28/05/2017 - CANNES 2017: Sweden’s Ruben Östlund has won the top prize on the Côte d’Azur; Robin Campillo, Diane Kruger, Lynne Ramsay and Yorgos Lanthimos also among the winners

Ruben Östlund with his Palme d'Or, flanked by Juliette Binoche and Pedro Almodóvar (© A. Pizzoli/AFP/Festival de Cannes)

All bets were off on the Croisette – and in the end it was cinematic exigency and intelligence that were the guiding principles for the jury chaired by Pedro Almodóvar, as the Palme d'Or at the 70^th Cannes Film Festival was handed to The Square [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ruben Östlund
film profile] by Swedish director Ruben Östlund. This was a perfect outcome for the filmmaker, who was taking part in the competition for the first time after having trodden the Croisette three times in the past (in Un Certain Regard with Force Majeure [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ruben Östlund
film profile] in 2014 and Involuntary [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Erik Hemmendorff
interview: Ruben Östlund
film profile] in 2008, and in the Directors’ Fortnight with Play [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ruben Östlund
interview: Ruben Ostlund
film profile] in 2011). Östlund thus becomes the second filmmaker from his country to win the Palme d'Or (following in the footsteps of Alf Sjöberg in 1951) with this movie produced by Sweden, and co-produced by Germany, France, Denmark and the United States.

European cinema largely dominated the winners’ list at this 2017 edition, with the Grand Prix going to the enthralling BPM (Beats Per Minute) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arnaud Valois
interview: Robin Campillo
film profile] by French director Robin Campillo, the Best Actress Award being handed to Germany’s Diane Kruger for her moving performance in In the Fade [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fatih Akin
film profile] by her fellow countryman Fatih Akin, and two awards being pocketed by You Were Never Really Here [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Lynne Ramsay
film profile] by Scotland’s Lynne Ramsay (produced by France with the UK and the USA): the Best Actor Award went to the USA’s Joaquin Phoenix and the director won the Best Screenplay Award ex-aequo. The latter was shared with Greece’s Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou for the Irish production The Killing of a Sacred Deer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Yorgos Lanthimos
film profile], directed by Lanthimos himself.

European film production was also honoured with the Jury Prize obtained by Loveless [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrey Zvyagintsev
film profile] by Russia’s Andrey Zvyagintsev (co-produced by France, Belgium, Germany and Russia).

The United States took home a second accolade in the guise of the Best Director Award for Sofia Coppola for The Beguiled, while a 70^th Anniversary Prize went to Australia’s Nicole Kidman, who was among the cast of two films in competition (The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Beguiled).

This high-flying winners’ list concludes the 2017 competition, which was really rather homogeneous, with none of the works garnering clear support across the board, or enthusing both the French and the international press (whose tastes differ considerably at times); nevertheless, it included an impressive number of brilliantly crafted features that were slightly flawed in one way or another, sometimes even dramatically dividing the critics.

Interestingly, as was the case last year, it was a French director who scooped the Caméra d'Or (handed out to reward the best feature debut from across all of the various selections), with the exciting tragicomedy Montparnasse Bienvenüe [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Léonor Serraille
film profile] by Léonor Serraille (presented in Un Certain Regard).

Lastly, the future of the seventh art on the Continent seems to be in safe hands, as a Special Mention in the short-film competition went to Finland’s Teppo Airaksinen for The Ceiling.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Palme d'Or
The Square [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ruben Östlund
film profile] - Ruben Östlund (Sweden/Germany/France/Denmark/United States)

Grand Prix
BPM (Beats Per Minute) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arnaud Valois
interview: Robin Campillo
film profile] - Robin Campillo (France)

Best Director
Sofia Coppola - The Beguiled (United States)

Best Actress
Diane Kruger - In The Fade [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fatih Akin
film profile] (Germany/France)

Best Actor
Joaquin Phoenix - You Were Never Really Here [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Lynne Ramsay
film profile] (France/United Kingdom/United States)

Best Screenplay (ex-aequo)
Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou - The Killing of a Sacred Deer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Yorgos Lanthimos
film profile] (Ireland/United Kingdom/United States)
Lynne Ramsay - You Were Never Really Here

Jury Prize
Loveless [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrey Zvyagintsev
film profile] - Andrey Zvyagintsev (Russia/France/Germany/Belgium)

70th Anniversary Prize
Nicole Kidman

Caméra d'Or
Montparnasse Bienvenüe [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Léonor Serraille
film profile] - Léonor Serraille (France)

Palme d'Or for Best Short Film
A Gentle Night - Qiu Yang (China)
Special Mention
Katto - Teppo Airaksinen (Finland)

(Translated from French)