Show Business: Revolution on the Riviera

For more than two decades, movie men have huffed and puffed onto the Côte d'Azur once a year to promote their wares at the International Film Festival at Cannes. Then they have gone home, leaving behind vast sums of money, countless Cuban cigar butts and occasional trend-setting films—Marty, One Potato Two Potato, Easy Rider. This year the trend was to revolution. "Right now," explained Producer Irwin Winkler, "we live in a time when revolution is a very salable commodity."

Serious film makers are usually at odds with moneymen, and this year's emphasis on youthful...