Coming soon: the good and the Bad.

WITH FARE RANGING from the transvestite-loving Pedro Almodovar to the man-loving Cole Porter, the 2004 Cannes Film Festival was a treat for gay cineasts. Usually, the opening night movie is a dire affair, but after the disaster of 2003, organizers weren't taking any chances. The honor this year went to a genuine event, Almodovar's noirish melodrama Bad Education, with Gael Garcia Bernal looking divine in drag. Even more fun than file film was the party that followed, with drag queens performing, Bernal dancing, and Almodovar jumping onstage.

Druggie nihilism reared its head with Asia Argento's adaptation of The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, a series of autobiographical short stories by onetime male prostitute J.T. LeRoy. The film was pilloried by the critics, but no one could take issue with LeRoy's Andy Warhol-like appearance at the debut and his one-sentence speech: "Viva la revolucion!"

The hottest American indie at Cannes was Jonathan Caouette's documentary Tarnation. The movie shows him with Iris boyfriend calling his estranged father, who quickly asks if he's gay and says that if Jonathan has AIDS, he doesn't want to have anything to do with him. Still, Cauoette told Screen International, "At one of the American festivals I had some guy bring up the fact that I was gay, which is so beside the point."

But it's at least part of the point of closing night musical De-Lovely, with Kevin Kline as a very gay Cole Porter, who loves his wife of convenience (played by Ashley Judd) but sleeps with one man after another. No one took issue with the songs or the after-party, which featured pop stars like Robbie Williams crooning Porter classics on the beach. Maybe love wasn't for sale, but for one night at Cannes, pleasure at least was free.