75th Cannes Film Festival | Triangle of Sadness wins the Palme d’Or

Rebellious wick and scathing humour, Swede Ruben Östlund has imposed his caustic eye and taste for satire in a handful of films, to the point of convincing the Cannes jury to award him a second Palme d’or on Saturday, with Triangle of Sadness.

five years later The SquareSwede Ruben Östlund won a second Palme d’or on Saturday in the 75^e Cannes Film Festival with Triangle of Sadnessan enjoyable satire of the super-rich and luxury, without a doubt the most entertaining film in the competition.

Euphoric on the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière, the Swede with a scathing humor joined, at 48, the very closed club of webbed doubles, including the Dardenne brothers and Ken Loach.

“The whole jury was extremely shocked by this film”, announced Vincent Lindon, the president of the jury.

“When we started this film, we had only one goal: to try to make a film that interests the public and makes them think provocatively,” said the Swede, receiving his award.

Triangle of Sadness follows the adventure of Yaya and Carl, a couple of models and influencers vacationing on a luxury cruise. A journey that turns to disaster.

In a kind of titanic reversed, where the weakest are not necessarily the losers, the film dissects the springs of class from top to bottom: the rich against the poor, but also men against women, and whites against blacks.

The director delivers an uncompromising critique of capitalism and its excesses.

Raised by a communist mother, defining himself as “socialist”, the Swede did not give in to the ease of “describing the rich as bad guys”, but rather to “understand their behavior”, he says.

After Play (2011), Tourist (2014) and The Square (2017), Ruben Östlund continues to dissect social conventions, petty cowardice and moral dilemmas.

In Triangle of Sadness, the cast is English-speaking: Östlund has mixed newcomers (the South African model Charlbi Dean, in particular) and confirmed actors, like the American Woody Harrelson. The latter excels as a coasting captain, letting his boat capsize while he drinks.

The Grand Prix, the second most prestigious distinction, was awarded ex aequo to Frenchwoman Claire Denis for Stars at noon and the Belgian Lukas Dhont, the youngest of the competition, for Close.

The film war pony about the intertwined destinies of two boys living on a Native American reservation won the Camera d’or at the 75^e Cannes Film Festival, which rewards a first film in all categories.

Presented at Un Certain regard, this first film is signed by Gina Gammel and Riley Kough, the granddaughter of Elvis Presley.

“I feel like I’m going to pass out. It’s one of the important films, special this year, it’s wonderful to be recognized as such. It’s been a dream for us since we were little girls,” said Gina Gammel, accepting the award on stage.

She dedicated it to one of the young actors who just lost his mother.

war pony follows the fate of 23-year-old Bill, struggling to make ends meet, and 12-year-old Matho, eager to become a man, living in an underprivileged neighborhood in South Dakota.

Iranian actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who had to leave Iran for France in 2008 following a sex scandal, won the Best Actress award for her role in Ali Abbasi’s thriller The nights of Mashhad.

The actress spoke in Farsi while receiving her award. “Tonight I feel like I had a very long journey to get here on this stage. […] a journey marked by humiliation,” she said, thanking France for having welcomed her.

In this thriller with David Fincher sauce in the land of the mullahs which recounts the assassination of prostitutes by a madman of God, she plays a journalist in search of truth, but confronted with the machismo of a patriarchal Iranian society.

“This film is about women, their bodies, this film is filled with hatred, hands, breasts, everything that cannot be shown in Iran. Thank you Ali Abassi for being so crazy, so generous. Thank you for such a powerful art,” she said, visibly moved.

South Korean actor Song Kang-ho, 55, won the Best Actor award for his role in The lucky stars by Japanese Hirokazu Kore-Eda.

Fetish actor of his compatriot Bong Joon-ho, and star of his film ParasitePalme d’or 2019, he plays in this Kore-eda film a man involved in baby trafficking, who will form a small family of odds and ends around him.

“I am very happy for my whole family,” he soberly declared when receiving his award at Cannes.

In the film, her debt-ridden character discovers an abandoned baby and volunteers to find her a new family, in exchange for money.