Film review and critique index

1. THREE DARING AND PROVOCATIVE FILMS ABOUT CONTEMPORARY WOMEN (A Review of American Beauty, The Story of Us, and Girl, Interrupted) (Published in Working Woman Magazine, Volume 1, No. 11; April 24, 2000)
2. LE COTE DE FRANCE (FRENCH TALES) (A critique of French Spring Film Festival in Manila 2000 entries Cyrano de Bergerac, Coming to Terms with the Dead, and Late August, Early September) (Published in Working Woman Magazine, Volume 1, No. 16, July 10, 2000)
3. A LOOK AT CINEMANILA 2000 (Critiquing filmfest entries The Colour of Paradise, Une liaison pornographique, and Here on Earth) (Published in Working Woman Magazine, Volume 1, No. 19; August 28, 2000)
4. UNITY IN DIVERSITY (Critiquing Cinemanila International Film Festival 2000 entries Fire, Once Were Warriors, and An Angel at My Table) (Published in Working Woman Magazine Volume 1, No. 20, September 11, 2000.)

In the interest of cinephiles, the blogger will post his published archive reviews during his two year-writing stint in three Philippine entertainment and lifestyle magazines. 

Take note that these articles are copyrighted (These were published eons ago, hence copyright laws-wise these are covered.).  Comments (good or bad) are welcome though.

Let us be productive as we can while this pandemic eases in, say one year from now?

CANNES@65: THE LINE-UP

IN COMPETITION: 

"Amour," Michael Haneke 

"The Angels' Share," Ken Loach 

"Baad el mawkeaa," Yousry Nasrallah 

"Beyond the Hills," Cristian Mungiu

"Cosmopolis," David Cronenberg
"Holy Motors," Leos Carax 

"The Hunt," Thomas Vinterberg 

"Killing Them Softly," Andrew Dominik 

"In Another Country," Hong Sang-soo 

"In the Fog," Sergei Loznitsa 

"Rust and Bone," Jacques Audiard 

"Lawless," John Hillcoat 

"Like Someone in Love," Abbas Kiarostami 

"Moonrise Kingdom," Wes Anderson (opening night film) 

"Mud," Jeff Nichols 

"On the Road," Walter Salles 

"The Paperboy," Lee Daniels

 "Paradies: Liebe," Ulrich Seidl 

"Post tenebras lux," Carlos Reygadas 

"Reality," Matteo Garrone

 "Rust and Bone," Jacques Audiard 

"Taste of Money," Im Sang-soo

 "You Haven't Seen Anything Yet," Alain Resnais 

CLOSING NIGHT FILM:
"Therese Desqueyroux," Claude Miller

OUT OF COMPETITION:
TV film "Hemingway & Gellhorn," Philip Kaufman (will premiere on HBO come June this year) "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted," Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, Conrad Vernon
"Me and You," Bernardo Bertolucci

UN CERTAIN REGARD :
 "7 Days in Havana," Benicio del Toro, Pablo Trapero, Julio Medem, Elia Suleiman, Juan Carlos Tabio, Gaspar Noe, and Laurent Cantet
 "11.25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate," Koji Wakamatsu
 "Antiviral," Brandon Cronenberg (David's son)
 "Beasts of the Southern Wild," Benh Zeitlin
 "Confession of a Child of the Century," Sylvie Verheyde
 "Despues de Lucia, "Michel Franco
 "La Pirogue," Moussa Toure
 "La Playa," Juan Andres Arango
 "Laurence Anyways," Xavier Dolan
 "Le grand soir," Benoit Delepine, Gustave Kervern
 "Les Chevaux de Dieu," Nabil Ayouch
 "Loving Without Reason," Joachim Lafosse
 "Miss Lovely," Ashim Ahluwalia
 "Mystery," Lou Ye "Student," Darezhan Omirbayev
 "Trois mondes," Catherine Corsini
 "White Elephant," Pablo Trapero

 MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS:
 "Dracula 3D," Dario Argento
 "The Legend of Love & Sincerity," Japan, Takashi Miike

 SPECIAL SCREENINGS:
 "A musica segundo Tom Jobim, Nelson Pereira Dos Santos
 "The Central Park Five," Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon
 "Der Mull im Garten Eden," Fatih Akin
 "Journal de France," Claudine Nougaret, Raymond Depardon
 "Les Invisibles," Sebastien Lifshitz
 "Mekong Hotel," Apichatpong Weerasethakul 
"Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir," Laurent Bouzereau
 "Villegas," Gonzalo Tobal

65th Cannes Film Festival: The Contenders

This year's official selection of the world's "most glamorous and most competitive" film fest is a cream-of-the-crop list of world class auteurs and newcomers.

