The Cannes Film Festival is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. That makes the gathering, which kicked off Wednesday night in this seaside town, sound really old. And in a sense it is. But some of those really old movies exert a powerful pull on modern film culture.
Nowhere is that felt more than with Cannes’ top prize, alternately called the Palme d’Or and the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film over the last seven decades.
It’s a cliche that taking the top Cannes prize is like winning an Olympic gold medal, but it’s also true. To look back at the winners is to take a tour through some of the most significant movies in history — far more than the Oscars, which always surprises you with what great movies didn’t win.
For a six-year spell beginning in 1949, for instance, the top Cannes prize went to movies like “The Third Man,” “The Wages of Fear” and “Marty” — all great films that still cast a long shadow today.
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Another period of half a dozen years, this time in the 1970s, saw the honor going to works like Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” and “Apocalypse Now,” establishing both directors as formidable voices of 1970s cinema — and setting a template that half the high-quality directors in Hollywood (and plenty of directors of lesser quality) still cite as a model in 2017.
“sex, lies and videotape’s” Steven Soderbergh and Jane Fonda at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival.
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You don’t even have to go that far back. Over a six-year period beginning in 1989, the winners included “sex, lies & videotape,” “Barton Fink” and “Pulp Fiction.” All come from filmmakers very much emulated today. (All come from filmmakers still very much making movies today.)
This doesn’t feel as true for the winners from recent years. It’s not that there aren’t bold or visionary works (though it’s maybe slightly that). It’s really that the films don’t seem to pack the same cultural punch.
In the last 10 years one of the most notable winners is Michael Haneke’s “Amour” (2012), a piece of unsparing honesty about aging. A very strong film, but does it have the sheen of some of these past winners? At least that’s a film that many casual films fans have heard of.
Perhaps I’m guilty of overly revering the past. Maybe 25 years from now people will talk about “Blue Is the Warmest Color” (2013) and “I, Daniel Blake” (2016) with the same admiration we now talk about “Taxi Driver” and “The Third Man.” But it’s hard to avoid the fact that the recent winners just don’t feel as far-reaching in their significance.
So are directors not making these ground-breakers or are juries and the festival not finding them? Or are we, as a culture, just too jaded and have seen it all?
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The answer may be a hodgepodge of several factors.
Part of this might indeed be the nature of juries. Where Cannes’ competition jury used to include authors, critics and others outside the film business, it now focuses pretty much exclusively on filmmaking professionals — a lot of actors, for example. That can narrow the world view and the choices. (The cliché, again with some truth, is that modern film juries don’t pick the best movie, they pick the one they can all agree on.)
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Best screenplay co-laureates directors Lynne Ramsay and director Yorgos Lanthimos, Palme d’Or laureate director Ruben Ostlund, best actress prize laureate Diane Kruger, actress and President of the Camera d’Or jury Sandrine Kiberlain, Camera d’Or laureate director Leonor Serraille and actress Laetiti Dosch pose on stage at the end of the closing ceremony.
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French director Leonor Serraille poses during a photocall after she won the Camera d’Or prize for her film “Jeune Femme (Montparnasse-Bienvenue).”
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Jury members Park Chan-wook, Maren Ade, Will Smith, Agnes Jaoui, Jury President Pedro Almodovar, Jessica Chastain, Paolo Sorrentino and Fan Bingbing attend the Palme D’Or winner press conference.
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Joaquin Phoenix poses during the award winners photocall after he won best performance by an actor for “You Were Never Really Here.”
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German actress Diane Kruger poses on during a photocall after she won best actress for the film “In The Fade” (“Aus Dem Nichts”).
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Director Ruben Ostlund celebrates on the stage after he receives the Palme d’Or for the movie “The Square” at the closing ceremony.
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Excitement bubbled over for director Ruben Ostlund as he celebrates on the stage after receiving the Palme d’Or for the movie “The Square.”
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Swedish director Ruben Ostlund bounds on stage after he was awarded with the Palme d’Or for the film “The Square.”
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Qiu Yang, winner of the award for best short for “A Gentle Night” (Xiao Cheng Er Yue) and Teppo Airaksinen, right, winner of special mention for his short film “The Ceiling” (Katto) attend the Palme D’Or winner press conference.
