“Triangle of Sadness”, a sharp satire on class conflict by Swedish director Ruben Ostlund, won the Palme d’Or for best film at the Cannes Film Festival last Saturday.
“Triangle of Sadness” places Ostlund among a selected group of two-time winners of Cannes’ highest prize.
He won the Palme d’Or 2017 for “The Square”, and joked with the contemporary art world.
This time he took his scalpel to bourgeois finesse and struck out against fashion models and the super-rich, who suddenly find that their status is undermined when disaster strikes a cruise ship.
An extended sequence of projectile vomiting and violent diarrhea on the ship got everyone talking about the film early on and divided the critics.
“When we started making this film, I think we had a goal – to really, really try to make an exciting film for the audience and include thoughtful content,” Östlund said when he received the coveted award.
“We wanted to entertain them, we wanted them to ask themselves questions, we wanted them to go out after the show and have something to talk about,” he added.
French actor Vincent Lindon, who led the nine-man jury, said they had struggled to agree on a winner but “the whole jury was extremely shocked” by “Triangle of Sadness”.
Prices made to share
The second Grand Prix was shared between 32-year-old Belgian Lukas Dhont and French veteran Claire Denis.
Dhont’s “Close”, a portrait of two boys who are bullied when struggling with their sexuality, explores friendship and masculinity, while Denis won for “Stars at Noon”, a love story against political tensions in Central America.
The jury’s third prize was shared between “The Eight Mountains” by Belgian directors Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch and “EO” by 84-year-old Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski, which is told entirely through the eyes of a donkey.
“Thank you, my donkeys,” Skolimowski said in his speech of thanks.
It was a strong night for Asian film with best director who went to South Korea’s Park Chan-wook won the award for best director for his romantic thriller “Decision to Leave”.
The award for best actor went to the South Korean star Song Kang-ho for his role in the adoption drama “Broker” by Japanese Hirokazu Kore-eda.
Message for Iranian women
Iranian Tsar Amir Ebrahimi won the award for best actress for her role as a journalist tracking down a serial killer in “Holy Spider”.
“I have come a long way to stand on this stage tonight,” said the actress, who was forced to flee her country 16 years ago after a smear campaign over her love life and now lives in Paris.
“This movie is about women, it’s about their bodies, it’s a movie full of faces, hair, hands, feet, breasts, sex – everything that is impossible to show in Iran,” she said. “Maybe having me here tonight is just a message – especially for women, Iranian women.”
French actress Carole Bouquet announced a surprising 75th anniversary award to celebrate the festival’s birthday. It went to the Belgian directors Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne for “Tori and Lokita”.
In an audience-pleasing twist, Elvis Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough won the Camera d’Or, the award for best film, for “War Pony” with co-director Gina Gammell.
Read the full list of awards here
Source: sn.dk