Cannes Palme d’Or Goes To Michael Heneke And ‘Amour’
The jury at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival has just announced the winner of the prestigious Palme d’Or. Michael Haneke’s “Amour” took home the top prize this year. Heneke’s previous film, “The White Ribbon,” won the Palme d’Or in 2009, making Heneke the second director to win the Cannes Film Festival’s to award for back-to-back films.
In a short acceptance speech, Heneke said:
“Thanks to my wonderful actors. They are the essence of it.”
The film tells the story of an elderly couple after one of them has a stroke. Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuel Riva, who played the film’s two main characters, were singled out by jury president Nanni Moretti as she handed out the award.
Movie critic Emanuel Levy writes:
“Intensely intimate drama for two sharply observed characters, superlatively played by Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, Haneke’s Love contests personal and societal definitions of love, marriage, aging, illnes, and dying.”
The Wrap reports that “Amour” will be released in the United States by Sony Pictures Classics.
Here are some of the other winners selected by the Cannes jury.
- Palme d’Or: “Amour” – Michael Haneke
- Grand Prix: “Reality” – Matteo Garrone
- Prix du Jury: “The Angels’ Share” – Ken Loach
- Best Director: Carlos Reygadas, “Post Tenebras Lux”
- Best Screenplay: “Beyond the Hills,” Cristian Mungiu
- Best First Feature: “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” Benh Zeitlin
- Best Actor: Mads Mikkelsen, “The Hunt”
- Best Actress: Cosmina Stratan and Cristina Flutur, “Beyond the Hills”
- Short Film: “Silence” 0 L. Rezan Yesilbas
Here’s a trailer for the 2012 Cannes Palme d’Or winner, “Amour.”
