Global Courant 2023-05-28 02:09:32
A suspenseful courtroom drama about a writer accused of her husband’s murder won the Palme d’Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, capping off a strong year for female directors.
French director Justine Triet took home the festival’s top prize on Saturday for the suspenseful and icy drama Anatomy of a Fall, led by a powerful performance from German actress Sandra Hueller.
Triet denounced President Emmanuel Macron’s government in its acceptance speech for its “suppression” of pension protests and its cultural policies.
“The commercialization of culture that this neoliberal government supports is breaking the French cultural exception, without which I wouldn’t be here today,” she said.
Anatomy of a Fall also featured a standout performance from “Messi” – the border collie who plays a central role in the film, and won the Palm Dog award the day before.
There was a record seven female under 21 entries to the Cannes competition this year, and many films feature complex female characters.
Hueller also starred in one of the competition’s most shocking films, The Zone of Interest, a gripping and unique look at the private life of a Nazi family in the Auschwitz concentration camp that won the second Grand Prix.
British cult director Jonathan Glazer’s film – his first in 10 years – never showed the horrors of the camp directly, but was implied by the unsettling background noises and small visual details.
Hueller chillingly portrays the Nazi commander’s wife, gleefully tending her garden and boasting that she is “the Queen of Auschwitz”.
Glazer thanked Martin Amis, the British novelist on whom the film was partly based, who died a week ago, just a day after the film’s premiere.
The jury of nine film professionals was led by last year’s winner Ruben Ostlund (Triangle of Sadness), and consisted of Hollywood stars Paul Dano and Brie Larson.
‘Fighting for her life’
Best Director went to Vietnam-born French filmmaker Tran Anh Hung for The Pot-au-Feu, a dazzling tribute to French cuisine that was loved by many international critics but seemed to leave many local pundits indifferent.
He thanked his star Juliette Binoche, saying she was “quite extraordinary in the film”.
Best Actor went to Japan’s Koji Yakusho for Perfect Days, who thanked German director Wim Wenders for creating “a magnificent character” with his touching tale of a toilet cleaner in Tokyo with a complex backstory.
There was a surprising choice for best actress in Turkey’s Merve Dizdar for About Dry Grasses, the last from previous Palme winner Nuri Bilge Ceylan.
She said she played “someone who fights for her life and has overcome many difficulties”.
“I live in a part of the country that allowed me to fully understand who she is,” she added.
Turkish actress Merve Dizdar gives a speech on stage after receiving the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, South France (Christophe Simon/AFP)
It was a fitting statement in a strong women’s year at Cannes.
Hollywood legend Jane Fonda, who awarded the Palme d’Or, remembered the first time she came to Cannes in 1963.
“There weren’t any female directors involved at the time and it didn’t even occur to us that there was anything wrong with that,” she said. “We’ve come a long way.”
‘Very honoured’
The third place jury prize went to Aki Kaurismaki for his sweet, deadpan and very Finnish film, Fallen Leaves, which garnered huge cheers from the festival goers.
The veteran director was not present, but his actors contributed a short message saying he was “deeply honored”.
The 76th edition of the world’s leading film gathering was a particularly glitzy affair, with world premieres for the new Indiana Jones and Martin Scorsese films playing out of competition.
Glazer received his award from Quentin Tarantino and 97-year-old director Roger Corman.
Corman’s performance was apt as the festival often felt like a retirement home in a dream, populated by older Hollywood male icons.
Harrison Ford, 80, cried as he received an honorary Pale d’Or ahead of the premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Martin Scorsese, also 80, said he was happy to stay out of the competition with his Native American epic, Killers of the Flower Moon, joking to AFP: “It’s time for others. I have to go. There are children around.”
European authors Ken Loach, 86, Marco Bellocchio, 83, and Victor Erice, 82, all brought new films to the festival.
