63rd Cannes Film Festival Closing Ceremony

After several tries -due to my Internet malfunction- I was able to watch the closing ceremony. My take away is that the best part of the whole festival was exactly learning the award winners as more than one award winner seemed honestly surprised, some acceptance speeches were interesting (the best: Elio Germano), some colorful (Bardem declaring in public his love for Penelope), some emotional (Binoche), one really touching (Haroun) and the surprised Palme d’Or winner was so happy that was a pleasure to watch.

Before I continue here is the complete closing ceremony for those that haven’t seen it yet.

Most news I’ve read today mention that this year Cannes Palm d’Or is a win that will please cinephiles. Honestly to me the news are a: What??? I don’t know about you, but a few years back I decided to seriously follow festivals as a source of excellent films that never will come to a theater near me and if I wanted to continue improving my film collection, I had at least to know the names of the films I had to buy –now- in DVD. Does this honest comment make a cinephile? My answer is: No. Still, I’m glad and looking forward to being able to watch the winner, that was one of my two choices for my Palm –and I didn’t needed any of the two to win a major award for me getting excited about the possibility of watching films that will stimulate my eyes, my ears, my heart, and my brain all together. Films that could be a complete cinematic experience. Does this make me a cinephile? Still my answer is: No.

To me a cinephile is like a scholar, an archive with millions of files with film facts about every detail of each production. When they emit an opinion is a serious Master Class about everything we common viewers are not interested at all and probably will be overwhelmed with the huge amount of information. Will or could they enjoy or approve 2010 Cannes top winner? It’s irrelevant for them, as I’m sure that everything that Cannes shows becomes part of their cinema knowledge, as happens with other films in many festivals around the world.

So, after I poured out my strong dislike about headlines and articles I’ve been reading today that only segment more audiences if not scare them away from watching great films, let’s continue with some of what I find more light, amusing and entertaining news about the Mother of all festivals.

I got the impression that British press is a little bit bitter about what critics and fest attendees considered a strong contender, Mike Leigh’s Another Year that left the fest empty handed. But also because of the winning film late screening, most press writers and/or critics left Cannes without being able to watch the film.

Last year some articles mentioned that Haneke’s The White Ribbon won because the strong ties between Haneke and Isabelle Huppert. This year articles mention that the Palme d’Or winner totally fits Tim Burton’s style. So, I ask: if winners are mostly tied up to Jury President relationships/likes, what’s the role that other jurors play? (lol).

One of the strangest moments I lived yesterday was starting to read in Spanish press about Javier Bardem winning the best actor palm. Articles started to pour while the red carpet event was running and BEFORE the award ceremony started. Leaks?

Cannes (interesting) Trivia

Was reading that the last time Italy got a Best Actor Palme d’Or was in 1987 when great Marcello Mastroianni was honored for his performance in Oci Ciornie. Also -very funny news-Elio Germano’s most interesting part of his speech was cut in Italian news (lol).

Javier Bardem is not the first Spanish actor that wins the best actor Palme, there are other three remarkable actors from Spain that won before him; but what’s interesting is that Bardem has almost every major award in the world, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, two Volpi cups (Venice fest), four Goyas and the only one missing is the Silver Bear from the Berlinale.

Since I found the above news in the media and nothing alike about Juliette Binoche, let me be the one that tells you that Juliette also has almost all the major awards in the world!! An Oscar, a BAFTA, a Silver Bear, an European Film Award, a Cesar, and a Copa Volpi. Only one missing, a Golden Globe where she was nominated three times for Trois Couleurs: Blue, The English Patient and Chocolat.

Haven’t fix the awards post, eventually I will. LOL!