Thanks to Jesus Alonso for the Cannes update, letting us know that Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon has earned special mention from the ecumenical jury.
The White Ribbon also won the FIPRESCI prize, given by the International Federation of Film Critics, as the best film in competition. The winner in the Un Certain Regard section was Police, Adjective, a Romanian movie about a policeman who refuses to arrest a schoolboy for selling hashish.
The TimesOnline describes The White Ribbon:
Shot in sober black and white, with no musical score and told with a stately and deliberate pace, The White Ribbon is infused with a fascinatingly austere cruelty. As it focuses largely on the generation that would go on to embrace the tenets of national socialism, it is tempting to read the film as an allegory for the foundations of Nazi Germany in the psyche of its people. But as with much of his work, particularly Hidden and Code Unknown, Haneke leaves us with more questions than answers.
The Cannes Ecumenical Jury normally gives prizes for movies that promote spiritual, humanist and universal values, but this year was inspired to create a special category for Antichrist — scorning the controversial film with an “anti-award.”
“We cannot be silent after what that movie does,” said Radu Mihaileanu, a French filmmaker and head of an international jury that announced the awards Saturday.
In a statement, Mihaileanu said Antichrist is “the most misogynist movie from the self-proclaimed biggest director in the world,” a reference to a statement by Danish filmmaker Lars Von Trier at a post-screening news conference. The movie, Mihaileanu added, says that the world has to burn women in order to save humanity. (National Post)
Seems we’ve all been so charmed by the promise of genital mutilation that we overlooked the part where Von Trier claims medieval witch-burnings were justified. That should be a ballbreaker dealbreaker for any further Oscar speculation. Guess we’ll just have to wait for the film adaptation of the Broadway musical.