On one hand, we have the newest offerings from previous Palme d'Or winners Abbas Kiarostami (1997's Taste of Cherry), Michael Haneke (2009's The White Ribbon), and politically minded Irish filmmaker Ken Loach (2006's The Wind That Shakes the Barley). Also, French cinema heavyweights Jacques Audiard (2009's Grand Prix winner and Oscar nominee A Prophet), French nouvelle vague helmer Alain Resnais (Hiroshima Mon Amour; Last Year at Marienbad; Mon Oncle d'Amerique; 2009's Wild Grass), and Leos Carax (1999's head-scratching Pola X and 1989's Juliette Binoche starrer Lovers on a Bridge) will launch their new works alongside Korean masters Hong Sang-soo (Woman in the Future of Man; A Tale of Cinema; 2010 Un Certain Regard winner HaHaHa; 2011's The Day He Arrives) and Im Sang-soo (2010's The Housemaid remake). Even the former jury head (and 1996 Special Jury Prize winner for Crash) David Cronenberg (A History of Violence) will premiere his latest project - the Robert Pattinson starrer Cosmopolis).

On the other horizon, contemporary filmmakers Lee Daniels (2009's Oscar winning Precious), Jeff Nichols (last year's apocalyptic drama Take Shelter), Andrew Dominik (the 2007 Brad Pitt starrer The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries; Central Station; 2007's Best Actress winner Linha de passe), Matteo Garrone (2008's Grand Prix honoree Gomorrah), and Cristian Mungiu (2007's Palme d'Or winning 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days) will unveil their new projects; Daniels, Nichols, and Dominik (along with Egyptian director Yousry Nasrallah, Danish Dogme wunderkind Thomas Vinterberg, and Aussie helmer John Hillcoat of 2009's The Road) will vie for the Palme d'Or for the first time. (Filmmakers-provocateurs Carlos Reygadas of 2005's controversial Battle in Heaven and 2007 Jury Prize co-winner Silent Light), Ulrich Seidl of Dog Days and Import/Export fame,and Russia's Sergei Loznitsa - 2010's bleak character study My Joy, meanwhile, received their second and third Best Film nods respectively.) Expect lots of famous Hollywood faces both young (Rob. Pat.; Zac Efron in Daniels' The Paperboy; Kristen Stewart in Salles' Jack Kerouac adaptation On The Road), beautiful Oscar winning Best Actresses (Nicole Kidman in The Paperboy; Reese Witherspoon in Nichols' romance drama Mud; Marion Cotillard in Audiard's Rust and Bone); handsome (Brad Pitt in Dominik's Killing Them Softly; Matthew McConnaughey in Mud and Paperboy); and legendary (Oscar winner Juliette Binoche in Cosmopolis). Wes Anderson's (The Royal Tenenbaums; The Darjeeling Limited) star-studded Moonrise Kingdom (an official selection entry) will open the festival, while the late French director Claude Miller's final film Therese Desqueyroux will officially close the event. (2001's Palme d'Or winner The Son's Room) will head the Competition Jury.)  The only noticeable problem: there are no films directed by women in the competition! (Last year's line-up included four including first time contenders Julia Leigh and Lynne Ramsay.)

Beauty and talent (not to mention politics) indeed reign over the Riviera this year, the first to feature eight English language entries in the official competition. Bonne chance!