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Diane Kruger receives best performance by an actress for “Aus dem Nichts” (“In the Fade”) during the closing awards ceremony.
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Actor and member of the Feature Film jury Will Smith speaks on behalf of actress Nicole Kidman after she was awarded the 70th-edition Special Prize during the closing ceremony.
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Monica Bellucci and Pedro Almodovar attend the closing-awards ceremony.
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Award winners and jury members pose for a picture during the closing ceremony.
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Actress and jury member Uma Thurman arrives at the award ceremony at the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
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Actress Uma Thurman arrives for the closing ceremony.
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Actor Robert Pattinson with a trademark hair pull during the photo call for the film “Good Time” at Cannes.
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Actress Eva Green shoots photographers a look upon arriving at the screening of the film “Based On A True Story.”
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Director Roman Polanski poses for photographers during the photo call for the film “Based On A True Story.”
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Jermaine Jackson, left, and Maday Velazquez pose upon arrival at the screening of the film “The Beguiled” at Cannes,.
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Actors Jake Gyllenhaal, left, Ahn Seo-Hyun, Tilda Swinton and director Bong Joon-Ho attend the photo call for the film “Okja.”
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Actress Paz Vega poses for photographers upon arrival at the screening of the film “In The Fade.”
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French actress Juliette Binoche arrives for the closing ceremony.
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Egyptian director and member of the Un Certain Regard jury Mohamed Diab, left, French actor and member of the Un Certain Regard jury Reda Kateb, actress and president of the Un Certain Regard jury Uma Thurman and Czech artistic director of the Karlovy Vary festival and member of the Un Certain Regard jury Karel Och.
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German director and member of the Feature Film jury Maren Ade and actor and member of the Feature Film jury Will Smith.
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Director David Lynch
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Emily Stofle, left, director David Lynch, actor Kyle MacLachlan, and Desiree Gruber, arrrive for the screening of the TV show “Twin Peaks” during the 70th Cannes Film Festival.
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Rooney Mara attends the closing ceremony.
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Australian actress Nicole Kidman poses during the photocall for “The Beguiled.”
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French actress Marion Cotillard poses as she arrives for the 70th anniversary ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes.
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Petra Nemcova attends the Generous People fifth anniversary party during the 70th Cannes Film Festival at Martinez Pier in Cannes, France.
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Australian actress Nicole Kidman and British model Naomi Campbell meet up at the 70th anniversary ceremony in Cannes.
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Japanese actor Tatsuya Fuji and Japanese director Naomi Kawase arrive for the screening of the film “Hikari (Radiance)” at Cannes.
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Director Guillermo del Toro attends Cannes.
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Francois-Henri Pinault, left, Selma Hayek and Gael Garcia Bernal.
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Actor Benicio del Toro at Cannes.
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Eva Longoria arrives for the screening of “The Killing of a Sacred Deer.”
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Nicolas Winding Refn, Liv Corfixen and Elle Fanning attend Prada’s private dinner at Restaurant Fred L’Ecailler during Cannes.
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Anja Rubik, Diego Luna, Daniela Michel and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu attend Prada’s private dinner during Cannes.
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Benoit Chang, Jack Gao , Miao Xu and Hang Shi attend Prada’s private dinner during Cannes.
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Vanessa Axente and Jean-Paul Gaultier at the premiere of “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” at Cannes.
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Princess Camilla of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duchess of Castro and Pamela Anderson attend the Harmonist Gala Event at Club Albane during Cannes.
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Belgian actor Franz Harduin, left, British actor Toby Jones, Belgian actress Fantine Harduin, Austrian director Michael Haneke and his wife Susi Haneke, French actress Isabelle Huppert, French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant and his wife, Marianne Hoepfner and French actor Mathieu Kassovitz arrive for the screening of the film “Happy End.”
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Actor Andrew Lowe, producer Ed Guiney, Irish actor Colin Farrell, actor Sunny Suljic, Australian actress Nicole Kidman, Irish actor Barry Keoghan, British actress Raffey Cassidy and Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos leave the premiere of “The Killing of a Sacred Deer.”
