Cannes 2002 Report

Abstract

FESTIVAL DE CANNES 2002 - FILMS IN COMPETITION VIEWED from the critical side, the 55th Cannes International Film Festival will unfortunately be remembered by critics and professionals for its faulty jury decisions. Roman Polański's The Pianist (Poland / France / Germany), based on the memoirs of Polish concert pianist Wladislaw Szpilman, was awarded the Golden Palm, although the 150-minute Holocaust drama seemed at best contrived, laboured, and uninspired. Aki Kaurismäki's Mies vailla menneisyyttä (The Man without a Past, Finland / France / Germany), voted the Grand Prix as well as Best Actress Award to Kati Outinen, came across at least as a worthy homage to the American film noir of the postwar years. Jack Nicholson's multilayered performance as a retired "little man" from Midwest America in Alexander Payne's About Schmidt (USA) far outdistanced Olivier Gourmet's straightforward interpretation of a working-man's confrontation with a lad who had unintentionally murdered his...