Cannes@65: The Real Deal

INFORMATION REPORT

TO: MR. BRIDGIE JAMES ROSENTHAL (AKA "DUSTIN") RE: 84TH OSCAR WINNERS AND LOSERS SIR: Herewith is the rundown of this year's 84th Annual Academy Awards: I. WINNERS: THE ARTIST - Best Picture; Best Director - Michel Hazanavicius; Best Actor in a Leading Role - Jean Dujardin (the first French actor to win the award); Best Music (Original Score) - Ludovic Bource; Best Costume Design - Mark Bridges HUGO - Best Art Direction; Best Cinematography; Best Sound Mixing; Best Sound Editing; Best Visual Effects THE IRON LADY - Best Actress in a Leading Role - Meryl Streep (third Oscar and 17th nomination); Best Make-up THE DESCENDANTS - Best Adapted Screenplay - Alexander Payne (second Oscar), Nat Faxon, and Jim Rush (of comedy series "Community") BEGINNERS - Best Supporting Actor - Christopher Plummer (at 84 years old, the oldest acting Oscar winner) THE HELP - Best Supporting Actress - Octavia Spencer A SEPARATION - Best Foreign Language Film (the first Iranian picture to win the award and so far the highest grossing foreign language box office release of all time, not to mention "critically acclaimed") THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO - Best Film Editing (from the same team behind last year's Oscar winning The Social Network - Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter) THE MUPPETS - Best Music (Original Song) II. LOSERS 1. Glenn Close - six acting nominations, no award yet. (A record tied with Deborah Kerr which is interesting since she presented the Hollywood legend with an Honorary Oscar in 1994) 2. No "love" for The Tree of Life (especially Emmanuel Lubezki's cinematography, his fifth nod) 3. The show itself - too predictable winners, dull pacing, and a lifeless Billy Crystal. ACTION TAKEN: Total revamp of the show and some of its rules regarding nominations. For your information and reference.

The 84th Annual Academy Awards nominations: "There's something for everyone!" (Not that I'm happy about it.)

As a writer and film reviewer, I've been watching the Annual Academy Awards Nominations special on cable TV with huge anticipation and disappointment. While looking at my list, I cannot help but wonder "what are this year's surprises" or "have I forgotten this or that" before the nominees are announced.

This morning (5:45 a.m., Pacific time), I got the same feeling. (I woke up at five in the morning just to go over my list and add a few more entries --- Kristen Wiig's Bridesmaids original screenplay included.) "Brace for some shockers and predictable ones" is my mantra. And by the time AMPAS President Tom Sherak and last year's Best Actress nominee Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone; 2012's The Hunger Games) entered the stage and introduced the broadcast, programming officially begins.

THE GOOD:
1. The Artist earns 10 nods (including Best Actor and Best Sup. Actress for Berenice Bejo as George Valentin's/Jean Dujardin's partner Peppy Miller).
2. Asghar Farhadi's critically adored A Separation scored two nods: Best Foreign Film (only the second Iranian movie to be nominated after Majid Majidi's 1998 feature Children of Heaven) and for Farhadi's intense original screenplay (alongside The Artist's Michel Hazanavicius; Woody Allen for four-time nominated Midnight in Paris, Best Picture and Director among them; Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo for Bridesmaids; and first time scribe and helmer J. C. Chandor for last year's indie hit (and Wall Street 2008 financial crisis drama) Margin Call).
3. Martin Scorsese's homage to film preservation, his first 3D feature Hugo, lead this year's awards with 11 nominations. It's a bittersweet year for Scorsese since the movie was a huge financial disaster despite its immense critical approbation.
4. The elusive filmmaker Terrence Malick earned his second Best Picture and Director nod for last year's Cannes Palme d'Or winner The Tree of Life (ditto cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki in his sixth Oscar nom). The man deserves it.
5. Racial diversity wins this year (African-American contenders Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer for Best Picture nominee The Help; Demian Bechir for A Better Life; Dujardin and Bejo for The Artist, and Farhadi for A Separation. Ditto the Chinese director of Kung Fu Panda 2.)

