Titane (2021)
On July 17, the 74th Cannes Film Festival ended with the Palme d'Or going to Titane by Julia Ducournau. This is the second time the festival's top prize has been won by a female director. Titane's victory also continues the spirit of Cannes: not afraid to honor shocking films with extreme styles, filmmaking that often uses elements of violence, torture and extreme sex.
The film industry has been waiting for Julia Ducournau's new work after Raw (2016) - a film about cannibalism that made audiences faint in theaters. Titane continues to be another shock from the French director.
The film revolves around Alexia (Agathe Rouselle), a girl who was in a car accident and had to have a titanium plate inserted in her head. When she grew up, she became an erotic dancer and car model. Alexa gradually developed a strange pleasure with cars, even getting pregnant with a Cadillac. After that, many murders took place and Alexa was constantly on the run from the police.
The film's intense sex and violence scenes shocked viewers. According to the Daily Mail, many viewers covered their eyes during the first screening. However, critics praised the film, with a 95% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film divided critics into two factions, supporters and opponents, but the jury decided to award Titane the highest prize of the Cannes Film Festival.
Blue is the warmest color (2013)
Blue Is The Warmest Color - a romantic film about the love between two girls, Emma and Adèle, based on the graphic novel of the same name by French writer Julie Maroh. The film received a lot of praise when it was awarded the most prestigious award at the Cannes Film Festival. The two stars, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux, also received the Palme d'Or.
But just a week later, writer Julie Maroh suddenly criticized the film as "ridiculous" and "pornographic". She regretted giving the director full freedom to do as he pleased. She said the film was a work that "cruelly and coldly displays homosexuality, like a pornographic film".
The fire of criticism spread and flared when the two main actors spoke up to accuse them of being abused during the filming. Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux said they were exhausted for five and a half months, what they initially thought would be two months. The two actresses said they were not allowed to use a stunt double for the sex scene, and had to perform the scene continuously for 10 days until the director was satisfied. They were even forced to hit their co-stars hard to create realism for the film.
Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
Throughout its 74-year history, Cannes has been relatively uninterested in documentaries. But in 2004, Michael Moore's political drama Fahrenheit 9/11 became the first documentary to win the festival's top prize since 1956.
The film received a standing ovation for nearly 20 minutes and was awarded the Palme d'Or by Quentin Tarantino. However, some still complained that Fahrenheit 9/11 was awarded based on Michael Moore's political views and not on the film's cinematic achievements.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Pulp Fiction - a postmodern film and one of the best films by director Quentin Tarantino - won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1994. However, this decision of the Jury created a heated debate.
Many people thought that the competition series at the festival that year had many impressive works such as La Heine Magot, Exotica, Burnt By The Sun and especially expected was Three Colors: Red - the film in the trilogy inspired by the French national flag by director Krzysztof Kieslowski. But the jury was attracted by an American-style crime film.
The Los Angeles Times wrote: "The winning film is not necessarily the most admired film." Quentin Tarantino also expressed: "I never expected to win or anything because I don't make the kind of film that brings people together."
Taxi Driver (1976)
Martin Scorsese's masterpiece premiered at Cannes in 1976. The film's protagonist is a Vietnam veteran - Travis Bickle played by Robert De Niro. Travis's mental instability and violent scenes made viewers particularly uncomfortable. The bloody climax sparked heated debates about the morality of the film.
The president of the Cannes jury that year, Tennessee Williams, publicly criticized the film, telling reporters: “Watching violence on screen is a brutal experience for the audience. Films should not take the thrill of prolonging scenes of terrible cruelty as if they were in the Roman arena.”
However, the Cannes jury could not deny the film's artistic merits, eventually awarding Taxi Driver the Palme d'Or. Producer Michael Phillips recalled: "Half the audience stood up and applauded. The other half screamed." Director Scorsese did not face criticism or explain himself to the critics when accepting the award.
La Dolce Vita (1960)
La Dolce Vita, directed by Italian director Federico Fellini, was released in 1960 and won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival that same year. It also received four Oscar nominations. It was listed among the 100 best films of world cinema by Empire magazine. However, La Dolce Vita is also on the list of the most controversial films.
The film deals with the glamorous, free-to-the-point-of-crazy life of the upper class in Rome. The content revolves around the main character Marcello, a writer who abandoned his literary dream to become a reporter specializing in hunting sensitive and sensational news. He searches for girls of all backgrounds, approaches religious dignitaries, and corrupt rich men to write news articles or use as material for novels.
La Dolce Vita creates a colorful picture of life in a developing era with people with complex personalities. But it is controversial because of the new values that challenge Catholic moral principles. In addition to the content of the times, the film is famous for the eroticism and freedom in every scene. The Catholic community finds it difficult to accept open thinking about sex, even homosexual sex appears in the film. Especially in the opening scene of the film, a helicopter carrying a statue of Christ before the amazement and delight of the viewers below, is considered an insult by the audience.
