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Julia Ducournau becomes the second woman to win a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival (Photo: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images) |
French director Julie Ducournau is only the second woman to scoop the prize, for a movie that was one of the wildest, sexiest and most violent ever shown at the Cannes film festival.
It tells the story of a young woman who has
sex with cars, kills without a care, and pretends to be a boy despite being
pregnant by a vintage Cadillac.
Lee, the first black man to lead the jury,
read out the winner at the very start of the prize section, rather than
introducing the first award of the night for best actor.
After an awkward pause and regrouping, the
best actor award was given to US actor Caleb Landry Jones for his chilling
performance in “Nitram” about Australia’s worst mass shooting.
Making a film about the Port Arthur
massacre in 1996, in which 35 people died, triggered harsh criticism of
director Justin Kurzel in Australia.
But critics were won over at the Cannes
premiere, with Variety calling it a “devastating study of atrocity” that shows
“quiet respect for the victims’ dignity”.
It was a huge night, too, for the
previously unknown Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve, who was rocketed to
stardom by her role in “Worst Person in the World”.
Her role as a twenty-something searching
for her identity and pinballing through relationships was a sensation and
caught the 33-year-old totally unprepared.
“No one has seen me in anything,” she told
AFP after the premiere. “The other day I woke up and I puked. And today I woke
up and I cried.”
Sorry for ‘messing up’
When it finally became time to announce the
Palme d’Or for real, Lee said: “I apologise for messing up.”
But then he almost fluffed the presentation
again by announcing the winner rather than presenter Sharon Stone, by which
point Ducournau was giggling in the audience.
She still broke into tears when the
official announcement was made, and told the crowd: “This evening has been perfect
because it’s been imperfect.
“Thank you for letting the monsters in.”
The only other woman to win the top prize
is Jane Campion for “The Piano” in 1993.
Other winners on the night included Leos
Carax for “Annette”, the flamboyant rock opera starring Adam Driver and Marion
Cotillard, and written by eccentric Los Angeles pop duo Sparks.
The second-prize Grand Prix was shared
between Iran’s two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi (“A Hero”) and Finland’s
Juho Kuosmanen (“Compartment No.6”), while best screenplay went to Japan’s
Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Takamasa Oe for “Drive My Car”.
The race had been wide open this year, with
critics pointing to many possible successors to “Parasite”, the South Korean
hit which took home the last Palme in 2019 before making history by triumphing
at the Oscars.
Last year’s festival was cancelled because
of the pandemic.
The jury members watched a lot of sex this
year, from lesbian nuns in Paul Verhoeven’s salacious “Benedetta” to a porn
star returning to small-town Texas in “Red Rocket”, which scored well with
critics
Spit tests
There were doubts early in the festival
about the Covid logistics, with some festival-goers grossed out by the spit
tests required every 48 hours, and criticism on social media over unmasked
attendees in the cinemas at early premieres.
Restrictions were tightened, partying
scaled back, and even though the stars couldn’t quite keep themselves from hugs
and kisses on the red carpet, the festival appeared to pass without a major
outbreak.
But there was still plenty of star power.
Tilda Swinton was ubiquitous on the red
carpet, appearing in five films of the official selection.
She starred in “Memoria” by Thailand’s
former Palme winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul, which shared the third-place
jury prize with “Ahed’s Knee” by Israel’s Nadav Lapid.
But Swinton was clear that her proudest
moment was receiving the Palm Dog award on behalf of her three spaniels, who
appeared with her in “The Souvenir Part 2”.
“Honestly, this is the prize to get,” she
said at Friday’s canine ceremony, as she tied the red collar prize around her
neck.
AFP