THE BAD:
1. Tilda Swinton was snubbed for one of 2011's critically acclaimed films, Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin in favor of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's Rooney Mara as Best Actress. (Cannot fathom Tilda's snub despite being cited by the Globes, SAG, and BAFTA.)
2. No Michael Fassbender (for Steve McQueen's NC-17 rated feature Shame), Michael Shannon (in Jeff Nichols' apocalyptic thriller Take Shelter), and Leonardo diCaprio (as controversial FBI founder J. Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood's latest picture) for Best Actor. Instead, Gary Oldman was cited for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (this is his first nomination, and I have to watch the movie ASAP!), ditto Mexican actor Bechir for A Better Life (I bought the DVD last week at Blockbuster as a three films for $14.99 promo, and I have to watch it soon.)
3. Most handsome actors and best buddies George Clooney and Brad Pitt were shortlisted for Alexander Payne's The Descendants (five nods inc. Best Picture) and Bennett Miller's Moneyball (which Pitt co-produced, making him a two-time nominee this year), respectively. Give me a Fassbinder and Shannon instead!

THE INTERESTING:
1. The divisive critical and box office reception for Daldry's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was this year's most shocking inclusion at the Oscars. With the 2011 line-up of nine Best Film nominees (and ELAIC as the last to be announced), it overshadowed five-time nominated The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as a potential Best Film frontrunner. I have to watch it before going back to the Philippines.
2. 1988 nominees Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs) and Max von Sydow (ELAIC) were shortlisted this year. (For the record, they were cited as Best Actress and Best Actor nominees for Dangerous Liaisons and Best Foreign Film honoree Pelle the Conqueror, respectively.)
3. There are only two Original Song nominees this year (for The Muppets and Rio, respectively). I cannot believe this.

A vacation with cinema

One thing that made my Los Angeles vacation unforgettable this year is spending some time watching movies (art films, surely) in comfortable and "audience-friendly" theaters. I got to see Meryl Streep as the forgotten British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (she won her seventh Golden Globe award for the role) and French actor Jean Dujardin as silent movie star George Valentin in last year's Cannes favorite (and Oscar-friendly film) The Artist under favorable conditions at AMC Independent Theaters (there were only 10 of us inside, frankly speaking).

Meanwhile, my Sunday date with Marilyn Monroe, uhmm, Michelle Williams in another Weinstein Company release (Harvey has an Oscar friendly crop in 2011 which includes The Iron Lady, The Artist, Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut Coriolanus) My Week with Marilyn was delightful. She was mesmerizing (a word which I very rarely use when reviewing or critiquing a movie or a performance) in the role of a lifetime. The British cast (led by Kenneth Branagh as Sir Laurence Olivier and Eddie Redmayne as apprentice Colin Clark who falls in love with the blonde) was engaging. However, the film was basically good in paper (great idea) but trite in execution (best seen as a short film or a documentary and not a feature film). Anyway, the audience seemed to like the film. (And I had to buy two bags at Macy's just to break my $100.00 bill and buy a ticket; it's worth the wait, and the money.)

I have two more films in the bag before returning to my homeland: Stephen Daldry's interesting adaptation of Jonathan Safran-Toer's 9/11-themed novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock), and Valerie Donzelli's official French entry to the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Awards La guerre est declaree (Declaration of War) (which I will all watch in New York during the weekend). For now, I should say that it was a wonderful (another rarely used adjective when writing about movies) vacation in the US. Here's to more trips to come!

THE BEST OF 2011 (Senses of Cinema 2011 World Poll article)

What a great way to end the cinematic year and to optimistically start a new one!

Here is my top ten films of 2011 as published in Senses of Cinema World Poll. (I've contributed four times already; and being the other Filipino writer on the list --- aside from Noel Vera --- it's a BIG DEAL.)

DUSTIN DASIG
Assistant professor, film critic, writer and training director.

My 10 best films of 2011 are categorised by theme, as follows:

The family in crisis (and the society in general)
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
Le gamin au vélo (The Kid with a Bike, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2011)

Family secrets, secrets and lies
We Need To Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)
Marţi, după Crăciun (Tuesday, After Christmas, Radu Montean, 2010)

The family in crisis (and the world as a stage)
The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)
Another Year (Mike Leigh, 2010)
Hævnen (In A Better World, Susanne Bier, 2010)
Avaze gonjeshk-ha (The Song of Sparrows, Majid Majidi, 2009)

Life as a drama (and the world as a stage)
El secreto de sus ojos (The Secret In Her Eyes, Juan Jose Campanella, 2009)
Des Hommes et des dieux (Of Gods and Men, Xavier Beauvois, 2010)

