The good news, first and foremost, is that the Cannes jury tonight handed the Camera d’Or prize to Hasan Hadi ‘s The President’s Cake — an Iraq-set children’s drama that HE went totally nuts for several days ago.
But there’s no way on God’s green earth that Jafar Panahi‘s It Was Just An Accident is a better film than Joachim Trier‘s Sentimental Value. The Trier is unquestionably the shit — a drill-down serving of intimate, soul-flooding cinema. And yet the Cannes Jury has just given the Palme d’Or to the Panahi regardless.
Out of political motives, obviously. They feel compelled to show support for Panahi in lieu of the poor guy having coped with nearly a quarter-century of pressure and persecution from the Iranian government. That’s all it is — a sympathy vote, “you go, bruh”, “we’ve got your six”, etc.
Trier’s obviously superior family drama won the Grand Prix award — i.e. a second prize that was undoubtedly presented in a guilty frame of mind. Jury: “We loved the film, Joachim, but…well, you weren’t politically persecuted so we hope you understand.”
I didn’t see Hafsia Herzi‘s The Little Sister, but this adaptation of Fatima Daas‘s 2020 novel (“The Last One”) is about a daughter of Algerian immigrants in Paris being afraid to tell them she’s a lesbian. Big surprise — Nadia Melliti‘s performance as the daughter won the Cannes jury’s Best Actress trophy, and in so doing beat out Renata Reinsve‘s deepheart, guns-blazing Sentimental Value performance.
I wouldn’t want to presume anything, but what are the chances that gay-supportive sentiments had something to do with Melliti winning? Is this, like, a remote possibility? Whaddaya think?
Kleber Mendonca Filho‘s The Secret Agent, an admirable but overhyped drama about political terror in 1977 Brazil, won a Best Director prize, and the star, Wagner Moura, won for Best Actor. (Here’s HE’s 5.19.25 review.)
Mascha Schilinski’s Sound of Falling (a.k.a. Sound of Movie Patrons Falling Asleep) shared a jury prize because of its feminist credentials — it’s this year’s Women Talking. (Here’s my review.)
Friendo: “The Cannes Film Festival’s politically progressive praise mechanism is a racket. Which is why the Palme d’Or at Cannes — and all the other Cannes awards — mean less than zero. ‘Hey honey, wanna go see Sound of Falling tonight? I’ve heard it shared a major prize at Cannes!’
“When I finally caught up with Women Talking, I was shocked at how bad it was. It wasn’t even crudely watchable, male-bashing propaganda. It was slow-moving drivel in Amish garb.”