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Al Gore and Elizabeth Keadle attend the “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” screening at Cannes.
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Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban depart after the screening of “The Killing of a Sacred Deer.”
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Actor Colin Farrell, left, simulates a fight with actor Barry Keoghan as they leave along with actress Nicole Kidman following the screening of the film “The Killing of a Sacred Deer.”
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Actresses Nicole Kidman, left, and Elle Fanning pose as they leave following the screening of the film “How to talk to Girls at Parties” at the 70th Cannes Film Festival.
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Actresses Elle Fanning, left, Nicole Kidman, director Sofia Copolla and actress Kirsten Dunst walk the red carpet for the screening of the film “The Beguiled” at the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
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Charlotte Casiraghi, Salma Hayek and Jessica Chastain attend the Women in Motion Awards Dinner at the 70th Cannes Film Festival at Place de la Castre.
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An animated Antonio Banderas walks the runway at the Fashion for Relief event during the 70th Cannes Film Festival at Aeroport Cannes Mandelieu.
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Mary J. Blige attends “The Meyerowitz Stories” screening.
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Emma Thompson, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Noah Baumbach and Adam Sandler depart after the “The Meyerowitz Stories” screening.
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Naomi Campbell walks the runway at the Fashion for Relief event during the 70th Cannes Film Festival at Aeroport Cannes Mandelieu.
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Kendall Jenner, center, and Heidi Klum walk the runway at the Fashion for Relief event.
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Valery Kaufman, left, Maria Borges, Natalia Vodianova, Bella Hadid, Naomi Campbell, Heidi Klum, Natasha Poly and Tami Williams pose on the runway at the Fashion for Relief event.
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Mexican actress Salma Hayek arrives for the Kering Women In Motion awards.
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French actor Louis Garrel, left, French-Argentinian actress Berenice Bejo, French director Michel Hazanavicius and French-British actress Stacy Martin arrive for the screening of the film “The Redoubtable (Le Redoutable).”
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Julianne Moore, left, screenwriter Brian Selznick and Michelle Williams pose for photographers while leaving the screening of the film “Wonderstruck” at the 70th Cannes Film Festival.
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Director Takashi Miike, Takuya Kimura and Hana Sugisaki attend the “Blade Of The Immortal (Mugen No Junin)” premiere during the 70th Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals.
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Model Winnie Harlow, Rihanna and model Petra Nemcova attend the Chopard dinner in honor of Rihanna and the Rihanna X Chopard Collection during the 70th Cannes Film Festival on the Chopard Rooftop in Cannes.
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Feature film jury members are seen on stage during the festival’s opening ceremony. They are, from left, French music composer Gabriel Yared, Italian director Paolo Sorrentino, South Korean director Park Chan-wook, actor Will Smith, Spanish director and jury president Pedro Almodovar, French actress and director Agnes Jaoui, German director Maren Ade, Chinese actress Fan Bingbing and actress Jessica Chastain.
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Spanish dancer and choreographer Blanca Li performs on stage during the opening ceremony of the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
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Actress and president of the Un Certain Regard jury Uma Thurman and general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival Thierry Fremaux pose as they arrive for the screening of “Ismael’s Ghosts.”
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Actresses Susan Sarandon, left, and Elle Fanning arrive for the screening “Ismael’s Ghosts.”
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Adrien Brody and his partner Lara Lieto arrive for the screening of “Ismael’s Ghosts.”
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Jessica Chastain waves after a news conference ahead of the opening ceremony.
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French actress and president of the Camera d’Or jury Sandrine Kiberlain poses for selfies as she arrives for the screening of “Ismael’s Ghosts” (the French title is “Les Fantomes d’Ismael”).
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Thai actress Araya Alberta Hargate, known as Chompoo, arrives for the screening of “Ismael’s Ghosts.”
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Chinese actress Li Yuchun poses as she arrives for the screening of “Ismael’s Ghosts.”
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Teenage French American model and actress Lily-Rose Depp, daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, poses during the opening ceremony.
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Italian actress Asia Argento attends the screening of “Ismael’s Ghosts.”