Outstanding performances
The cast of A Separation
Jessica Chastain in The Tree of Life and The Help (Tate Taylor, 2011)

Best directing
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Best writing
Asghar Farhadi, A Separation

Best visual design
Emmanuel Lubezki, cinematographer, The Tree of Life
Hayedeh Safiyari, editor, A Separation
L’illusioniste (The Illusionist, Sylvain Chomet, 2010) for the narrative

Best aural design
The Tree of Life and Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011), for the use of classical music
The Illusionist, for its original score

Cannes@64: The Films

Competition:
(Asterisk denotes first time in the main competition)

La Piel Que Habito (The Skin that I Live In), directed by Pedro Almodovar
L’Apollonide, directed by Bertrand Bonello
Drive, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn *
Footnote, directed by Joseph Cedar *
Ichimei (Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai), directed by Takashi Miike *
Le Havre, directed by Aki Kaurismäki
Hanezu No Tsuki, directed by Naomi Kawase
The Kid With The Bike, directed by Dardenne Brothers
Melancholia, directed by Lars Von Trier
Michael, directed by Markus Schleinzer (first film) *
Once Upon A Time in Anatolia, directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Parter, directed by Alain Cavalier
Polisse, directed by Maiwenn *
Sleeping Beauty, directed by Julia Leigh *
La source des femmes, directed by Radu Mihaileanu *
This Must Be The Place, directed by Paolo Sorrentino
The Tree of Life, directed by Terrence Malick
We Have a Pope, directed by Nanni Moretti
We Need To Talk About Kevin, directed by Lynne Ramsay *

Un Certain Regard:

“Bonsaï,” directed by Christian Jimenez
“The Day He Arrives,” directed by Hong Sang-Soo (2010 Un Certain Regard Grand Prize winner for "HaHaHa")
“Et maintenant, on va où ?,” directed by Nadine Labaki
“Halt auf freier Strecke,” directed Andreas Dresen
“Hors Satan,” directed by Bruno Dumont
“The Hunter,” Bakur Bakuradze
“Martha Marcy May Marlene,” directed by Sean Durkin (Best Director winner at Sundance)
“Les neiges du Kilimandjaro,” directed by Robert Guédiguian
“Restless,” directed by Gus Van Sant (opening film)
“Skoonheid,” directed by Oliver Hermanus
“Tatsumi,” directed by Eric Khoo
“Arirang,” directed by Kim Ki-Duk
“Toomelah,” directed by Ivan Sen
“Oslo,” August 31st,” directed by Joachim Trier
“L’Exercice de L’Etat,” directed by Pierre Schoeller
“Trabalhar Cansa,” directed by Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra (first film)
“Miss Bala,” directed by Gerardo Naranjo
“Loverboy,” directed by Catalin Mitulescu
“Yellow Sea,” directed by Na Hong-jin

(Source: Indiewire.com)

"Cannes" happenings

At the 64th Cannes Film Festival, the following trends have emerged, to wit:

1. Four female filmmakers in the main competition (2007 Grand Prix winner Naomi Kawase; first time contenders Lynne Ramsay, Australian Julia Leigh, and French director Maiwenn).

2. Another suspense-drama from actress-friendly Pedro Almodovar (this time starring Antonio Banderas in his first film with the auteur after 1990's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!).

3. Cannes favorites and Danish provocateur Lars von Trier (with another "otherwordly" suspense movie), Dardenne brothers (it's about kids again!), Nuri Bilge Ceylan, and Sean Penn (who stars in two movies: Italian director Paolo Sorrentino's first English language film This Must Be The Place and Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life with Brad Pitt) are back after previous forays in the French Riviera in 2008 and 2009, respectively. (At last, Ken Loach is absent this year.)

A busy year (and a half)

Brushing my professorial duties aside (no pun intended), the past year (and a half) has been unusually toxic (given my multitasking career). However, my ardent supporters in the film world have alerted me recently into returning to blogging my film reviews and articles; it's an offer that I cannot refuse despite my busy jobs...
That's why Reel Reviews blog is alive and kicking again... Felicitations!

