Cannes Coverage 2011: Palme Goes to "Tree of Life"

Sorry that I'm so behind the beat lately. As much as I enjoy indulging in films I haven't seen, I've had some very real problems to deal with lately, and it's going to be a struggle to get back into the swing of things. In any case, I did not miss the announcement of the Cannes Film Festival winners, which were somewhat expected, but ultimately surprising. Most unexpected of all was the announcement of The Tree of Life winning the Palme. I am still genuinely excited to see the film, but I also realize that there were plenty more deserving films that premiered at the festival. Winning the Palme is never a necessary boost in Oscar eligibility. The last time a Palme winner was nominated for Best Picture was The Pianist in 2002.

In news of other awards, Best Actor went to Jean Dujardin for The Artist, which may play well into the rest of the year. I suspect that The Weinstein Company will aggressively campaign for the film, as they always do. Kirsten Dunst won Best Actress for Melancholia, which isn't entirely surprising since the female leads of Lars von Trier's films have done well for themselves numerously in the past. Best Director went happily to Nicholas Winding Refn for the action film Drive, though don't expect too much Oscar love for the film. It seems a bit out of bounds for the Academy. The rest of the winners can be seen after the jump, along with the five films that premiered at Cannes which I'm most looking forward to seeing.

Palme d'Or: "The Tree of Life"

Grand Prix: "The Kid With a Bike"/"Once Upon a Time in Anatolia"

Best Actor: Jean Dujardin ("The Artist")

Best Actress: Kirsten Dunst ("Melancholia")

Best Director: Nicholas Winding Refn ("Drive")

Best Screenplay: "Footnote"

Prix du Jury: "Polisse"

Camera d'Or: "Las Acacas"

Five Most Anticipated Premieres

5. Sleeping Beauty

4. The Artist

3. Melancholia

2. Drive

1. We Need to Talk About Kevin (Just got picked up by Oscilloscope)