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.
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.
"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.
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