"Our Man in Cannes" - Tom Linay at the 66th annual Festival de Cannes - Day Five

My penultimate film watching day in Cannes was notable for two things: I caught a brief glimpse of Marion Cotillard and Zoe Saldana as they arrived for the press conference for their new film, Blood Ties, which is screening out of competition. From what I could tell, both were wearing great dresses, which is the least you'd expect, I guess. The other notable thing was I saw a man walking around with two small pigs on leads. He was accompanied by another man who was singing a song on guitar that seemed to be called 'I Love My Pig'. I'd like to say this was unusual but after five days in Cannes, it isn't.

On the film watching front, bad news. I was beaten by the queues for the new Coen brothers film and left outside Llewyn Davis. The swathe of five star reviews published on Sunday amped up the anticipation levels across the festival and despite arriving seventy five minutes ahead of time for the main screening, I was unable to get in.

However, I did manage to catch a few smaller titles of varying degrees of quality. The pick of the bunch was gentle Japanese comedy-drama, Like Father, Like Son. Being talked of as an outside bet for the big prize, it tells the story of two families, who six years after both wives gave birth are informed there was a mix up at the hospital and they have raised each others sons. Despite the tragic premise a great deal of humour is rung from it and it features some of the best and most naturalistic child performances I've ever seen. It may well be the best film I've seen here so far and has already been picked up for a UK release (date TBC).

Also from Japan but at the other end of the quality spectrum was Shield Of Straw. A thriller about a group of police officers who have to protect a child killer who has a billion yen bounty placed on his head by the super-rich grandfather of one of his victims. I won't dwell on it but when you're a director as prolific and daring as Takeshi Miike (Audition, 13 Assassins), you're bound to have the odd misfire now and then.

My favourite film from last year's Cannes was the raw and brutal romance, Rust & Bone. Grand Central can reasonably claim to be this year's Rust & Bone and should reach UK cinemas. Tahar Rahim (A Prophet) and Lea Seydoux (Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol) play two employees at a nuclear power station who embark on a clandestine affair. The power station provides a novel backdrop and the occupational hazards it provides help heighten the tension. Rahim and Seydoux are two of France's hottest actors and their performances are terrific.

Finally, screening in "The Market" (the area of the festival where film makers look for potential buyers) was American independent comedy, The English Teacher. With a strong cast including Julianne Moore, Greg Kinnear and Lily Collins, it was slight but nicely played and similar in feel to the classic, Election.

Tomorrow is my last full day at the festival and I am already preparing to leave the bizarre Cannes shaped bubble I find myself in. Rather annoyingly most of the big American titles are premiering after I leave but as is often the case, we can most likely look forward to a few of them screening at the excellent BFI London Film Festival in October.