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The first thing I knew about Cannes, back when I was still pronouncing theS, was theboos.
It didnt matter how famous, or how French, you were.
No one was safe.
The second thing I knew about Cannes was thestanding ovations.
Analyzing the length of each ovation became the Cannes equivalent of whipping out the ol tape measure.
Did you hearRed Rocketgot a five-minute standing O?
Thats nothing,The French Dispatchgot a wholeneuf!
I always found this dichotomy mystifying, in the way that others subcultures often are.
How do we square these seemingly incontrovertible facts?
But they are occurring in different social contexts.
A Cannes premiere is usually a world premiere.
This is the first time these movies are being seen by anyone who didnt work on them.
(Although only at Cannes is that footage then projected onto a Jumbotron.)
A hearty round of applause is only good manners.
In my experience, four minutes seems to be the bare minimum.
Five minutes is mixed.
Six is we liked it.
Real enthusiasm probably kicks in around seven minutes or so.
The boos, by contrast, almost always occur not in the tony premieres but in the press screenings.
The premieres take place in the cavernous Grand Auditorium Louis Lumiere, a place to see and be seen.
Press screenings are usually smaller, darker affairs.
Since everyone feels a little more anonymous, theres aMystery Science Theatervibe.
Journalists will jeer, whistle, and, of course, boo.
But theyre certainly rowdier and usually more fun.
Experienced Cannes attendees can detect subtle nuances in the timbre of each negative reaction.
A boo could mean many different things, This movie stinks being just one.
For venerated filmmakers, boos function as a critical memento mori.
The subtext is Weve praised you enough; now its time to keep your ego in check.
Even worse than boos for a filmmaker are whistles.
Booing, people are really angry.
Whistling, theyre just bored, says director Michel Hazanvicius, whose movieThe Searchreceived such a reactionin 2014.
But the nadir is probably laughs.
Bear this difference in mind when you read the festival-reaction stories out of the Croisette in the coming weeks.
And its something I wish Id known my first few times at the festival.
