Ms. Coixet, who nods her agreement).  All I can say is, ‘nice work if you can get it’.  Penelope spoke slightly accented but clear coherent English and exhibited a lively, engaging personality.  No shrinking violet she. Giant illuminated images of her glowing physiognomy and big brown eyes are all over the place these days, around Potsdamer Square and everywhere else as well it seems, as Ms. Cruz is this year’s Oréal icon.  It was actually kind of sobering to see that in the flesh she is just a rather petite, nice-looking young lady with an incredible mass of hair on her head who could have been in my ninth grade class in Jr. High.

Come to think of it, incidentally, Jagger was also knighted (2003) so that, even if nobody goes around calling him “Sir Mick”  that still does make two authentic “sirs” in three days here, which is a record not too many film festivals can boast of.  This is just the beginning of the fest and more screen Divas are expected to show as the days roll buy. Personally, I’m hoping to lay eyes on Scarlett Johannson who plays Ann Boleyn’s sister (opposite Natalie Portman) in “The Other Boleyn Girl” scheduled for a world premier here on the 15th.  Other upcoming films of interest in competition or non-competition special slots include; “Fireflies in the Garden” with Julia Roberts and Willem Dafoe,  “French director Robert Guédiguian’s “Lady Jane” which is a gritty socio-drama but has oblique references to the Stones’ song of the same name, and a new Mike Leigh film called “Happy Go Lucky”.