This year’s Cannes Film Festival has been for my money one of the most exciting in years. Films from legends like Wim Wenders, Aki Kaurismaki, Jonathan Glazer, Catherine Breillat, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Hirokazu Koreeda, Todd Haynes, Marco Bellocchio, Ken Loach, Wes Anderson and Wang Bing all played in competition at this year’s festival. As usual, some of these films underwhelmed, some met expectations, and some far exceeded them. This year’s best include Justine Triet’s mystery thriller Anatomy of a Fall, Jonathan Glazer’s Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest, and Alice Rohrwacher’s archaeologist adventure La Chimera. The Pot-au-Feu, May December, About Dry Grasses, Monster, and Fallen Leaves have also all received raves and should be kept in mind when predicting who will appear on stage during tomorrow’s Cannes awards ceremony.
When it comes to the Palme D’Or, the biggest award of the festival, three contenders seem most poised to triumph: Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, and La Chimera. I think more than usual, this jury (composed of actors and filmmakers such as Ruben Ostlund, Brie Larson, Damian Szifron, Paul Dano, and Julia Ducournau among others) will choose something with more of a modern appeal. Something punchy and conventionally entertaining yet also with some sociopolitical preoccupations. The film that satisfies both those criteria to the greatest extent is Ken Loach’s The Old Oak, but that film has also been widely-criticized by critics for being too broad and possibly tone-deaf in its commentary.
Anatomy of a Fall seems best suited to this jury as it’s a highly-entertaining thriller directed by a woman that interrogates the institution of marriage. It’s central performance from Sandra Huller has been touted as one of the best performances we’ve seen at Cannes in recent years and it’s an accessible film that we could very possibly see perform well in the Best International Feature category at the Oscars. Though if Triet’s film does win the Palme, this means that Huller cannot win Actress for the film since a picture that wins the Palme cannot win in any other category. Still, I would be mistaken not to mention that Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest has received some of the best reviews of any Cannes film in the last few years. It currently holds a staggering 98 Metascore on 17 reviews and it may just be too undeniable not to award the Palme to. This year’s dark horse is Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera. Fresh off her Oscar nomination for the Disney Plus short Le pupille, Rohrwacher has delivered with a stunningly-filmed eccentric archaeological adventure starring a fantastic Josh O’Connor. It is not the type of film that usually wins at Cannes but this quirky film with comic elements might be just perfect for jury members like Ostlund, Szifron, and Dano, all of whom have been involved in their own respective off-center comedies.
We shall see what this jury goes with so without further ado these are my predictions:
PALME D’OR
Pick: Anatomy of a Fall
Could Be: The Zone of Interest, La Chimera, or About Dry Grasses
DIRECTOR
Pick: The Zone of Interest – Jonathan Glazer
Could Be: About Dry Grasses – Nuri Bilge Ceylan, La Chimera – Alice Rohrwacher, or Youth (Spring) – Wang Bing
ACTRESS
Pick: Natalie Portman and/or Julianne Moore – May December
Could Be: Sandra Huller – Anatomy of a Fall and/or The Zone of Interest, Alma Poysti – Fallen Leaves, or Mia Wasikowska – Club Zero
ACTOR
Pick: Koji Yakusho – Perfect Days
Could Be: Josh O’Connor – La Chimera or Deniz Celiloglu – About Dry Grasses
SCREENPLAY
Pick: Fallen Leaves
Could Be: May December or Anatomy of a Fall
JURY PRIZE
Pick: The Old Oak
Could Be: La Chimera, The Pot-au-Feu, Monster, or Anatomy of a Fall
GRAND PRIX
Pick: La Chimera
Could Be: About Dry Grasses, Anatomy of a Fall, Monster, or Fallen Leaves
