The Cannes Film Festival has started with a more muted tone than usual, with fewer A-list Hollywood celebrities on the red carpet and politics largely absent from the opening ceremony speeches.

Elijah Wood walked the carpet on Tuesday ahead of presenting New Zealand Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson with an honorary Palme d'Or for lifetime achievement.

Others on the carpet included model Heidi Klum, legendary actor Joan Collins and Indian film star Alia Bhatt.

This year's jury, including Oscar-nominated actors Demi Moore and Stellan Skarsgard, also walked the red carpet into the plush 2300-seat Grand Lumiere Theatre ahead of the screening of opening film The Electric Kiss, a French-language romantic comedy.

Jackson, 64, recalled how he brought a clip from his first Rings film to Cannes 25 years ago in a bid to win over an audience sceptical of his decision to shoot the entire trilogy simultaneously.

"It was a huge gamble," he recalled.

The bet paid off, with the critically and commercially successful series winning 17 Oscars and making nearly $US3 billion ($A4.1 billion) in revenue.

"The Palme d'Or is something I never ever thought I would win ever, because I don't make Palme d'Or sort of films," he said.

Wood, who was only 18 when filming on the first Rings film began, recalled that the day he heard that he got the lead role of Frodo would divide his life into a before and after.

"I'm far from the only person whose life has been changed by Peter Jackson," he said.

Neither Jackson nor Wood discussed politics. Last year's recipient, Hollywood icon Robert De Niro, used his speech to call for protests against US President Donald Trump.

The only political nod came from Jane Fonda, the longtime activist, who appeared on stage with Gong Li, one of China's best-known actors, to declare the festival officially open.

"Jane comes from the West, I come from the East. Tonight we stand together here. This is the magic of Cannes," said Gong.

Fonda used her stage time to celebrate cinema as an act of resistance.

"I believe in the power of voices, voices on the screen, voices off the screen, and definitely voices on the street, especially now," she said, to applause.

"Let's celebrate audacity, freedom and the fierce act of creation."