Justine Triet’s French courtroom thriller Anatomy of a Fall has won the 2023 Palme d’Or for best film of the 76th Cannes International Film Festival.
Triet is just the third woman director to win Cannes’ top honor, but the second in three years, following Julia Ducournau, who took the Palme for Titane in 2021. Jane Campion was the first-ever female Palme d’Or winner in 1993 with The Piano.
German actress Sandra Hüller stars in the film as a German novelist who is put on trial for murder after her husband dies in suspicious circumstances.
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In his review, The Hollywood Reporter‘s Jon Frosch called Anatomy of a Fall “a gripping and gratifyingly rich drama” and called lead actress Hüller “sensational.”
Jane Fonda presenting this year’s top honor, noted that when she first attended the Cannes festival, back in the 1970s, “There were no women directors competing at that time, and it never even occurred to us that there was something wrong with that. We’ve come a long way.”
Triet used her platform to protest the French government’s austerity programs, including major cuts to cultural programs and pension reforms, which have sparked nationwide protests. She said the French system of “cultural exception…without which I would not be here today” was under threat. “This award is dedicated to all the young women directors and all the young male directors: All those who cannot manage to shoot films today. We must give them space, the space I occupied 15 years ago in a less-hostile world, where it was still possible to make mistakes and to start again.”
Japanese acting legend Koji Yakusho won the best actor prize at the 2023 Cannes Festival, for his role in Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days, where he plays a toilet cleaner who takes pleasure in the quotidian pleasures of life.
Best actress honors went to Merve Dizdar, the star of the Turkish drama About Dry Grasses from director Nuri Bilge Ceylan. In its review of the film, THR called her an “incandescent presence” in her role as Nuray, a rural schoolteacher.
“I would like to dedicate this prize to all the women who are fighting to overcome difficulties in this world and to retain hope,” Dizdar said, accepting her prize.
“This is the most interesting film festival in the world, and you are all so lucky to be part of it,” said legendary cult filmmaker Roger Corman, who presented the runner-up Grand Jury prize together with Quentin Tarantino to The Zone of Interest, a bracing holocaust movie from Jonathan Glazer. The British director in his acceptance speech honored the late Martin Amis, whose book the film was based on and who died last week.
“I was glad were able to show the film to him,” Glazer said.
Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki won the 2023 Cannes jury prize for his droll romantic comedy Fallen Leaves. His actors accepted on his behalf, reading out a letter from Kaurismäki, who thanked Cannes and then gave a rock-and-roll send-off: “Twist and shout!”
Tràn Anh Hùng a Vietnamese-born filmmaker based in France, took the best director prize for The Pot-Au-Feu, a period foodie drama starring Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel. After thanking Binoche and his crew, Hùng thanked his cook.
A third Asian film, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster, took best screenplay honors, for the script from Yuji Sakamoto, a careful dissection of Japanese reticence, shame and desire.
The prize for best first film went to Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell from Vietnamese writer/director Thien An Pham, which premiered in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight sidebar. The prize for best short film went to 27 by director Flóra Anna Buda.
This year’s jury, headed by Swedish director Ruben Östlund — a two-time Cannes winner, who last year took home the Palme d’Or for best film for Triangle of Sadness — picked the winners among the 21 films in competition. This year’s jury also included Brie Larson, Paul Dano, Maryam Touzani, Denis Ménochet, Rungano Nyoni, Atiq Rahimi, Damián Szifron and Julia Ducournau.
The closing ceremony, which marked the end of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, aired live on French network France 2 and streamed worldwide on the Brut international channel. The awards were followed by the world premiere screening of Disney/Pixar’s Elemental from director Peter Sohn.
In a change this year, the festival had a series of celebrity actors and filmmakers hand out the main 2023 honors. Orlando Bloom handed out the jury prize. Parasite star Song Kang-ho, last year’s best actor winner for Broker, presented the best actress honor. Cannes 2022’s best actress, Holy Spider star Zar Amir Ebrahimi, presented the best actor award. John C. Reilly, president of this year’s Un Certain Regard Jury, handed out the trophy for best screenplay. Pixar Studios’ creative director Pete Docter presented the best director prize. The 1994 Palme d’Or winner, Tarantino and Corman (“my hero” said Tarantino), jointly presented the runner-up Grand Prix award, with veteran star Jane Fonda capping the evening with the presentation of the Palme d’Or.
A full list of winners follows.
Palme d’Or
Anatomy of a Fall, dir. Justine Triet
Grand Prix
The Zone of Interest, dir. Jonathan Glazer
Jury Prize
Fallen Leaves, dir. Aki Kaurismäki
Best Director
Tran Anh Hùng for The Pot-Au-Feu
Best Screenplay
Yuji Sakamoto for Monster
Best Actress
Merve Dizdar for About Dry Grasses
Best Actor
Koji Yakusho for Perfect Days
Honorary Palme d’Or
Michael Douglas
Camera d’Or for Best First Film
The Yellow Cocoon Shell, dir. Thien An Pham
Palme d’Or for Best Short Film
27, dir. Flóra Anna Buda.
