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The weird and wonderful Cannes still wows

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Kaveree Bamzai
Kaveree BamzaiMay 29, 2017 | 12:34

The weird and wonderful Cannes still wows

What a weird and wonderful end to a festival that underlined its fierce stand against the limits of artistic expression.

As the Cannes Film Festival drew to a close, its jury headed by Spanish maestro Pedro Almodovar emphasised its commitment to art, no matter what. The Palme d'or went to a surprise winner, Ruben Ostlund's The Square.

The movie, starring Claes Bang, and two terrific TV actors Dominic West and Elizabeth Moss, takes potshots at social media and our obsession with it. It celebrates breaking all boundaries of freedom of thought and articulation.

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Its central character is a curator in a museum that likes to dabble in shattering all taboos. Moss is the woman he "conquers" and West is an artist who loves the sound of his own voice and the intricacies of jargon. The "square" refers to an installation in his museum which is meant to be a created sanctuary where rights and obligations go hand in hand.

And because it is Cannes, the entire evening at the Palais des Festivals was dedicated to the magic of movies which is as much about darkness as it is about light, which celebrated cinema regardless of gender, sexuality, race and flag.

In its 70th year, the jury, which included American actors Will Smith and Jessica Chastain, chose films that reflected society as it is now. The Best Actor went to Joaquin Phoenix in Lynne Ramsay's heartwrenchingly violent You Were Never Really Here, which follows the life of a man who works in the shadowlands of law enforcement.

Phoenix, dressed in a tuxedo and sneakers with a tiny ponytail holding his hair together, accepted the award from Chastain.

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The Best Actor went to Joaquin Phoenix in Lynne Ramsay's heartwrenchingly violent You Were Never Really Here.

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The Best Actress went to Diane Kruger for her role in Fatih Akin's In the Fade about a woman who loses her beloveds in a terrorist act. Kruger, popular in her homeland, dedicated her award to all those who are left behind after a terrorist attack, a particularly sombre reference to victims of the Manchester attack.

"You are not forgotten,'' she said to an audience which applauded her courage in doing the film by Akin, whom she called her "brother".

The popular Nicole Kidman, who was in no less than four films at Cannes this year, was not there to accept her special award, instituted this year by Almodovar in honour of the 70th anniversary, sent a video from Nashville, saying she was "gutted" she wasn't there to receive the prize.

Her award was received by Will Smith who decided to jokingly pose with the citation all by himself on stage and mimicked her emotion at receiving the honour.

The Grand Prix, the runner-up for Best Film, went to Robin Campillo's hugely popular 120 Beats Per Minute based in the Paris of the 1990s, following an AIDS organisation Act-Up. There was much dedication to cinema and to the actors and actresses who bring to it their passion. The lovely Irene Jacob described actresses as "adventurers" who "love and adore".

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Monica Bellucci, the mistress of ceremonies, reminded the audience about the power of women, in an evening in which Lynne Ramsay was a big winner. Her You Were Never Really Here shared the Prix du Scenario with Yorgos Lanthimos for The Killing of the Sacred Deer starring Colin Farell and Kidman. "When a woman plots tricks, the devil is by her side taking notes," she said, with a naughty smile.

Cannes indicated its renewed commitment to women in cinema, giving the coveted Best Director Prize to Sofia Coppola for her delicious remake of The Beguiled, starring Kidman and Colin Farell. Again Coppola was not there to receive her award but sent a statement thanking Cannes for the faith.

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The Best Actress went to Diane Kruger for her role in Fatih Akin's In the Fade about a woman who loses her beloveds in a terrorist act.

The Jury Prize went to Andrey Zvyagintsev, for Loveless, a bleak tale of the materialism corrupting the core of Russian society today. Indeed, political rebellion and skirting the boundaries of acceptability was the theme of the evening, with veteran director Costa Gavras saying movies teach us "how to rebel" and how it's a good thing.

But the evening belonged to The Square, where big questions of art and marketing were addressed and obviously caught the jury's attention in a festival that saw participation by American streaming giant Netflix against the opinion of many Cannes conservatives who saw it as an affront to the spectacle of cinema which celebrates the shock and awe of discovery and insists that its films are screened in theatres first.

As honourary president Gilles Jacob said, "Netflix will never win the war against the city of Cannes" because the board has representation by theatre owners. Unless, of course, he added, Martin Scorsese, a Cannes favourite, decides to make a movie with Netlfix.

In an evening dedicated to the magic of light, as actress Juliette Binoche called it, there was practically no representation from the biggest film industry of the world, except for a brief glimpse of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan pouting from the red carpet on a montage from the 2017 edition of the festival playing on the big screen. A pity that one of the most vibrant industries in the world cannot get a foot in the door.

As Jacob, a great friend of Satyajit Ray whom he described as one of the 15 greatest directors of all time, said, Indian filmmakers need to tell simple stories about life, love and family that are authentic to themselves. He also mentioned the length of our films, but clearly that is not a problem.

Ostlund's winning film was two-and-a-half hours long, and as the director said, his producer wanted to make it longer. A character in the film speaks of art in the time of constant distraction and instant gratification: "There is more to exhibition than a Facebook status."

Indeed, there is more to cinema than mere PR stunts and shallow storytelling. Cinema has to move us, inspire us, maybe not change the world but as Gilles Jacob said, at least "open our eyes to the wonder of life".

Long after the festival ended, as the fireworks resounded on the Croisette, those words echoed above the noise of party goers and Cannes cinephiles celebrating the end of a grand 70th anniversary.

Last updated: May 30, 2017 | 12:24
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