After all that debate about their visibility and reach, Sony Pictures Classics made a pretty conspicuous pair of purchases this afternoon at Cannes: Michael Haneke's WWI-era mystery The White Ribbon and the lush, closing-night biopic Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky.
Ribbon is Haneke's first original film since his 2005 Cannes entry Cache (unless you count his '07 Funny Games remake, but let's just not, OK?), which SPC also released in the States. ""We have been pursuing The White Ribbon since it was a kernel of an idea in Michael Haneke's mind," co-presidents Tom Bernard and Michael Barker said in a statement. "We are convinced this is his masterwork."
Coco and Igor, meanwhile, features model Anna Mouglalis and Mads Mikkelsen (pictured) as the eponymous fashion legend and composer, who undertake an affair in 1920's Paris. "Jan Kounen's exceptional independent film is about the nature of inspiration and the havoc surrounding the great art it creates," the SPC kingpins said in another statement minutes after Ribbon's. Way to stay busy, gentlemen, and congrats to all.