French Film ‘Anatomy Of A Fall’ Wins Palme d’Or—American Films Shut Out

Topline

The 76th Cannes Film Festival—which annually recognizes international films, directors and actors—concluded Saturday with the French film Anatomy of a Fall being awarded the festival’s top prize, while none of the American film entries received any honors.

Key Facts

Director Justine Triet was awarded the Palme d’Or—given annually to the festival’s best film—for her film Anatomy of a Fall, a French thriller detailing a woman’s attempt to prove her innocence in her husband’s death.

The Grand Prix, awarded to the second-best film, was given to British director Jonathan Glazer for The Zone of Interest, while French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung was awarded best director honors for The Pot Au Feu.

Koji Yakusho and Merve Dizdar won best actor and best actress for their performances in Perfect Days and About Dry Grasses, respectively, while best screenplay was awarded to Sakamoto Yuji’s Monster.

Saturday’s awards ran parallel to the festival’s “Un Certain Regard” ceremony Friday, which awarded top honors to Molly Manning Walker for her film How To Have Sex, while Asmae El Moudir won Best Director Prize for The Mother of All Lies.

The festival featured American entries from Wes Anderson (Asteroid City) and Todd Haynes (May December), though neither received any honors.

Martin Scorsese—who won the Palme d’Or in 1975 for Taxi Driver—debuted his upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio starring film Killers of the Flower Moon at the festival, but it was screened outside of competition.

Surprising Fact

Triet is the third woman director to be awarded the Palme d’Or, according to the Los Angeles Times, following Julia Ducournau’s win for Titane in 2021. Jane Campion was the first, after winning the award for The Piano in 1993.

Key Background

The Cannes Film Festival has been held since 1946, and a jury comprised of directors, actors and other artists votes on the awards. Director Ruben Ostlund, who won the Palme d’Or for Triangle of Sadness last year, was this year’s jury president. The festival is often an indicator for future film awards, including the Oscars, though only two films—the 1955 film Marty and the Korean film Parasite in 2019—have won both the Palme d’Or and Best Picture honors. In 2002, Palme d’Or winner The Pianist was nominated for best picture, while Adrien Brody and director Roman Polanski were honored as best actor and director, respectively, though it lost to best picture to Chicago. The 2012 film Amour won the Palme d’Or, though the film—which also received five nominations—only received the Academy Award for best foreign language film.

Further Reading

Cannes Film Festival: Justine Triet’s ‘Anatomy Of A Fall’ Wins Palme D’or; Third Woman Ever To Take Top Prize (Deadline)

‘How To Have Sex’ Wins Cannes’ ‘Certain Regard’ Competition (Reuters)

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/05/27/cannes-gives-french-film-anatomy-of-a-fall-top-prize-american-films-shut-out/