CANNES 2012
Cannes 2012 Awards: Michael Haneke's 'Amour' Takes Palme d'Or
by Alex Billington
May 27, 2012
Source: Cannes
Haneke wins again. The official 65th Cannes Film Festival awards for 2012 were announced tonight, wrapping up 12 days of the international fest. The biggest winner, taking home the Palme d'Or for his 2nd time, is director Michael Haneke and his film Amour (aka Love), followed by Matteo Garrone's Reality, which won the Grand Prix as second place. The fest also awarded a number of other prizes, including giving Benh Zeitlin's Sundance favorite Beasts of the Southern Wild the Camera d'Or, top prize for first-time filmmakers. While the Palme is one of the most prestigious awards, the top winner usually isn't my favorite.
Here's the full list of Cannes 2012 winners, with most of the key awards listed below, including Un Certain Regard. I'll get into my own commentary after the winners. Head to the official Cannes website for more.
Palme d'Or (Golden Palm):
Amour directed by Michael Haneke
Grand Prix (Runner Up):
Reality directed by Matteo Garrone
Best Director:
Carlos Reygadas for Post Tenebras Lux
Jury Prize:
The Angel's Share directed by Ken Loach
Best Screenplay:
Cristian Mungiu for Beyond The Hills
Camera d'Or (First-Time Filmmaker):
Beasts of the Southern Wild directed by Benh Zeitlin
Best Lead Actor:
Mads Mikkelsen in Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt
Best Leading Actress (Tie):
Cosmina Stratan & Cristina Flutur in Cristian Mungiu's Beyond The Hills
Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard Prize:
After Lucia directed by Michel Franco
Special Jury Prize:
Le Grand Soir directed by Gustave de Kervern & Benoît Delépine
Best Actress (Tie):
Suzanne Clément in Xavier Dolan's Laurence Anyways
Émilie Dequenne in Joachim Lafosse's Loving Without Reason
Special Distinction of the Jury:
Djeca directed by Aida Begic
Congratulations to all of this year's Cannes winners. Michael Haneke most recently won the Palme d'Or in 2009 for The White Ribbon, which also went on to get a Best Foreign Language Oscar nom. However, I'm now infamous for being the one who "hated" his newest Palme-winning film Amour in Cannes this year (my review), but after further reflection, I wouldn't use the term "hate", though I still stand by my opinion. The film was just wasn't for me, and something about his style and presentation just doesn't connect with me. Amour is about an old married French couple struggling with the realities of death, and while it is a brutally honest story, it didn't connect with me emotionally in any way, and despite this win, I still don't care for it.
As much as I love Cannes, I almost always disagree with the Palme d'Or winner (at least ever since I've been attending in 2009), but I don't mind, it's just an award and I am still walking out of this festival with many other great films on my mind. If you love the kind of films that Cannes awards, then make it your goal to attend this festival. Even if you don't, there's still plenty of wonderful films to see, and love, and enjoy, and I'll continue to make sure I highlight my own favorites and many others from Cannes 2012. This just about wraps up our coverage, another year at the Cannes Film Festival coming to an end with the awards named.
12 Comments
1
I was disheartened to see Holy Motors didn't receive a single thing.
clinteastwoodscloset on May 27, 2012
2
3
Let us all sit back and wonder over the fact that the star of Reality is currently in jail (and will be for the next ten years). He was convicted in the early nineties for being a fucking mafia hitman. This dude is locked up for brutally executing people, and he was allowed out on day release to film the movie. Italy, you crazy.
Lebowski on May 27, 2012
4
Our only fault is that we're not as good at hiding scandals as some other countries..
Davide Coppola on May 28, 2012
5
Please name the other country were a convicted serial murder has been released to star in a film during his sentence.
Lebowski on May 29, 2012
6
cannes dont mean shit come oscar time Dunst won best actress last year at cannes and was'nt even nominated for an oscar
Nelson Ortiz on May 27, 2012
7
Too bad. I respect Cannes more than the Academy. Probably because Mr. Weinstein doesn't have a big influence there.
Davide Coppola on May 28, 2012
8
I just want to point out that Cristian Mungiu, the director of Beyond the Hills, has won the Palme d'Or back in 2007 for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (truly a riveting film). Congratulations to Cristian Mungiu, Cosmina Stratan, Cristina Flutur and everyone who worked on Beyond the Hills. It's great to see my compatriots winning international awards. Also, congrats to all the winners and contenders.
Isildur_of_Numenor on May 27, 2012
9
Almighty Haneke Cannes > Oscar > Bigger than Life Oscar is happier , bigger , hotter , louder , peopularer , young lookinger , swanker , prouder , fantasier than Cannes but Cannes is darker , sorrower, harsher , old lookinger , exoticer , grotesqer , thoughtfuller , realitier Ok , most important point for me is cinema is alive when collection of those adjectives exist. Yes , Cannes + Oscar = Perfection . Then both are winner. If you are moviegoer you must understand that and love it. Many people struggle on this because they don't Wana see movie they Wana see their imagines picture on screen only. They don't Wana see "Live Of Others" they Wana see their own personality in " Mirrors". And know perfectly , this mirror doesn't show you everything . Cannes is beautiful cinematic art at its best kind . Powerfull , Effective . We must know worth of it . Haneke is scholar intelligent director that bring us another kind of movies . This guys us rare . Can't wait for next year . Cannes Lover , "Love" Lover.
Ehsan Davodi on May 28, 2012
10
Bad writhing : are not us
Ehsan Davodi on May 28, 2012
11
Go Mads great to see him "Winning"
Loser on May 28, 2012
12
Very much looking forward to seeing him in The Hunt. I only recently watched the Pusher trilogy and was blown away by his performance in II, and am now currently plowing through his filmography. Great actor that seems to be misused in a couple of big budget Hollywood films.
yez on May 28, 2012
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