Award
Palme d’Or in Cannes for Justine Triet
Sandra Hüller (l), actress from Germany, and Justine Triet, director from France. photo
© Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP/dpa
The French is only the third woman to win the Palme d’Or. The leading actress in her drama “Anatomy of a Fall” is Sandra Hüller. She also stars in another film that won awards.
For the third time in the history of the Cannes Film Festival, a woman has won the main prize. The French Justine Triet was awarded the Palme d’Or for her drama “Anatomy of a Fall”, as the jury announced on Saturday evening. The film, starring Sandra Hüller, prevailed over 20 other competition films.
The second most important prize at the festival also went to a film starring Sandra Hüller. British director Jonathan Glazer won the Grand Jury Prize for The Zone of Interest.
In “Anatomy of a Fall” Hüller embodies an author who has to answer in court after the death of her husband. She is suspected of having killed him – but the case is not clear and there are no witnesses. The couple have a blind boy who is believed to be out of the home at the time of the incident. The psychological justice drama is not primarily about clarifying what happened. Instead, it’s about the line between fiction and reality and the failure of a marriage. Huller plays an opaque woman with many facets.
Jana Fonda described this year’s festival as “historic”
“The Zone of Interest” is about the life of concentration camp commandant Rudolf Höß (Christian Friedel), his wife Hedwig (Hüller) and their family. The German-language film, based on a novel by the late author Martin Amis, was praised for its unique narrative approach to the Holocaust. Glazer focuses on the domestic life of Höss and his family, who lived in a luxurious house right next to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Viewers only see the outer walls of Auschwitz or a smoking chimney. The horror is made clear by the stark contrast to the life of the Höß family.
The festival took place for the 76th time this year. US actress Jane Fonda presented Triet with the award on stage. And said: “For the first time, there are seven female directors in the competition. That’s historic.”
Triet criticizes “scheme of a ruling power”
In her speech, 44-year-old Triet defended the protests against the pension reform in France. After thanking the cast and crew, she noted the “historic, extremely powerful, unanimous challenges” to pension reform that were “shockingly denied and suppressed” and criticized “this scheme of a ruling power that is becoming ever more relaxed “.
The Best Director award went to Vietnamese-born Frenchman Tran Anh Hung for ‘La Passion de Dodin Bouffant’ (English title ‘The Pot-au-Feu’): a story about a peculiar 19th-century cook and her employer .century plays.
Huller had been traded as the favorite for the award for best actress. However, this went to the Turkish actress Merve Dizdar. She embodies a teacher in “About Dry Grasses” by Nuri Bilge Ceylan. The Japanese Koji Yakusho was honored as best actor for his role in Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days”.
The Jury Prize was awarded to Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki for Fallen Leaves. Yuji Sakamoto was honored with the best screenplay award for Hirokazu Koreeda’s film “Monster”.
According to jury president Ruben Östlund, awarding the prizes was not an easy task. “There were a lot of things that came up when we discussed the different awards. And it wasn’t easy,” said the Swedish director. The 49-year-old received the Palme d’Or for the satire “Triangle of Sadness” last year. “The competition was tough. I really think it was a very, very strong vintage,” said Östlund.