The 2009 Cannes Film Festival Approaches! Five of the Best Palme D'Or Winners Reviewed

The Cannes Film Festival has been a mainstay within the film industry for over sixty years now. This prestigious festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France. This year, the 62nd annual Cannes Film Festival runs from May 13 to May 24, 2009. Many films that are showcased go on to critical success, assisted by buzz created at the Festival and broadcast by mass media exposure. This of itself is reason for a film's stakeholders to desire inclusion; however, what everyone wants is the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm in English). Of all the prizes awarded during Cannes, the Palme d'Or is the highest honor.

The Palme d'Or was first created in 1955 by the organizing committee and supplanted the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film as the top honor. In 1964 due to copyright problems with the Palme, the Grand Prix again became the top prize, only to be replaced by the Palme d'Or in 1974. Since 1974, it has remained the top honor.

Each year, twenty films are selected by the Cannes Film Festival Committee to compete for the Palme d'Or. This year, Pixar's "Up" has been announced as the 2009 Cannes Film Festival's opener on the official site. However, the full lineup for selected films is a closely guarded secret until a press release just before the Festival and is a popular topic of speculation amongst film critics. Films that have been mentioned as possible candidates include Francis Ford Coppola's "Tetro" starring Vincent Gallo, Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds" starring Brad Pitt, Jaco van Dormael's "Mr. Nobody" starring Jared Leto, and "Amelie" director Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Micmacs a tire-larigot."

Below are five films that I consider to be the best Palme d'Or winners (of those I have seen) in the recent history of the Cannes Film Festival:

Taxi Driver (1976, Martin Scorsese): In my book, Martin Scorsese's finest work. It is what all good films should be: emotionally and intellectually arresting, thought-provoking, visually rich, and brilliantly scripted. Robert de Niro is a mentally unstable taxi driver in New York who slowly goes over the line from alienation and loneliness into full-fledged psychopathy. His iconic performance as Travis Bickle is matched with equally superb performances by Cybill Shepherd as Travis' sultry love interest, Jodie Foster as a world-weary underage prostitute and Harvey Keitel as her pimp.

The Mission (1986, Roland Joffé): Another movie starring Robert de Niro, co-starring Jeremy Irons and Liam Neeson. Ennio Morricone's tremendous musical score is just as responsible for the success of The Mission as the film itself. Powerful, moving, joyous, and sublime, it weaves through the story of a Jesuit priest (Jeremy Irons) and a mercenary (Robert de Niro) battling to defend their mission from attacking Portuguese colonists. Rodrigo's self-hatred and eventual redemption is the defining highlight of this deeply affecting film.

Barton Fink (1991, Joel and Ethan Coen): Starring John Goodman and the cinematic chameleon John Turturro, Barton Fink is a sometimes surreal film noir that leads the viewer on a spooky and cryptic cinematic journey. It tells the tale of Barton Fink (John Turturro), a newly successful playright experiencing writer's block, who becomes entangled in a strange murder mystery involving Charlie Meadows (John Goodman), his overly friendly neighbor at the Hotel Earle.

Pulp Fiction (1994, Quentin Tarantino): This movie brought back the career of John Travolta, launched a string of copycats with its non-linear storytelling, and reinvigorated interest in 60's and 70's music through its soundtrack. Quentin Tarantino pays homage to "pulp fiction" (inexpensive pulp magazines focusing on sensational violence and sex) with an all-star cast in this black comedy about mobsters, criminals, drug dealers, and hitmen.

Dancer in the Dark (2000, Lars von Trier): A musical film drama starring Bjork, with supporting performances by Catherine Deneuve and David Morse. This film is not for the fainthearted. It is gloomy from beginning to end. Bjork's music is an acquired taste. The ending scene is enough to make the staunchest conservative weep through a box of Kleenex. Yet for all that, it is unforgettable. Bjork is Selma Ježková, a dirt-poor czech factory worker suffering from a degenerative eye disease, who is saving her meager pennies to pay for an operation that will save her son from the blindness that has overtaken her own life. Selma's vivid imagination provides escapism from her drab life in the form of musical numbers. After her performance in this movie, Bjork declared she would never act again, so emotionally draining it was.

www.festival-cannes.com/en.html Official 2009 Cannes Film Festival site

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30035623/ "Possible Cannes Lineup Generating Buzz"