French film finally wins at Cannes: The Class takes the 61st Palme d’Or
May 28, 2008
A French film, “the Class” has finally won the greatest French film prize, the Palme d’Or of Cannes, after a more than 30 year drought for French cinema at Cannes.
French director Laurent Cantet’s “The Class” (”Entre les Murs”) won the 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. “Sous le Soleil de Satan” (Under Satan’s Sun) by French director Maurice Pielat andstarring Gerard Depardieu, was the last film from France to win the coveted Palme d’Or in his home country more than 30 years ago.
The winning French film, whose French title is “Entre Les Murs” (Within the Walls) is based on an autobiographical novel by Francois Begaudeau. Mr. Begaudeau plays himself as a French teacher in the movie. While not a documentary per se, The Class is a realistic film with a docu-drama feel, that stars actual teachers and students toughing it out in a rough Parisian junior high school over the course of a school year. Although “The Class” screened on the very last day of Competition at the festival, the French film still managed to get straight A’s from international critics and audiences, before going to the head of the class with its Palme d’Or win. The win was a unanimous decision among the nine-member Cannes jury, said actor Sean Penn, who headed the panel.
The victory for the gritty French movie was only one of many surprises during the awards ceremony at the festival, with Penn presiding. Robert deNiro introduced director Cantet, writer/actor Begaudeau and all 25 students who star in the film and presented them with the prize at the traditional ceremony at the Palais des Festivals. De Niro’s own movie, “What Just Happened?”, directed by Barry Levinson, had just closed the festival.
Another French honoree in Cannes was Catherine Deneuve, who, along with Clint Eastwood, received a special prize from th ehand of jury president Sean Penn, similar to the lifetime Achievement Awards given at the Oscars.
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