Swedish director Ruben Östlund is euphoric after learning that he had won the Palme d’Or. /
Ruben Östlund wins the coveted trophy for the second time in Cannes and eclipses the daring proposal of the Spanish Albert Serra
Swedish director Ruben Ostlund won his second Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this Saturday with ‘Triangle of sadness’ (Triangle of sadness), a satirical comedy about current fashion and the wealthy classes. The title alludes to the sulky frown that celebrities run away from like a scalded cat.
The 48-year-old filmmaker joins the select club of directors who can boast of displaying two Palmes d’Or, an honor worn by the Dardenne brothers and Ken Loach. Östlund already tasted the honeys of success in 2017 with ‘Square’, which also won the Palme d’Or. “I think this film continues what I started with ‘The Square’, the director told this newspaper in an interview during the development of the film. contest.
At the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, ‘Triangle of sadness’, Ostlund revalidates his laurels with an acid comedy that begins as a scathing diatribe of capitalism that as it progresses becomes a staging of chaos. The president of the jury, the French actor Vincent Lindon, maintained that the film has dazzled and caused a deep commotion.
The ‘prize’ of the public
The Spanish director Albert Serra was finally left without an official award, although he did win the popular one, having enjoyed a great reception from critics and the public. His work, ‘Pacifiction’, explores corruption and recreates the struggle for power starring a French diplomat in Tahiti.
For years the Spanish presence in the Official Section of Cannes was monopolized by Pedro Almodóvar. In this edition Albert Serra, the ‘enfant terrible’ of Celtiberian cinema, raised many expectations for a radical proposal. But just as he encouraged applause, he also elicited gestures of incomprehension. His film had all the ingredients for an unprejudiced film-loving jury to notice it. vain attempt.
Serra’s film, which leaves empty, had all the ingredients for an unprejudiced jury to award it
For her part, the Iranian actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi, forced into exile in 2008 as a result of a sexual scandal, won the award for best female performance for her role as a journalist in the film ‘Holy spider’, by Ali Abbasi. This Danish production recreates the story of a serial killer who killed 16 women in the holy city of Mashhad, in Iran, between 2000 and 2001. A stubborn journalist is determined to unmask him, even at the cost of her own life. «This film talks about women, about their bodies. It is a film full of hate, hands, feet, breasts, sex, everything that is impossible to show in Iran, “said the 41-year-old actress, when collecting the award.
South Korean actor Song Kang-ho, whose career received a dazzling boost for his work in the Oscar-winning ‘Parasite’, won the award for best male performance for his role in ‘Broker’ by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-Eda. Song plays a man involved in the child trade.
Sensitivity
The Grand Prix, the second highest award in the contest, was ‘ex aequo’ for ‘Close’, by Belgian director Lukas Dhont, and ‘Stars at noon’, by French director Claire Denis. The first film is a painfully sensitive story about the broken friendship of two teenagers. The second is an erotic thriller that takes place in Nicaragua.
The award for best director went to the South Korean Park Chan-wook for his film ‘Decision to leave’, while the best screenplay went to the Swedish of Egyptian origin Tarik Saleh, author ‘Boy from heaven’, a thriller set in the mosque Al -Azhar from Cairo.
The Belgian couple formed by Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch won the Jury Prize, ‘ex aequo’ with the Pole Jerzy Skolimowski and his rare film ‘Eo, starring a donkey.
The Cannes Festival, which celebrates its 75th anniversary, also decided to give a special award to commemorate the event. An award that recognized the brothers Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne, who competed with ‘Tori and Lokita’. Most of the 21 films that competed for the highest award attacked social or family dramas and injustices typical of a world in crisis.