Andy Garcia’s long-gestating passion project “Diamond” earned a warm seven-minute long standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday night, bringing a dose of old-school Hollywood glamour to the Croisette with a sprawling ensemble cast led by Vicky Krieps and Rosemarie DeWitt, who were on hand for the premiere.
Garcia was visibly moved as he grabbed the mic and said, “The greatest reward that anyone could have as a director is to have colleagues like Dustin and Bill, and Yul Vazquez, and LaTanya Richardson, and Brendan Fraser, and Demián Bichir, and Rachel Ticotin. They come and bless your movie. That is one’s greatest reward, when people you admire, you look up to, you’re inspired by, trust you, and want to play in your world for a little bit. And without their support and without their inspiration, this would not be the film that it is.”
Garcia was shedding a few tears as he concluded, “It’s such an extraordinary privilege. As some of you might know, this has been a 20-year journey. And I couldn’t think of a more sacred place than to be here — the place where film noir was first coined — to share this very personal journey with the festival community. We all grow up with a dream, I can tell you that. And to share with young people out there who have dreams: there’s no great obstacle that can’t be overcome by a dream. So follow your dream. Keep falling forward. As my father would always say, never take a step backward — not even to gain momentum.”
Premiering out of competition, the contemporary L.A.-set noir marks Garcia’s return behind the camera for his third feature directorial effort following the 1993 documentary “Cachao… Como Su Ritmo No Hay Dos” and 2005’s “The Lost City.”
The movie stars Garcia as Joe Diamond, a mysterious man haunted by a traumatic past whose uncanny powers of observation allow him to solve crimes that leave the LAPD baffled. Armed with razor-sharp wit and instincts reminiscent of classic gumshoe detectives, Diamond navigates a contemporary noir world infused with old Hollywood sensibilities. Garcia wrote and directed the film, as well as co-composed the score alongside Arturo Sandoval.
The cast is completed by Bill Murray, Dustin Hoffman, Brendan Fraser, Oscar nominated actor Demián Bichir (“A Better Life,” “The Hateful Eight”), Danny Huston (“Succession”), Paul Soriano, LaTanya Richardson Jackson (“The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey”), Yul Vazquez (“Severance”), Robert Patrick (“Terminator 2”) and Rachel Ticotin (“The Act”).
“Diamond” has been nearly 15 years in the making and is described as a love letter to Los Angeles and an homage to the great noir films of the past. The movie shot in L.A. at iconic locations including the Bradbury Building and the Paramour Estate.
The premiere marks Garcia’s first appearance at Cannes since “Ocean’s Thirteen” bowed on the Croisette in 2007. Earlier in his career, Garcia also came to the festival with “Things To Do in Denver When You’re Dead,” which played in Un Certain Regard in 1995.
