The 2014 Cannes Film Festival begins in just two days and since I won’t be able to attend this year I still wanted to do something Cannes-related. I started looking back over the years of the festival, which is celebrating its 67th edition this year. I considered going back and reviewing 15-16 films from a specific year in the past, but I thought of it too late.
I then started looking over the history of past winners, and while I realize I haven’t seen even half of the Cannes Film Festival winners I thought it would be fun to take a look at a list of the top ten I had seen, assuming readers could add their thoughts in the comments, suggesting some titles I have not yet seen or those you believe belong in the top ten.
As we all know, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival is the Palme d’Or, but that wasn’t always the case. From 1939-1954, the highest prize was called the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film. Then, in 1964, the Palme d’Or was introduced, running for only ten years when the Grand Prix du Festival was reintroduced in 1964, before the Palme officially took over at the 28th Cannes Film Festival in 1975. For this list, I have decided not to distinguish between the two awards but I will note Grand Prix du Festival winners with an *.
For reference sake, you can find the list of Palme and Grand Prix du Festival winners at Wikipedia. By my count I’ve seen 35 winners between the two awards, in which some years there were multiple winners, notably the 1st Cannes Film Festival in 1946 where 11 films were awarded the Grand Prix.
#10
Brief Encounter*
1st Cannes Film Festival
DIRECTED BY: David Lean
By all accounts, David Lean‘s 1946 feature Brief Encounter should be one I despise as it features two things I tend to really loathe in filmmaking — voiceover and flashbacks. However, when executed properly they storytelling crutches can become wonderful devices.
Based on the Noel Coward play, Brief Encounter centers on a married woman (Celia Johnson) and her “brief encounter” with a doctor (Trevor Howard), also married. I’ve often found myself comparing it to Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, which, I guess, is only natural considering it’s a love story between two people and the ending of Sunrise also involves one party departing on a train. A big difference between this and Richard Linklater‘s Before films is the relationship is never consummated, which brings up several discussion points when it comes to marriage, love, sacrifice and simply doing the “right” thing.
#9
Blow-Up*
20th Cannes Film Festival
DIRECTED BY: Michelangelo Antonioni
It’s somewhat amazing to me to know Blowup is the only one of Michelangelo Antonioni‘s films to have won the Palme d’Or and in that sense it actually never “won” the Palme as it won the Grand Prix du Festival in 1967. Of course, when L’avventura played the fest in 1960 it lost to my #2 film on this list so in some ways it makes sense, but that doesn’t take anything away from my appreciation for this film.
Perhaps best described as a paranoid thriller/mystery, Blowup centers on a photographer who unwittingly photographs a murder taking place.
At this point, in the United States at least, only a DVD version of the film is available, but included on that DVD is a scene-specific audio commentary with Peter Brunette who delves deeply into the film, most importantly into what he refers to as the “merry makers” seen throughout and, most importantly, at the film’s conclusion. If you get a chance, check it out and give it a listen, it’s sure to entertain and enlighten.
#8
Pulp Fiction
47th Cannes Film Festival
DIRECTED BY: Quentin Tarantino
What can I really say about Quentin Tarantino‘s Pulp Fiction that hasn’t been said? Last year, as Tarantino turned 50, I ranked his films once again and Pulp Fiction came out on top. I love Tarantino’s films and could watch most any of them at any moment in time, but when it comes to a complete package, where I don’t feel he’s over-indulging, but simply stripping things down as much as he can, Pulp Fiction is his best piece of cinema.
