The Clint Eastwood-directed film about a mother in search of missing son wasn't able to nail Cannes' top honor, Palme d'Or, as winners were announced on Sunday, May 25.
- May 26, 2008
AceShowbiz - Having renowned director Clint Eastwood as its helmer and garnering rave reviews from movie critics for Angelina Jolie's performance, "The Exchange" came to the 61st Cannes Film Festival Competition with a head start. However, it seems that the film used to be known as "Changeling" didn't deliver that well. At Cannes' coveted awards ceremony on Sunday, May 25, the thriller tidbit was left without any awards.
For the coveted Palme d'Or award, the Universal Pictures' movie about a mother fighting to find her missing son has to admit defeat from the French movie "The Class (Entre les Murs)" by director Laurent Cantet. Aside from losing Palme d'Or, both Eastwood and Jolie are also singled out by Turkish helmer Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Brazilian actress Sandra Corveloni who got Best Director prize for "hree Monkeys" and Best Actress kudo for "Linha de Passe" in respective order. Commenting on the lost, Jolie said, "If that happens and it goes to somebody that it boosts their career, that's great. Winning is not the important thing. It's fun to be here with something we are actually very proud of."
Beside "Exchange", another notable film left out from the awards is the two-part biopic about the life of Argentine revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, "The Argentine" and "Guerrilla". Still, the Steven Soderbergh's biopic managed to bring praises for its actor Benicio Del Toro who nabbed the Best Leading Actor award. Other winners included Matteo Garrone's "Gomorra" which garnered Grand Prize kudo, "Le Silence de Lorna" with Best Screenplay price and Paolo Sorrentino's "Il Divo" which was awarded the Jury Price as well. Meanwhile, the Camera d'Or award for first-time filmmaker was given to Steve McQueen for his work in "Hunger".
At the special event, the jury that was led by Sean Penn and included actress Natalie Portman also honored both Catherine Deneuve for "A Christmas Tale (Un conte de Noel)" and Eastwood for "Exchange" with Special 61st Anniversary Award. The special celebration held at the last day of the film festival at the Grand Theatre Lumiere marked the closing of the film event which was ended with the screening of Barry Levinson's "What Just Happened?".
The winners' list of Cannes' In Competition Feature Films:
- Palme d'Or: "The Class (Entre les Murs)", Laurent Cantet
- Grand Prix: "Gomorra", Matteo Garrone
- Special 61st Anniversary Award: Catherine Deneuve, "A Christmas Tale (Un conte de Noel)" and Clint Eastwood for "The Exchange"
- Best Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan, "Three Monkeys"
- Jury Prize: "Il Divo", Paolo Sorrentino
- Best Leading Actor: Benicio Del Toro, "Che"
- Best Leading Actress: Sandra Corveloni, "Linha de Passe"
- Best Screenplay: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, "Le Silence de Lorna"
