The Tree of Life wins Palme d'Or at Cannes

I was going to a late screening of Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life last night when news reached me that the film had just been awarded this year's Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. I therefore entered the movie theatre with an increased anticipation for a film that, regardless of the Cannes accolades, I had been fiercely looking forward to. I will certainly come back to the film in the following months, since the award at Cannes will most likely bring it some attention later in the awards season, but for now suffice it to say that, although I don't know most of the other entries aspiring to the Cannes trophy, I'm more than pleased with the decision taken by Robert de Niro's jury.

The Tree of Life is, for all the simplicity of the subjects it deals with, a complex film, slow-paced and fragmented, but ultimately highly rewarding. The Biblical passage with which the film opens gives you a good taste of what's coming up in the almost two hours and a half that Malick needed to depict the life of a Texan middle class family, while dealing on the way with subjects as sublime or trivial (depending on your stance on the matter you will love or hate this film) as the creation of the universe, the price of success and the role of theology in life. Honestly, I found those existential digressions off-putting and excessive in length and intention. Less than 24 hours after seeing the film, I have already forgotten the dinosaurs and the inner monologues about the meaning of life, but I doubt I will ever be able to exorcise the domestic memories embedded in the main plot line of this oddly beautiful film.

Two films, Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Anatolia and the Dardenne Brothers' The Kid With a Bike, tied for the runner-up Grand Prix, while actress-filmmaker Maïwenn received the Jury Award for her film Polisse.

The award I'm most pleased about is the acting trophy to Kirsten Dunst for Lars von Triers' Melancholia. I guess the jury's decision has as much to do with her turn in the film as with her performance in the infamous press conference (see video below) in which she had to sit through the nonsense about Hitler and Judaism her director shared with the world in an unsolicited touch of generosity. Regardless of that, I am thrilled with the decision to acknowledge an actress I've admired since her breakthrough performance in Interview With the Vampire almost two decades ago. Jean Dujardin was the recipient of the best actor award for the generally praised The Artist.The downside of this fortunate list of winners were Pedro Almodóvar, unable to take home the Palme d'Or in his fourth attempt, and Aki Karismäki, who had been tipped as the favourite to the big trophy for Le Havre. Both of them went home empty-handed despite the general warm reception of their films.

Complete list of winners after the clip.

Palme d’Or: “The Tree of Life,” Terrence Malick
Grand Prix: (tie) “The Kid With a Bike,” Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne; “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
Best Director: Nicolas Winding Refn, “Drive”
Best Actress: Kirsten Dunst, “Melancholia”
Best Screenplay: “Footnote,” Joseph Cedar
Prix du Jury: “Polisse,” Maïwenn
Camera d’Or: “Las Acacias”
Palme d’Or (Short Film): “Cross Country”