RR@12

Come December this year, ReelReviews will publish its second compilation of selected world cinema reviews and critiques. RR@12 will feature some of the critically-acclaimed (and scorned) movies as well as Hollywood, Bollywood, Asian, and film festival hits (and misses). The latter part of the book entitled "Film Criticism in the Philippines Today" will feature a critical appraisal of the author's graduate thesis. Along with interviews with several filmmakers (Brillante Mendoza, Adolf Alix, Jr., among others), industry practitioners and critics, a situational analysis of the country's fledgling industry will be discussed.

Snippets of previously published and unpublished reviews and articles will be available online next month.

R.I.P., THE KING OF POP

I'm lost for words over the sudden death of Michael Jackson, the "King of Pop". Upon learning about it while watching "Unang Hirit" last Friday, I cannot believe that he passed way.

But his legacy will go on. Rock on, M. J.

BREAKING NEWS: OSCAR BEST PICTURE NOMINEES BECOME TEN, NOT FIVE

As per Variety:

There will be 10 best picture nominees starting with the 82nd Oscar ceremony, skedded for March 7, at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.

The announcement was made Wednesday morning at AMPAS headquarters in BevHills by Acad prez Sid Ganis. Oscar noms will be unveiled Feb. 2.

According to the President, “After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of its earlier roots, when a wider field competed for the top award of the year,” said Ganis. “The final outcome, of course, will be the same – one Best Picture winner – but the race to the finish line will feature 10, not just five, great movies from 2009.”

“Having 10 Best Picture nominees is going allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories, but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize,” commented Ganis. “I can’t wait to see what that list of ten looks like when the nominees are announced in February.”

I'm surprised and flabbergasted with the news. Speechless. For now.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: "TO PRAISE OR NOT TO PRAISE"

I'm unsurprised with the talk surrounding the Best Director gong given to Brillante Mendoza for "Kinatay". I have to see the film definitely, but the scorn and buzz that it created among press circles (at Cannes, at least) and web sites (at www.awardsdaily.com, in particular) can only give the movie the buzz it needs to become another international hit (in festivals, at least), just like Mendoza's recent Cannes entry "Serbis".

This is the first major award for a Filipino movie in a prestigious filmfest (not counting Lav Diaz's Horizons Award for Venice last year, since it won in a parallel section, not main competition), and Filipinos should be proud. Criticism is relative; what is good to me may be bad to others (and vice-versa). But then, good buzz or bad buzz is still buzz. I wish the film and direk Dante the best. (I know it would not be his last trip to the Cannes podium.)

"WHITE RIBBON" WINS PALME D'OR; MENDOZA HONORED AS BEST DIRECTOR IN CANNES

(Pictured: directors Michael Haneke, Brillante Mendoza, and Jacques Audiard)

In a year when controversy rang up at Cannes - from films in competition (especially Lars von Trier's massively derided thriller "Antichrist") to the relationship between the members of the jury - at least critical approbation reigned in the bestowal of top two awards.

Michael Haneke's pre-World War I drama "The White Ribbon" and Jacques Audiard's ("The Beat That My Heart Skipped," "A Self-Made Hero") "A Prophet" both received immense positive reviews and, unsurprisingly, top honors in the 62nd edition of the festival.

That's where the good news ends.

Despite the high profile line-up, festival favorites Jane Campion ("Bright Star"), Pedro Almodovar ("Broken Embraces") and Ken Loach ("Looking for Eric") were shunned in favor of critically reviled films - three of them from Asia. Brillante Mendoza was adjudged as Best Director for his "chop-chop lady" picture "Kinatay," while previous Grand Prix honoree Park Chan-wook ("Oldboy") was honored with the Jury Prize (he tied with British filmmaker Andrea Arnold for "Fish Tank") for the vampire drama/thriller "Thirst" and Chinese scripter Feng Mei received the Best Screenplay gong for the love triangle drama "Spring Fever".

Imminent scorn from the press and viewing public greeted the Asian filmmakers upon receiving their awards. Even jury member (and novellist) Hanef Kureishi cannot help but express his opinion regarding the prizes, saying “Sometimes good art is hard... It’s not something I want to see again" (in response to the jury's choice of Best Director).

