The vigorous 2002 Cannes film festival yesterday evening came to a close at the Lumiere Theater in Cannes. Reflecting the blooming world cinema in this year's competition entries, the result of the awards seemed to satisfy all.
Roman Polanski, the revered Polish director, won the Palme d'Or for his film set in the Warsaw ghetto, The Pianist. The Jury's Grand Prix went to the poker-faced romance, A Man Without a Past, by Finland's Aki Kaurismaki. And the Best Actress award went to the star of the same film, actress Kati Outinen.
Best Actor, on the other hand, was awarded to Belgium actor Olivier Gourmet for his also highly acclaimed turn in Le Fils, by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, also from Belgium.
PHOTO: AFP
The best director category, just like last year, was shared by two filmmakers: South Korea's Im Kwon-taek, for his drama Chihwaseon, and US director Paul Thomas Anderson, for Punch-Drunk Love.
As for the two films that were widely embraced by film critics, Michael Moore's poignant, provocative documentary, Bowling for Concubine, took away the 55th Anniversary Award, while Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman's Divine Intervention took the Jury Award. These two popular films were seen as the only disappointments at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
Last night's closing ceremony was hosted by French actress Virginie Ledoyen (star of The Beach), with a shining list of celebrity attendees, such as Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, actor Antonio Banderas and his wife, Melanie Griffith, actresses and Juliette Binoche. English actress Emily Watson accompanied her Punch-Drunk director, Paul Thomas Anderson.
PHOTO: AFP
"The world that reflects reality is troubled, but the world cinema is alive and well. We've always felt that there weren't enough awards available and we wish we could give out more, but we're all happy about our final decisions," said US director and jury president David Lynch.
Sixty-nine-year-old Polish director Roman Polanski was given a standing ovation when the award was announced.
In the new film, he reveals a quiet drama that renders all the powerful reflection on a man's suffering, survival and art. It's a true story about famous Polish pianist Wladislaw Szpilman, a Jew who survived the Warsaw ghetto during World War II, escaping deportation and sheltering in the ruins of the city until one day a German officer comes to his aid.
A sense of sincerity and honesty can be found in The Pianist, probably because the story echoes Polanski's own childhood experience. His parents were taken to concentration camps where his mother died. Polanski managed to escape the ghetto and wander through the Polish countryside living with different Catholic families.
"I'm glad that I could make a film about Poles at that time without telling my own story," said the revered director at a press conference earlier in the week. "It is true that I feel more capable of dealing with such a story at a more mature age," he said.
Upon receiving the Palme d'Or, Polanski expressed gratitude to his crew and actors, who faithfully and patiently recreated the world of the Warsaw ghetto with the director. "It's an honor to be representing Poland for this film in the film festival. And it's very important to Poland," Polanski said. He went to great pains to explain the film's scoring. "Music is discrete in the film, music doesn't make people think what you want," he said. "All the events are seen in a low-key, neutral way in the story. They speak for themselves," he said.
Ian Burlingham, who first handed Polanski the book about Szipilman over a drink, was a key person behind the making of he film for Polanski. "If it weren't for him, there would be other people making a film out of the story," Polanski said.
Kaurismaki acted the coolest among all winners, saying only that he'd like to tank himself and the jury before walking off stage. A Man Without a Past, is a well-told story about a man who's loses his memory and tries to find hope and love in a city full of strangers. His brief speech seemed also like a silent protest against the "faking and posing" of the whole ceremony, perhaps because he didn't win the Palm d'Or. Backstage, smelling slightly of alcohol, the frequent winner of the Berlin and Cannes film festivals said "I make films to beat other filmmakers."
US documentary maker Michael Moore, known for his unapologetic, in-your-face attacks on corporate injustice and right-wing politicians, was awarded a smaller prize than expected, for Bowling for Columbine. The film explores gun violence in America, the country with the highest gun-murder rate in the world, and explores how guns are connected to a widespread racism-related fear.
"I heard that [US President George] Bush just came to Paris and I was hoping he could come ... [and see the film]," said the filmmaker who also harshly criticizes the US government in the film.
"Recently, a branch of the National Rifle Association prepared a petition to revoke my membership. I am thinking of running for president of the NRA so that I could disband the group," said the forthright director.
