On Tuesday, director Peter Jackson became one of the first filmmakers to receive the Cannes Film Festival’s Honorary Palme d’Or without ever having a film in the festival’s official selection.
On Wednesday, as part of a public conversation about his career in the Debussy Theatre, Jackson admitted that he was shocked to be receiving the honor on the 25th anniversary of the first of his three “The Lord of the Rings” movies, which were never part of the festival but did screen footage in 2001 in an attempt to stir up interest in what was seen as a foolhardy venture on the part of Jackson and New Line Cinema.
“The two times that I came before [to Cannes] were monumental times,” Jackson said, referring to the “LOTR” promo footage and to bringing his first film, “Bad Taste,” to the Cannes marketplace in 1988. He called receiving the honorary Palme d’Or a “profound” experience and said it felt about as likely as him winning an award for being a bellydancer.
“I just don’t make Palme d’Or-type films,” he said. “I really like the idea of having a Palme d’Or without having to make a film.”
While the competitive Palme d’Or is given to the top film in each year’s Main Competition section, the Honorary Palme is awarded for a body of work. It has been given out more frequently than ever before in this decade, with the honor going to filmmakers Marco Bellocchio, George Lucas and Studio Ghibli and actors Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker, Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Merly Streep, Robert De Niro and Denzel Washington. Barbra Streisand will receive this year’s second Honorary Palme at the closing ceremony on May 23.
Jackson said there was some part of him that wanted to poke a bit of fun at the famously formal festival’s dress code. “I was very tempted to wear a tuxedo and shorts,” he said, adding that he ultimately didn’t have the courage to do so.
At the Debussy event, billed as “Rendezvous with Peter Jackson,” multiple clips were played of Jackson’s past work, including his feature “Heavenly Creatures,” which starred a young Kate Winslet and saw Jackson himself playing a “tramp” who ends up sharing a scene with the actor.
“I realized I gave Kate Winslet her first screen kiss,” Jackson said, joking that he must have set the bar pretty high.
Turning to his later work, the director had previously spoken openly about how the festival-adjacent screening of until-then-unseen “Lord of the Rings” footage was crucial in turning public perception around about about that big gamble. He reiterated Cannes’ importance to that franchise, and went on to discuss how he felt that Andy Serkis rather than himself was the right person to direct the upcoming “LOTR” film “The Hunt for Gollum.”
“Andy knows this guy [Gollum] better than anybody,” he said. “…The most exciting version of this movie is if Andy Serkis makes it.”
Jackson also talked seriously about cutting his teeth making his first films in the horror genre. He said that this is just a natural entry point for filmmakers who might not have all the resources they’d want just yet and thus have to get scrappy.
“I think that horror films are always a natural way for a filmmaker to make their first film,” Jackson said. “It is possible to make a horror movie without a script or any stars.”
