Cannes kicked off its annual frenzy of star-studded premieres, parties and provocative arthouse films with a gala screening of the Hollywood blockbuster “Robin Hood.” Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, who star as the legendary English outlaw and his love interest Lady Marian, strolled up the red carpet late Wednesday for a gala screening of the film by Ridley Scott. The festival jury led by Tim Burton took a swipe at Iran by leaving one chair symbolically empty for jailed Iranian director Jafar Panahi as they arrived on the stage for the opening ceremony in the festival palace. Panahi had been invited to join the jury but has been held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison since March, reportedly because he was making a film about the disputed 2009 Iranian presidential election. But controversy was unlikely to dim the star-power wattage of the 12-day festival due to host Sean Penn, Mick Jagger, Naomi Watts, Woody Allen and Jean-Luc Godard and a bevy of other A-list celebs. “Cannes is great glamour, great craziness. There's nothing like it in the world, not even the Oscars,” said British actress Helen Mirren as she arrived wearing an off-the-shoulder black sheath dress and diamond earrings. Thousands of star-watchers cheered as celebs like Eva Longoria, Bollywood beauty Aishawrya Rai-Bachchan, and Salma Hayek filed in to watch “Robin Hood,” whose director was unable to make Cannes because of a knee injury.
