Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix van Groeningen directors of The Eight Mountains
Grand Prix shared by Lukas Dhont and Claire Denis. Park Chan-Wook Award for Direction. Special Award to the Dardenne brothers. Best Actor South Korean star Song Kang-ho
“I wanted to make a film that appealed to the public, that made them discuss, ask questions, reflect, a film to share in the room”: this is the phrase with which the Swedish Ruben Ostlund thanked after having just won the Palme d’Or – the second 5 years after The Square – for Triangle of Sadness, a ferocious satire on capitalism, literally addressing the audience of the Grand Theater Lumiere at the end of the 75th festival awards ceremony. Not just a hot phrase, in that approaching the public with a film that can be enjoyed by everyone (not just for cinephiles) and in that appeal to the cinema there is the essence of the spirit of this edition of Cannes.
In “Otto Montagne”, Alessandro Borghi and Luca Marinelli reach the heights of beauty and freedom
Everyone spoke about the restart, back to sharing the cinematic experience, from the president Vincent Lindon to the guest Javier Bardem. “It is a special year – said the Spanish actor – we come from a period of closure, it is time to return to celebrate cinema with enthusiasm”. And another guest at the closing, Alfonso Cuaron added hopefully: “Cannes is a special place, it is the place where cinema lives and today we celebrate its future”. If politics had given the shock to Cannes 2022 with a shocking start with the connection with the President of Ukraine Zelensky, the cinema resumed the scene at the end and the whole award ceremony was a hymn to the seventh art. Moments of emotion, standing ovations and kisses on the mouth that added spontaneity to the decidedly warm and not very formal evening. Repeated kisses, hugs, and impulses came sincerely to Charlotte Vandermeersch towards her partner Felix Van Groeningen when they were called on the stage for the jury prize for The Eight Mountains, the Italian film they directed, shot in Valle d’Aosta, from the novel by Paolo Cognetti, interpreted by Alessandro Borghi and Luca Marinelli (produced by Wildside and Vision).
In “Otto Montagne”, Alessandro Borghi and Luca Marinelli reach the heights of beauty and freedom
And a surprise kiss is what the president of the jury Vincent Lindon printed on the mouth of Carole Bouquet called to give a special prize, the 75th anniversary prize to the brothers Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne, already winners of two palms and other prizes in Cannes, which presented Tori et Lokita and dedicated the award to the Besancon baker who helps immigrant minors. Moving, with standing ovations from the entire audience, the recognition of the second prize of Cannes, the Grand Prix a Close by Lukas Dhont, a film about the story of two indivisible thirteen-year-olds, played by the formidable Eden Dambrine and Gustav De Waele. “It was around this time that we discovered the importance of friendship. This film tells of the tenderness of youth and their fragility that can become a superpower, ”said Belgian Dhont in tears, director of the second film, whose debut had already been awarded in Cannes with the Camera d’or.
The other Grand Prix, given ex aequo, went to Claire Denis’ Stars at Noon (who had won La Palma for Chocolat). Tsar Amir Ebrahimi, the Iranian actress who won for Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider, was moved, and with good reason. “It’s my revenge, I was humiliated but the cinema saved me, the France that welcomed me saved me,” she said, recalling her epic after being forced to flee her country as an Iranian movie star. that a sexy video of her with her boyfriend had been put on the web and only after years of hardships did she arrive in Paris and recover her job. Tarik Saleh, born in Sweden, of Egyptian descent, winner of the best screenplay for Boy from Heaven, also spoke of exile. If these were some of the exciting moments, the Pole Jerzi Skolimowski made everyone laugh, who shared the jury’s prize with The Eight Mountains with Eo. The film tells the story of a donkey who meets only people who exploit him on his way.
Well Skolimowski (who thanked the Italian partners of the co-production) wanted to mention one by one the names of his donkeys, some from Poland, other Italians Taco and Pola, Marietta, Rocco and Mela from Sardinia, Sicily and Lazio. He dedicated the prize to animals and brayed hi-ho several times. Alice and Alba Rohrwacher gave the jury awards, announced by Jasmine Trinca. Less empathetic, as per cultural education, the Asians in the palmares: Park Chan Wook of Decision to Leave (director’s award) and Song Kang-ho, the Korean star of Parasite best actor for Broker of the Japanese Koreda. Vincent Lindon spoke on behalf of the jurors about the experience of these two weeks. “I am sad, I would like to extend the party, we have seen good films, discussed a lot, awarded prizes using democracy, but here on behalf of all I want to say in Cannes that it is time to break with traditions: we all want to stay here for others four years”. The curtain falls on Cannes 2022: the cinema of Northern Europe comes out as a winner with 4 awards.
Unlimited access to all site content
€ 1 / month for 3 months, then € 3.99 / month for 3 months
Unlock unlimited access to all content on the site
