Hey folks, Harry here... and Malick wins! YES! This is a tremendous film. One that I haven't been able to stop talking about with friends and family. Those initial reports & reviews, I'm not sure what fever the critics & the boo-ers were suffering, but I'd imagine they're all re-thinking their actions. TREE OF LIFE will go down in history as being the top prize getter for the only film festival, whose top prize means the world.
The Jury that decided the prizes this year was headed by Robert DeNiro, but included Ingmar Bergman's daughter Linn Ullmann, former refugee & great filmmaker Mahamat Haroun, Tsui Hark's wife and co-founder of Hong Kong's FILM WORKSOP - Nansun Shi, Argentinan actress Martina Gusman, badass Hong Kong action director Johnnie To, DEMONLOVER director Oliver Assayas, Sky Captain Jude Law and lastly Uma Thurman! So by no means was the jury stacked in Malick's favor - in fact there's nobody there that he's worked with. But the jury did spread the awards around.
Of the other winners the three that I'm dying to see are THE ARTIST - a black & white silent film that the Weinstein Company acquired and is committing to release later this year -
along with Lars Von Trier's MELANCHOLIA
and lastly Nicolas Refn's DRIVE - if you've seen his PUSHER - you know why.
Here's the official list of winners:
Official Competition
Palme d'Or: The Tree Of Life (dir: Terrence Malick)
Grand Prix (Runner-up to main award): (tie) Kid With A Bike (dir: Dardenne brothers), Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Mise en Scene (Best Director): Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)
Best Actress: Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia)
Prix du Scenario (Screenplay): Joseph Cedar, Footnote (Israel)
Prix Du Jury: Poliss (dir: Maiwenn)
Palme d'Or Court Metrage: Cross Country (dir: Maryna Vroda)
Camera d'Or (Best First Film): Las Acasias (dir: Pablo Giorgelli)
