Cannes 2008 is done and Urban Cinefile reports that Benicio Del Toro took the best actor prize for Steven Soderbergh’s Che. ABC News quotes the 41 year old Del Toro “I’d like to dedicate this to the man himself – Che Guevara,” going on to say “I wouldn’t be here without Che Guevera.” “Through all the awards the movie gets, you’ll have to pay your respects to the man.” At 4 hours long Che was slammed by several critics for it’s length and for failing to focus on the more controversial aspects of the Cuban Revolution.
The Palme d’Or went to the French The Class, the first time since 1987 that a French film has won the Palme d’Or. The films director Laurnet Cantet had this to say about the movie “The film we wanted to make was supposed to look like French society: multi-faceted, lively, and complex, with conflicts that the film was not going to try to gloss over. I hope that’s what the film looks like, and that we didn’t get it wrong. Thank you very much!”
Clint Eastwood (Changeling) and Catherine Deneuve (A Christmas Tale) both won special achievement awards. The Grand Prix winner was Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah. The Jury Prize went to Paolo Sorrentino for Il Divo and the Director’s prize went to Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Three Monkeys.
Sources:
Urban Cinefile
ABC News