'Gomorra' takes Grand Prix; Jury prize to 'Il Divo'
CANNES - French director Laurent Cantet proved that last is certainly not least when his docu-like fiction "The Class" won the coveted Palme d'Or after screening on the last day of the Festival de Cannes. The win was the first Palme d'Or for a French title since 1987.
Based on an autobiographical novel by Francois Begaudeau, who also plays himself as a French teacher, the realistic film stars real teachers and pupils in a rough Parisian neighborhood high school. Though "The Class" screened on the last day of Competition at the Festival, the film received high marks across the board from international critics and audiences.
Robert De Niro, who stars in closing night film Barry Levinson's "What Just Happened?" presented Cantet, Begaudeau and all 25 students who star in the film with the prize at the traditional ceremony in Cannes Palais de Festival grand theater.
"It is ironic that tonight's closing night film is 'What Just Happened?' because when we announce the prizes, many of you will say "What Just Happened"? And that's how it should be," jury president Sean Penn said before presenting the awards. His words rang true as the list of mostly surprising winners unspooled.
Roman Polanski presented the Grand Prix to Matteo Garrone's "Gomorra," a harrowing exploration of organized crime in Naples.
The Jury prize went to Paolo Sorrentino's caricatural tale of seven-time Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti, "Il Divo."
Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan was named Best Director for his film "Three Monkeys."
"I would like to dedicate the prize to my lonely and beautiful country which I love passionately," Ceylan said.
In additional to the traditional prizes, Penn's jury chose to bestow two special prizes acknowledging the work of French actress Catherine Deneuve and American director Clint Eastwood.
"In this very peculiar place of trying to focus acknowledgement in a field of such powerful work, there are special awards sometimes that are simply acknowledging a piece of work or a body of work," Penn said before presenting the awards. "For the special prize of the 61st Cannes, there are two people that we have to acknowledge, Catherine Deneuve and Clint Eastwood."
Benicio Del Toro's portrayal of Che Guevara in Steven Soderbergh's two-part, four hour, 28 minute biopic of the Latin American revolutionary figure earned him the best actor award.
"I'd like to dedicate this to the man himself, Che Guevara," Del Toro said upon accepting the award. "I want to thank Cannes, I want to thank the Jury and I also want to thank and share this with director Steven Soderbergh who got up every day, forced me to do this. He was there pushing it and pushed all of us."
French actor Jean Reno took the stage for the announcement of the prize for best actress, which went to Sandra Corveloni for her role in Walter Salles' Brazilian drama "Linha de Passe." The actress was not present at the ceremony.
Last year's best screenplay award-winner Fatih Akin handed off this year's prize to three-time Palme d'Or-winning Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne vie for their drama about a young Albanian woman in Belgium, "The Silence of Lorna."
Previous Camera d'Or winner Dennis Hopper awarded this year's Camera d'Or prize, given to the best first film in selection, to Steve McQueen's "Hunger" by a jury presided by Gallic filmmaker Bruno Dumont.
The awards were handed out at a gala ceremony presided by master of ceremonies, French comedian Edouard Baer. They took place ahead of a screening of Levinson's film starring De Niro alongside Catherine Keener and self-parodying appearances from Cannes Jury President Sean Penn and Bruce Willis. Art imitated life as an ironic film-within-a-film plot saw the fictional film in "What Just Happened?" playing at Cannes as real-life Festival crowds watched on the large Palais screen.
Guests then headed to a closing night dinner and cocktail in the Palais Salon des Ambassadeurs followed by a night of dancing at the Majestic beach.
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