Leave it up to Steven Spielberg to help bring the Cannes Film Festival into the world spotlight again. Having Nicole Kidman, Ang Lee, Christoph Waltz, Lynn Ramsay, Cristian Mungiu, Daniel Auteuil, Vidya Balan, and Naomi Kawase as his back-up also worked.
Blue is the Warmest Colour was the "unprecedented" winner, not only earning the prestigious Palme d'Or for director Abdellatif Kechiche but also a honorary Palme to its two actresses, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux. This special commendation was seen to be an avoidance of repeating last year's major development of awarding both of the two female leads of Beyond the Hills the Best Actress prize. The French film galvanized critics and viewers with its frank, unsimulated lesbian sex scenes, one going for a full ten minutes that had its audiences applauding. It had perfect timing with the current turmoil in France (which one?) over the issue of same-sex marriage, which became legalized on May 17. The film was also noteworthy for featuring one of the longest running times of the festival (187 minutes!). Like another acclaimed French epic Mesrine, the film is technically comprised of two chapters, under its original title La Vie d'Adèle. Whether it is to be cut or kept as a whole, the film is deeply expected by the press to be a major Oscar contender. Because a privileged award from Los Angeles is far more important than a ultra-competitive accomplishment.
The Grand Prix, the silver medal for international filmmakers, was given to another favorite, Inside Llewyn Davis from the Coen Brothers. Led by the ready-to-breakthrough Oscar Issac as a young folk singer roaming through quirky characters and scenarios in New York, the film earned many raves.
The bronze and special mention award, the Jury Prize went to Like Father, Like Son from Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda. Still riding on the acclaim from Nobody Knows and last year's I Wish, the feature pulls a Switched at Birth to wring out cheap tears.
Best Director went to Amat Escalante for Heli; a bit odd considering the film had one of the lowest scores from the critics (1.6 out of 4 on the Screen chart), most which said the film was too depressing/violent and had no appeal beyond art and film festival theaters.
A Touch of Sin, written and directed by Jia Zhangke, won Best Screenplay. It tells of four separate stories from the four provinces of contemporary China, all ending with harsh consequences. Looks promising.
Bérénice Bejo, the popular actress of The Artist and the OSS 117 films, received Best Actress for The Past, the major follow-up of A Separation's Asghar Farhadi. Seen as the early front-runner, the French(?) film with its Sophie's Choice title (and Kramer vs. Kramer plot to keep the Streep counter going) had many critics fawning.
70's Hollywood star turned character actor Bruce Dern was awarded Best Actor for Alexander Payne's Nebraska. The black and white cinematography and cast of non-professional actors must have helped. Kidding aside, I'm a fan of the underrated Dern and hope the film is better than its generic Hallmark plotline of a dementia-stricken father and son road-tripping. I also pray that it can bring Payne back to my good graces after The Descendants.
They all can't be winners though. Next to the controversy of Blue was the sheer hypocritical dilemma with ultra-violence; Heli and A Touch of Sin got all of the cheers but Takashi Miike's Shield of Straw and Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives got harsh reception (1.3 and 1.5 respectively). The latter got the most press here in the States due to the presence of Ryan Gosling in the film but not at the film's premiere. Of course, violence in a film is only a useful tool when applied properly, which many critics didn't agree with or see. However, to counterpoint, Cannes critics aren't always 100% correct with their early judgments, as many booed films survive with time and become cult classics and/or masterpieces (Taxi Driver, Wild at Heart, Crash, Tropical Malady). I still have high hopes for Forgives and think I might be in the exception. I will also say that I am interested in catching Straw, a police drama where a pack of cops must safely transport a child killer to Tokyo while contending with those who wish to collect the bounty placed on his head by the victim's family.
Behind the Candelabra, the Liberace biopic deemed the last film for a while from Steven Soderbergh, had many picking Michael Douglas to earn Best Actor, though he can now wipe away his solace once the Emmys and Golden Globes come a-calling. The Immigrant has Oscar contention for previous winner Marion Cotillard as the titled character who's reluctant to prostitute herself to remain in 1920's America. Jim Jarmusch's offbeat vampire comedy Only Lovers Left Alive looks to be a sleeper art hit. Roman Polanski's Venus in Fur will sure to get a limited release. Equally named but tonally different The Great Beauty and Young and Beautiful had some nice claps; the former is an Italian, Fellini-esque satire while the latter was the other French coming of age fare involving a young woman. Michael Kohlhaas did okay sliding in at the end, with most of the acclaim going to star Mads Mikkelsen.
As for the failures and forgettables: A Castle in Italy had nearly everybody cursing the name of the egotistical, triple-threat Valeria Bruni Tedeschi; Grigris was a disposable African film (what a shocker!); Borgman was too gonzo; finally, Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian was the strangest and the most laughable, with Benicio del Toro as the titled individual. Apparently, director Arnaud Desplechin was afraid of hiring an actual Native American actor.
Out of the main competition and/or in Un Certain Regard: The Missing Picture won the top prize; All Is Lost, the follow-up of Margin Call's J.C. Chandor, had many interested in its Robert Redford-starring, minimalist survival plot; Fruitvale Station continued to hype up; The Bling Ring had some harsh notices; James Franco's As I Lay Dying had it far worst; Stranger by the Lake delivered the frank gay sex scenes and walked away with the Queer Palm; and Claire Denis premiered Bastards.
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