A "special award" was also bestowed to the festival's much-talked entry, von Trier's "Antichrist". Radu Mihaileanu, a French filmmaker and head of the Ecumenical Jury, handed out an "anti-award" for the film, saying that the film is “the most misogynist movie from the self-proclaimed biggest director in the world.” This is in reference to a statement by the Danish filmmaker at a post-screening news conference.

At least, Best Actress winner Charlotte Gainsbourg have kind words to say about director Lars von Trier (considering her onscreen struggles in the film), pointing out that “I admire his work, I admire everything he did... I know people have different opinions about the film... He’s a great artist.”

Here's the complete list of winners:

Palme d’Or: “The White Ribbon” (Das Weisse Band), directed by Michael Haneke
Grand Prix (runner-up): “A Prophet” (Un Prophete), directed by Jacques Audiard
Prix Exceptional du Jury (Special Jury Prize): Alain Resnais, director of “Wild Grass”
Prix de la Mise en Scene (best director): Brillante Mendoza, director of “Kinatay”
Prix du Scenario (best screenplay): Feng Mei for “Spring Fever” (Chun Feng Chen Zui De Ye Wan), directed by Lou Ye
Camera d’Or (best first feature): “Samson and Delilah,” directed by Warwick Thornton
Special Mention: “Ajami,” directed by Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani
Prix du Jury (jury prize) - TIED: “Fish Tank,” directed by Andrea Arnold and “Thirst,” directed by Park Chan-wook
Prix d’interpretation feminine (best actress): Charlotte Gainsbourg for “Antichrist” (directed by Lars von Trier)
Prix d’interpretation masculine (best actor): Christoph Waltz for “Inglorious Basterds” (directed by Quentin Tarantino)
Palme d’Or (short film): “Arena,” directed by Joao Salaviza

UN CERTAIN REGARD
Prize of Un Certain Regard: “Dogtooth” (Kynodntas), directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Jury Prize: “Police, Adjective” (Politist, Adjectiv), directed by Corneliu Porumboiu
Special Prize: “No One Knows About Persian Cats” (Kasi Az Gorbehaye Irani Khabar Nadareh), directed by Bahman Ghobadi
“Father of my children” (Le Pere de mes Enfants), directed by Mia Hansen-Love

INTERNATIONAL CRITICS’ WEEK
Grand Prix: “Adieu Gary” by Nassim Amaouche (France)
SACD award: “Lost Persons Area” by Caroline Strubbe (Belgium / Netherlands / Hungary)
ACID/CCAS Support Award: “Sirta La Gal Ba” (Whisper With The Wind) by Shahram Alidi (Iraq)
OFAJ/TV5MONDE (VERY) Young Critic Award: “Sirta La Gal Ba” (Whisper With The Wind) by Shahram Alidi (Iraq)

Short Film Awards
Canal+ Award for Best Short Film: “Slitage” (Seeds of the Fall) de Patrik Eklund (Suede)
Kodak Discovery Award for Best Short Film: “Logorama” by Francois Alaux, Herve de Crecy, Ludovic Houplain (H5)
Other Prizes
Prize Regard Jeune: “Sirta La Gal Ba” (Whisper With The Wind) de Shahram Alidi (Iraq)

DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT
Art Cinema Award: “J’ai tue ma mere” (I Killed My Mother) by Xavier Dolan (Canada)
Special Mention: “La Merditude des choses” by Felix van Groeningen (Belgique/Belgium)
7e Prix Regards Jeunes 2009: “J’ai tue ma mere” (I Killed My Mother) by Xavier Dolan (Canada)
SACD Prize: “J’ai tue ma mere” (I Killed My Mother) by Xavier Dolan (Canada)
The Europa Cinemas Label: “La Pivellina” by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel (Autriche/Austria)
French Short films prize: “Montparnasse” (France)

FIPRESCI CRITICS AWARDS
Cannes Competition: “The White Ribbon” (Das Weisse Band), directed by Michael Haneke
Un Certain Regard: “Police, Adjective” (Politist, Adjectiv), directed by Corneliu Porumboiu
Director’s Fortnight/Critics’ Week: “Amreeka”, directed by Cherien Dabis

(Photos courtesy of AFP.)