All 21 movies in competition at Cannes, ranked from worst to best

CANNES, France — I saw all 21 films playing in competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and as you might guess, many were good, a couple were great and a few were mystifyingly terrible. It's worth noting that few were as moving or satisfyingly accomplished as "Close Your Eyes," the first picture in several years from the 82-year-old Spanish master Víctor Erice ("The Spirit of the Beehive"). An exquisite tale of cinema, memory and aging, "Close Your Eyes" would have been a worthy addition to the competition lineup; it was instead relegated to Cannes Premiere, a noncompetitive sidebar that this year presented new work by other established filmmakers including Takeshi Kitano ("Kubi"), Katell Quillévéré ("Along Came Love") and Lisandro Alonso ("Eureka").

The festival's treatment of Erice is especially glaring, given its fondness for programming revered masters in competition, sometimes to the neglect of newer talent; Ken Loach, 86, and Marco Bellocchio, 83, have competed numerous times and are doing so again this year. Erice, for his part, hasn't stayed quiet: He skipped his movie's Cannes premiere and published an open letter accusing the festival's director, Thierry Frémaux, of not being transparent or communicative about the selection process. (According to his letter, Erice was less bothered by his placement than by how late he was notified, which kept him from potentially taking "Close Your Eyes" to another section or even another festival.)

Filmmakers grumble privately about their Cannes placements every year but rarely voice such concerns publicly, probably for fear of festival retaliation. Erice clearly has no such qualms; a festival spokesperson did respond, expressing "surprise" at the director's complaints. In any event, I hope you'll get to see "Close Your Eyes" in a theater, and also some of the better movies that actually did make it into competition.

Here they are, ranked