Also criticizing America was Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman, awarded the Jury's Prize for Divine Intervention.
Having lived in New York for 14 years, Suleiman detests the post-911 paranoia and alienation of the Arab world and Palestine affairs, which prevented the well-received film from being released in the US.
For the actor and actress categories, this year's winners were the lesser-known Olivier Gourmet, who plays a father that receives as an apprentice the young murderer of his son, and Finnish actress Kati Outinen, who played a quiet, reserved social worker who hesitates making her happiness dependant on an amnesiac.
The most surprising award came in the Best Director category. Korea's revered filmmaker, Im Kwon-taek, after making some 80 films since 1973, reached the height of his career for the beautifully shot period costume drama Chihwaseon, which translates as "drunk on women and painting," a true story about 19th century painter Jang Seung Up.
Another director award went to young American director Paul Thomas Anderson, for his neurotic romance, Punch-Drunk Love.
Anderson, who won world recognition for his writing and directing of Boogie Nights and Magnolia, is seen as one of the most talented among young American filmmakers. Receiving the award, Anderson said he's going to "get drunk," instead of punch-drunk.
Cannes prize winners
Palme d'Or: The Pianist, by Roman Polanski (international)
Best Director: Im Kwon-Taek, for Chihwaseon -- Drunk on Women and Painting (South Korea), and Paul Thomas Anderson, for Punch-Drunk Love (US)
Best Actor: Olivier Gourmet, for Le Fils by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne (Belgium)
Best Actress: Kati Outinen, for The Man Without a Past by Aki Kaurismaki (Finland)
Jury's Grand Prize: The Man Without a Past by Aki Kaurismaki (Finland)
Jury Prize: Divine Intervention by Elia Suleiman (Palestine)
Special 55th Anniversary Prize: Bowling for Columbine by Michael Moore (US)
Best Screenplay: Paul Laverty, for Sweet Sixteen by Ken Loach (Britain)
Camera d'Or (for best first film): Bord de Mer by Julie Lopes-Curval (France)
Best Short Film: Eso Uta by Peter Meszaros (Hungary)
Source: DPA
A few weeks ago I found myself at a Family Mart talking with the morning shift worker there, who has become my coffee guy. Both of us were in a funk over the “unseasonable” warm weather, a state of mind known as “solastalgia” — distress produced by environmental change. In fact, the weather was not that out of the ordinary in boiling Central Taiwan, and likely cooler than the temperatures we will experience in the near-future. According to the Taiwan Adaptation Platform, between 1957 and 2006, summer lengthened by 27.8 days, while winter shrunk by 29.7 days. Winter is not
Taiwan’s post-World War II architecture, “practical, cheap and temporary,” not to mention “rather forgettable.” This was a characterization recently given by Taiwan-based historian John Ross on his Formosa Files podcast. Yet the 1960s and 1970s were, in fact, the period of Taiwan’s foundational building boom, which, to a great extent, defined the look of Taiwan’s cities, determining the way denizens live today. During this period, functionalist concrete blocks and Chinese nostalgia gave way to new interpretations of modernism, large planned communities and high-rise skyscrapers. It is currently the subject of a new exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Modern
March 25 to March 31 A 56-year-old Wu Li Yu-ke (吳李玉哥) was straightening out her artist son’s piles of drawings when she inadvertently flipped one over, revealing the blank backside of the paper. Absent-mindedly, she picked up a pencil and recalled how she used to sketch embroidery designs for her clothing business. Without clients and budget or labor constraints to worry about, Wu Li drew freely whatever image came to her mind. With much more free time now that her son had found a job, she found herself missing her home village in China, where she
In recent years, Slovakia has been seen as a highly democratic and Western-oriented Central European country. This image was reinforced by the election of the country’s first female president in 2019, efforts to provide extensive assistance to Ukraine and the strengthening of relations with Taiwan, all of which strengthened Slovakia’s position within the European Union. However, the latest developments in the country suggest that the situation is changing rapidly. As such, the presidential elections to be held on March 23 will be an indicator of whether Slovakia remains in the Western sphere of influence or moves eastward, notably towards Russia and