La Presse at the 76th Cannes Film Festival | The Palme d’Or for Anatomy of a Fall

(Cannes) By awarding the supreme reward to Anatomy of a fall, the jury crowned one of the festival-goers’ favorite films and at the same time consecrated a female director for the third time in the history of the festival. Under the leadership of President Ruben Östlund, the nine jurors announced a consensual list of winners. Or almost.

The three big favorites of the festival-goers were rewarded at their fair value at the closing ceremony of the 76^e Cannes film festival. Anatomy of a fall, a formidable legal drama by Justine Triet, leaves with the prestigious Palme d’Or; the Grand Prix, in second place on the honor roll, was awarded to the chilling The Zone of Interest, by Jonathan Glazer, and Dead leavesby Aki Kaurismäki, probably the most endearing film in the selection, won the jury prize.

During a press conference held after the ceremony, President Ruben Östlund, himself winner of the Palme last year thanks to Triangle of Sadness (Without filter), did not really want to explain how the decisions were made. “We had a lot of discussions and everyone agreed to recognize that the selection was very strong, he contented himself with saying. All of these films were concerned with drawing the viewer along with them. This is exactly what cinema should be. And I hope they will all be entitled to great careers. »

A thrilling legal drama

Eleventh French Palme d’Or in the history of the festival, and only the third awarded to a director after Jane Campion (The Piano in 1993) and Julia Ducournau (Titanium in 2021), Anatomy of a fall, by Justine Triet, is a legal drama in which we try to recreate the circumstances of the fatal fall of a man after having fought from the upper floor of the chalet he occupies with his family not far from Grenoble . But this fall, we will learn over the elements revealed throughout an exciting investigation, is also that of the couple he formed with his wife of German origin (Sandra Hüller). Added to the case is the surgical dissection of a couple’s relationship. The American company Neon has acquired the distribution rights for this feature film, which Entract Films will relay in Quebec.

Visibly upset, Justine Triet, to whom we owe in particular The Battle of Solferino And Sybil, took the opportunity to discuss the protest movements that have shaken France for months because of the pension reform imposed by the government. “This historic, hugely powerful and unanimous protest is shockingly denied and suppressed,” she said. All this breaks out in several aspects of society and the cinema is no exception. The commodification of culture is breaking up a French cultural exception without which I wouldn’t be here. I dedicate this Palme to all the young directors who are unable to film. I was able to find my place 15 years ago in a slightly less hostile world, where it was still possible to make mistakes and start over. »

A standing ovation for Sandra Hüller

The Zone of Interest, winner of the Grand Prize, is this drama in which a Nazi commander, responsible for the operations of the Auschwitz camp, dreams of his small life in the suburbs with his family while the gas chambers belch their smoke right next door. The International Critics’ Prize was also awarded to him. On the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière, Jonathan Glazer paid tribute to Martin Amis, the recently deceased author, whose novel inspired the film.

The two feature films that won the highest distinctions have one actress in common: Sandra Hüller. A rule preventing the jury from awarding more than one prize to the same production meant that the actress could not get her hands on an interpretation prize (this choice would have been completely justified for one or the other of his two performances), but the public at the Lumière nevertheless gave him a nice ovation. To everyone’s surprise (and that of the winner!), this prize went instead to Merve Dizdar, magnificent in dry herbs, a film by Nuri Bilge Ceylan in which she plays a supporting role. “I dedicate this prize to all the women who, like Nuray [le prénom du personnage qu’elle joue]struggle to exist in this world and who keep hope,” she said.

As for the jury prize, the third in the hierarchy of the awards, it went to the melancholic comedy by Aki Kaurismäki, Dead leaves. The Finnish filmmaker being absent, the two main actors of his film, Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen, read a message that the filmmaker sent them: “I am deeply honored to have participated in this festival which continues to bring the movie theater. thanks and Twist & Shout! »

Seven films on the honor roll

Perfect Days, which marks the fine return to fiction by Wim Wenders, earned its superb actor, Kōji Yakusho, the prize for best actor. The latter, seen in particular in films by Shohei Imamura (including eel Palme d’Or in 1997), also in babel(Alejandro González Iñárritu), brilliantly portrays a man who has found new meaning in his life by working to clean public toilets in Tokyo. This feature film also won the favor of the Ecumenical Prize jury.

The passion of Dodin Bouffanta film with Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel celebrating the art of loving and the art of cooking, won Tran Anh Hùng the prize for best director, and Monster , by Hirokazu Kore-eda, was awarded thanks to the screenplay, written by Sakamoto Yuji. It should be noted that this very beautiful film also obtained the Queer Palm on Friday, awarded to a production dealing with subjects related to the LGBTQ+ community.

In all, seven feature films are on the honor roll, leaving several big names on the sidelines, starting with veterans Ken Loach, whose The Old Oakwas dropped from the charts, and Marco Bellocchio (Pick up), although these two films nevertheless had ardent defenders within the festival community. Nanni Moretti, with his autofiction Towards a bright futuredid not convince the jury either, nor did Alice Rohrwacher, who, with the chimera , yet offered a wonderful moment of cinema. A very bad day for Italy, to tell the truth.

But, as the president of the jury pointed out many times during the press conference, the selection was really solid this year and we can only agree. We would be very unwelcome to contest the choices that have been made, especially since several of our favorites have won awards. All in all, a great year in Cannes!

The winners of the Cannes Film Festival

• Palme d’Or : Justine Triet, Anatomy of a fall
• Grand Prize :Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
• Jury Prize : Aki Kaurismaki, Dead leaves
• Script Award :Sakamoto Yuji, Monster (Kore-eda)
• Staging Award : Tran Anh Hung, The passion of Dodin Bouffant
• Best Actress Award : Merve Dizdar, dry herbs (Nuri Bilge Ceylon)
• Best Actor Award : Koji Yakusho, Perfect Days(Wim Wenders)
• The Golden Camera : Ben Trong Vo Ken Vang, The Golden Butterfly Tree