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Actress Robin Wright arrives at the opening ceremony and the screening of the film “Ismael’s Ghosts.”
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Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, who is president of the feature film jury, arrives at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez on the eve of the opening ceremony of the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France.
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Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, who’s a member of the feature film jury, greets fans as she passes throngs of media at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez in Cannes.
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Susan Sarandon acknowledges the crowd as she arrives at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez.
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Elle Fanning smiles and waves as she arrives at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez.
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German director Maren Ade, a member of the feature film jury, arrives at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez.
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Actor Will Smith, a and member of the feature film jury, greets the crowd as he arrives at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez.
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Italian director Paolo Sorrentino, a member of the feature film jury, pauses for a selfie as he arrives at the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez.
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Actor T.J Miller parasails to “The Emoji Movie” photo call at the start of the 70th Cannes Film Festival at the Carlton Pier in Cannes, France.
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Actor T.J Miller attends “The Emoji Movie” photo call at the start of the 70th Cannes Film Festival at the Carlton Pier.
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A view of the Palais des Festivals before the start of the 70th Cannes Film Fesival. The festival runs from May 17 until May 29.
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A poster of the movie “Spider-Man: Homecoming” adorns the facade of the Carlton Hotel ahead of the 70th Cannes Film Festival.
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A woman strolls past a poster for the movie “The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)” ahead of the 70th Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, France.
Another factor is that the movies themselves are not as populist as they once were. The split between the art house and the commercial is a relatively recent phenomenon in much of global cinema, but it has ensured that many of the winners don’t make a mark outside of a confined sandbox.
(A subset of this phenomenon is that juries in recent years are giving the Palme to fewer English-language movies, which by definition has a lower cultural impact, at least in places like the U.S. and Britain, even as they do nicely open up the prizes beyond the usual suspects.)
Since the 21st century began, a few Palme winners did leave a mark in the English-language cinema world — particularly “The Pianist” (2002) and “Fahrenheit 9/11.” But more typical are winners like “The Child,” from the Dardenne brothers (2005) and the Romanian New Wave touchstone “4 Months, Three Weeks and 2 Days” (2006) — each influential, but in a rather small sphere.
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(Arguably the best-known winner of the last decade is Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” (2011), and that’s as hard-core art house as you can get.)
Cannes director Thierry Fremaux has subtly tried to combat this by selecting movies for competition that have a strong genre streak — witness “Drive” (2011) or “Oldboy” (2004). Both are populist and influential. Both, notably, did not win the Palme.
Still, prize trends come in waves. Haneke is back at the festival this year with “Happy End,” a movie that could make a splash and solidify him as a Palme voice for the ages. (He’s going for a record third win.) And with “The Beguiled,” the Coppola spirit is here too — that is, Sofia Coppola, of course, Francis’ daughter and a great director in her own right thanks to movies like “Lost in Translation” and “Somewhere.” With her new film, she’s offering her surely brazen take on already brazen material.
It’s possible we’ll also see world-shaking new works from other fresh voices in competition. Provocative genre-minded directors such as Yorgos Lanthimos’ (“The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” high on many lists), Bong Joon-ho (“Okja”) and the Safdie brothers (“Good Time”) all could win and help set cinema on a new course.
Heck, the Cannes notable may not even come with Palme-eligible films, as Jane Campion and David Lynch premiere TV shows (“Top Of the Lake” and “Twin Peaks”) and Alejandro G. Iñárritu introduces a VR-art installation.
From this modern vantage point, it can certainly feel like a golden age existed in some other time. But then, no one thought the ’70s cinema movement would happen until it did.
Steven Zeitchik is a former Los Angeles Times staff writer who covered film and the larger world of Hollywood for the paper from 2009 to 2017, exploring the personalities, issues, content and consequences of both the creative and business (and, increasingly, digital) aspects of our screen entertainment. He previously covered entertainment beats at Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, has contributed arts and culture pieces to the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the New York Times and has done journalistic tours of duty in Jerusalem and Berlin. While at The Times he has also reported stories in cities ranging from Cairo to Krakow, though Hollywood can still seem like the most exotic destination of all.
