The Jury Played by Its Own Rules

By Eric Kohn

Published: May 24, 2009

Last night in Cannes, as the crowds drained away, a few stragglers pondered the frontrunners at Sunday's upcoming Palme d'Or ceremony.

Many suggested two top contenders, Michael Haneke's "The White Ribbon" (at left) and Jacques Audiard's "A Prophet" (below), as the ones with the greatest chances of taking home the top prize. Then, sometime after midnight, a rumor began circling among people who knew people: Marco Bellocchio's Mussolini biopic "Vincere" would land the Golden Palm, while "Spring Fever, "Lou Ye's bummer of a sex drama, had a shot at some additional awards.

Neither movie was a festival favorite.

My own theory emphasized the populist approach, suggesting the Haneke and Audiard movies as the biggest possibilities, with dark horse chances for Lars Von Trier's "Antichrist" and Ken Loach's "Looking for Eric."

Well. When the awards swiftly unfolded on Sunday evening, one thing was clear: The jury plays by its own rules.

The top choices surprised no one. "The White Ribbon" did indeed land the Palme d'Or, and "A Prophet" stood nearby with the runner-up status of the Grand Prix. Pretty much everything else, however, suggested a fickle jury with unique standards that had absolutely nothing to do with the constant chatter on the Croisette.

Brillante Mendoza, whose "Kinatay," an arty narrative about the kidnap and graphic murder of an exotic dancer, premiered to boos last week, landed best director. "Spring Fever" was honored for best screenplay. Charlotte Gainsbourg got a best actress award of "Antichrist," where her most infamous scene found her character snipping off clitoris. Mutilation and sex, then, won big this year.

There are many ways to interpret the jury's decision, but let's boil it down to two extremes: Either they chose to commit an act of defiance by going against the grain, or -- more likely -- the outcome testifies to the arbitrariness of the process. Nobody knows anything except a handful of people in a room.

Headed by actress Isabelle Huppert, the group also included Robin Wright Penn, Asia Argento and director James Grey. I pondered early on that Argento, ever the epicenter of onscreen female sexuality, might root for the Von Trier film. Grey, meanwhile, might have favored "Inglourious Basterds" (below), since he has expressed a love for popcorn entertainment as his favorite type of movie experience.

"Basterds" actor Christopher Waltz did win the Prix d’interpretation masculine for his chilling role as a Jew hunter, but that was probably the least radical decision of them all.

The jury will explain themselves however they see fit, but I do see an internal logic to many of their choices. If they were going to give anything to "Antichrist," Gainsborough seems like the least controversial way to do it. Von Trier, whom many despise for his confrontational techniques, would have fanned the flames. His female star, however, will become perceived as a bold performer (although some confused folks might claim she's a victim).

As for Mendoza's award for "Kinatay," look -- it is a well directed movie. That's why people hate it so much. Mendoza's cautious camera work and penchant for crafting haunting rhythms make his movie the harrowing experience that so many people rejected. Whether he deserves recognition for this raises a different question altogether, but the guy knows how to make an impactful movie.

Ultimately, the winners of the main competition represent just one part of the festival equation. The grandest Cannes event, as far as I'm concerned, arrived on Friday afternoon at the premiere of Gasper Noe's "Enter the Void (right)."

This two-and-a-half hour opus needs to be scaled down a bit, but there's no doubt that the movie represents a highly unique viewing experience. (See my initial reaction here. Noe forces his audience to contemplate major themes about life after death with a tricky formalism that exists on a plane of its own. Is it the "best" movie at Cannes? No, but it sure did help keep the energy flowing at the very end. For those lucky enough to have seen it, the appeal speaks for itself.

All of this suggests one promising conclusion: There are many Cannes Film Festivals; the jury's decision represents but one point of view. And it's a plurality of voices -- the reflection of a global scene that passionately cares about the state of modern cinema -- that will sustain it in the future.

Comments

November 19, 2009, 7:16AM
assss Says

penis büyütücü penis büyütme hapı
büro mobilyası Ofis ve büro mobilyası
Yachts for Sale Yachts for Sale
sohbet odaları sohbet odaları
Mücevher Mücevher satış noktası
Pırlanta Pırlanta burada
branda Ucuz branda fiyatları
Engelliler Engelliler ve engelli dostlarının paylaşım platformu.
Otomatik kapı Otomatik cam kapı sistemleri
Tercüme Tercüme ve Çeviri evden eve nakliyat evden eve nakliyat

November 18, 2009, 4:56PM
enkeles Says

thank you, nice post ;) ...

--------------------------------------
Promocity promosyon Ürünleri, promosyon ve uygun promosyon ürünleri.
Promosyonel promosyon ürünleri, promosyon ithalatı
Promosyonara Promosyon, İdeal Promosyon

November 17, 2009, 3:43PM
oyun Says

thanks adminsrator Working hard to pass them to YouTube to CNN that people need to reach with çağdaşlaşdıran television and easy access to the web site address thanks comfortable

OYUN
oyun oyna

November 15, 2009, 9:47AM
penis büyütücü Says

They've had hundreds of millions of dollars in financing, that's all gone, and a lot of films that either tanked in wide release, earned awards, but not enough money to profit, ended up going straight to DVD, or still gather dust in the Weinstein storage closet, never to see the light of day.

penis büyütücü orjinal penis büyütücü
penis kucuk penis lere orjinal penis büyütücü %100 Etkili

