Cannes really is , is an international festival , and you really see world cinema , '' she said . `` This year , there are 52 films that are going to be represented , of which 20 are in competition . '' See Rozen talk about some of this year 's promising works '' Two of the films in competition are American : Quentin Tarantino 's World War II movie , `` Inglourious Basterds , '' and Ang Lee 's `` Taking Woodstock , '' a tale about the 1969 music festival . Tarantino told The New York Times that he 's been hoping to do a war movie for years . `` You 've got to make a movie about something , and I 'm a film guy , so I think in terms of genres , '' he said . However , the maker of `` Pulp Fiction '' and `` Jackie Brown '' added , that does n't mean what he ends up with resembles what he started with : `` It 's simply the spark that starts the fire . '' `` Inglourious Basterds '' was inspired by a 1978 Italian film that starred Bo
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The economic downturn may take its toll at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival , which opens Wednesday night . But as always , the show will go on . Eli Roth and Brad Pitt are men on a mission in Quentin Tarantino 's `` Inglourious Basterds . '' Studios are cutting back on parties and all the glitz that goes with them , according to news reports . Moreover , there will be fewer people around to cover Cannes , as news organizations around the world trim costs . -LRB- Several , in fact , have tightened up by eliminating their movie reviewers . -RRB- Nevertheless , those who attend may see a bumper crop of good and intriguing films , Variety 's Jay Weissberg told Reuters . `` We 've all been hoping Cannes would pull something out of the bag to make us feel good again . On paper , they have . '' Leah Rozen , film critic for People magazine , said there are several promising contenders for the Palme d'Or , Cannes ' top prize , as well as a number of notable movies premiering out of competition . `` What