This year the Festival did not highlight any specific film, which gave the jury the freedom to choose. In the end, I find the choices of the Almodovar team quite relevant.
The Palme d’Or for The Square, the Swedish film by Ruben Östlund, is judicious as it rewards an original work in a rather conventional selection. This funny and iconoclastic film had everything to charm the jury president. The Swedish political correctness, but also that of our Western societies more broadly, is cheerfully put through the wringer. With some future cult scenes to boot: the cultural journalist who understands nothing about contemporary art, the simian actor who snaps, the child who explodes…
The Grand Prix of the jury (actually the silver medal) for 120 Beats per Minute by Robert Campillo is logical for a dual work: a documentary-style view from inside the AIDS years and a heart-wrenching love story.
The Best Director award (the bronze medal) for The Beguiled by Sofia Coppola, one of the films I pointed out on this blog (along with the previous two), is also logical.
Diane Kruger’s performance (also noted live on this blog) in the German film In the Fade as a woman and mother of attack victims deserves the Best Actress award. While Nicole Kidman was omnipresent (which will justify a special jury prize), her roles did not particularly highlight her. However, due to a broken foot, we didn’t watch the film that led to Joaquin Phoenix being honored.
In reality, the award list inspires only two (small) regrets for me:
• The underrepresentation of the two superb Russian films, with a mere jury prize for Loveless by Andrey Zvyagintsev and nothing at all for the flamboyant A Gentle Creature by Sergei Loznitsa.
• The curious Best Screenplay award for The Killing of a Sacred Deer by Yorgos Lanthimos, a film not lacking in quality but whose screenplay I mentioned as… shaky. This thriller film dissipates all suspense in its first third.
See you next year!
Patrick Mottard
