The 2021 edition of the Cannes Film Festival was always going to be a bit chaotic. A festival organized in the middle of a pandemic, with Spike Lee as its jury president, and smack in the middle of summer was bound to result in a few surprises. Still, it was hard to imagine that the festival would end with Lee accidentally spoiling Julia Ducournau's historic victory as Titane went home with the Palme d'Or.
In perhaps the emotional opposite to the Moonlight/La La Land fiasco at the 2017 Oscars, Lee got asked to name the "first prize" of the festival. Rather than just reading the first category, the jury president cut right to the chase and announced "The film that won the Palme d'Or is Titane..." and a wave of confusion, laughter and shouting ensured. Honestly, the entire thing is just delightful and one of the best movie awards moments in years, and you can watch it here.
As surprising as it is deserved, Titane is one of the weirdest, wildest movies to have played at Cannes, and one of the best and strangest movies of the year, period. Equal parts disturbing, funny, and tender, Ducournau made both a better movie about transformations than Transformers, and a better movie about loving fast cars than any of the Fast and Furious movies. As I wrote in my review of the film:
"This is an incredible show of force from a director defying all conventions and expectations, a diesel nightmare of fire and metal, and an unpredictably fun time at the theater (though a drive-in might be more appropriate)."
What makes the award so special is two-fold. For one, Titane is an unapologetic genre film, and a weird one at that. Seeing a film where (redacted because of spoilers) win such a prestigious award feels like validation and a confirmation that Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water wasn't an anomaly. More importantly, this is only the second time ever a female director takes home the Palme d'Or, after Jane Campion won for The Piano in 1993. That last year's winner, Parasite, went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars will surely excite fans of Ducournau's latest.
Even with the top prize being announced at the start of the show, the closing ceremony for the Cannes film festival still had a few more surprises. Check out the full list of winners below, and keep an eye out as more details of Titane's release are released.
Palme d’Or: Titane
Grand Prix: (tie) A Hero and Compartment No. 6
Jury Prize: (tie): Ahed’s Knee and Memoria
Best Actress: Renate Reinsve, The Worst Person in the World
Best Actor: Caleb Landry Jones, Nitram
Best Director: Leos Carax, Annette
Best Screenplay: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car
Camera d’Or: Murina by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović
Last, but certainly not least, the Palme Dog awards went to Tilda Swinton's trio of spaniel pooches for their roles in The Souvenir Part II.