November 13, 2009, 3:10PM
para Says

Thank's you admins my name is Mike
While it is unfortunate the studios are so hooked on remakes, we're bound to get some good ones in the plethora of crap.
They can argue all the wnt that what they are doing is done out of respect, but that only makes them liars.
No matter what they say, it can't change a thing.
-----------

promosyon promosyon ürünleri
internetten para kazan internetten para kazan
komik video bedava komik videolar
video ders ingilizce eğitim videoları
ilizyon ilizyon hileleri
para kazan para kazanma yolları
clickbank clickbank rehber
promosyon promosyon takvim
promosyon promosyon hediye
erol corap erol corap kayıt
promosyon promosyon türkiye

November 09, 2009, 7:07PM
rklmcim Says

NO, sikiş Your web siteis reallypornolar nice zayıflama if we think the porno others
My fiancee travesti ?? and his cousins klipler and I will be going there hikaye next March; visiting my family in sexy videolar Cordoba, followed by drinking in Mendoza, then maybe Iguassu falls again...I'm sure my family sex would let your show sex videoları film them.
I porno indir hope you sex shop film in Argentina again; diziler no porno no no ! with or with out us and xxx movies ~ we are sexy clips

November 08, 2009, 6:54PM
deldel Says

Wow, it was almost as if you were writing about sohpet sohbet odaları travesti evden eve nakliyatget rid of the ball if he was within ten feet of me travestiler about my experience playing against Travis Ford travesti sikiş Travis Ford. I quickly learned toporno izle porno izle my experience playing against porno sikiş sikiş were writing about sex izleOh, and the beauty of it all is that I get to claim my site is "serious" news,sikiş porno izle because we pirate stories from all the big papers, slap a new lead on them and sex izle pornoone of our gratis-faux "journalist's" mugshots and try to call it our own original chat sohbetThank you very much for this information. chatGood post thanks for sharing.chat odalarıI like this site ;)porno izleGood article, Some have served their entire adult lives--30-35 years--at one sikişnewspaper. Seems like the wrong people are ashamed. rn salary porno izle sikişSome nasty comments for a fairly serious subject. That's unfortunate.porno izleI don't think anyone has a clear idea of what's going to happen, but you're right sikişabout the fact that journalists aren't doing anything about it. That's only porno izledelaying printed media's death. They appear to be holding out with the hope dizi izlethat somebody or something comes along and saves them, ala, the automobile chat chat odalarıFact is, printed media needs to die so that it can be reborn, so the business porno izlemodel adjusts into something that works. maynet porno izleThey appear to be holdingporno They appearsikiş yes sikiş no porno izleyesmaynet branda branda branda terazi baskül çelik kasa elektronik tartı elektronik terazi tartı terazi tartı They appear hobe

November 05, 2009, 11:46AM
penis büyütücü Says

PenisSağlıkMerkezi.com
Penis Büyütücü hap
Penis Büyütme hapı
Penis Büyütücü v-pills

VPills-Bayi.com
Penis Büyütücü hap
Penis Büyütme hapı
Penis Büyütücü v-pills

V-PillsMağaza.com
Penis Büyütücü hap
Penis Büyütme hapı
Penis Büyütücü v-pills

Orkideshop.com
Seks Shop alışveriş mağazası
Sex Shop erotik mağaza
Sexshop cinsel ürünler
Seks ürünler ve oyuncakları
Seksi çeşitlerle dolu ürünler
Sex oyuncakları ve kozmetik ürünleri
Shop mağazası, her türlü cinsel ürünler

Penis Büyütücü ürünü tanıtım sayfası
Şişme Bebek ürünlerinin tanıtım sayfası
Vibratör ürünlerinin tanıtım sayfası
Göğüs Büyütücü ürünlerinin tanıtım sayfası
Bayan Azdırıcı ürünlerinin tanıtım sayfası
Geciktirici Sprey ürünlerinin tanıtım sayfası
Cinsel Sağlık ürünlerinin satışının gerçekleştiği sitenin tanıtım sayfası
İç Giyim ürünlernin bulunduğu kategoriyi tanıtan özel sayfa

October 15, 2009, 4:22AM
branda Says

Thank you very much for this information.
Good post thanks for sharing.
I like this site ;)
-----------

promosyon promosyon ürünleri
seo seo danışmanlığı
penis büyütücü penis büyütme hapı
büro mobilyası Ofis ve büro mobilyası
Yachts for Sale Yachts for Sale
sohbet odaları sohbet odaları
Mücevher Mücevher satış noktası
Pırlanta Pırlanta burada
branda Ucuz branda fiyatları
Engelliler Engelliler ve engelli dostlarının paylaşım platformu.
Otomatik kapı Otomatik cam kapı sistemleri
Tercüme Tercüme ve Çeviri
Turkey medical company directory Turkey medical company directory
----------{

July 02, 2009, 6:09AM
gurbeteli Says

thanks adminsrator Working hard to pass them to YouTube to CNN that people need to reach with çağdaşlaşdıran television and easy access to the web site address thanks comfortable sohbet
chat
çet
chat odaları
sohbet odaları
chat odaları
film izle
dizi izle
film izle
dizi izle
Online Film
porno izle
sex izle
porno izle
full free porn
sikiş
sikiş
sikiş izle
porno izle
sex izle

NEW COMMENT