The 10 worst Palme d’Or winners of all time
There was a point in time when audiences would heed every word of the annual awards shows and festivals, with audience members queuing around the block to catch the latest ‘Best Picture’ winner and Oscars contender. Times have indeed changed, and these days people don’t ascribe quite as much importance to such expressions of wealth, yet, even still, the Cannes Film Festival and the coveted Palme d’Or remain significant.
Just like the Oscars, however, where such tripe as 2004’s Crash and 2018’s Green Book has walked away with the ‘Best Picture’ crown, Cannes is capable of making a mistake with their most prized award too. Granted, they’ve never awarded the Palme d’Or to an objectively ‘bad’ movie, but they’ve certainly made slip-ups, missing out on giving the award to a number of stone-cold classics in favour of several duds.
In our list of the ten worst Palme d’Or winners of all time, we’ve cast a critical eye over the history of the Cannes Film Festival and have chosen a collection of movies that didn’t deserve the praise they were heaped with. On our somewhat controversial list, we’ve opted for films from the likes of William Wyler, Louis Malle, Michael Moore, Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne.
Take a look at our full list of rubbish Palme d’Or winners below.
The 10 worst Palme d’Or winners of all time
10. The Son’s Room (Nanni Moretti, 2001)
So, we’re going to be careful with this one, as whilst we don’t think Nanni Moretti’s The Son’s Room is necessarily a rubbish movie, it did beat out a number of undisputed classics. 2001 was an incredible year for movies, but somehow The Son’s Room took home the Palme d’Or when the likes of Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Millennium Mambo, David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive and Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher were also competing.
It’s a good film, but looking back, there’s something a little plain and cliché about Moretti’s movie following a psychoanalyst and his family who have to navigate a bombardment of complex emotions when their son dies.
9. The Class (Laurent Cantet, 2008)
Laurent Cantet’s perfectly fine 2008 drama The Class tells the story of a teacher who has to negotiate with a year group of racially mixed students in a Parisian neighbourhood and stars the likes of François Bégaudeau, Angélica Sancio and Burak Özyilmaz. As previously mentioned, the film is painfully average, providing a somewhat forgettable drama that is rousing whilst you’re watching the movie but is otherwise quite forgettable.
To make matters worse, the Cannes jury of 2008 thought the film was more deserving of the Palme d’Or than Jia Zhangke ‘s 24 City, Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York and Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir.
8. Keeper of Promises (Anselmo Duarte, 1962)
Speaking of painfully average movies, Anselmo Duarte’s Keeper of Promises, which remains the only Brazilian film ever to win the Palme d’Or, was wrongfully awarded the Palme d’Or ahead of some fantastic movies back in 1962. Remarkably managing to beat out the likes of Agnès Varda’s Cléo from 5 to 7, Pietro Germi’s Divorce, Italian Style and Robert Bresson’s The Trial of Joan of Arc.
The film, which stars the likes of Leonardo Villar, Glória Menezes and Dionísio Azevedo, tells the story of a devout Christian who makes a vow to Saint Barbara, only to be misunderstood by his local community.
7. The Child (Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, 2005)
Brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are pretty much Cannes royalty at this point, having won the Palme d’Or twice in their illustrious careers. Still, this isn’t going to stop us from criticising them. Whilst their first win for 1999’s Rosetta felt deserved, their next win, six years later, for their drama about a young couple living on benefits, felt like a bad version of a Ken Loach movie.
What’s worse, The Child managed to beat out many other more deserving movies, including Michael Haneke’s Hidden, Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers and David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence.
6. The Best Intentions (Bille August, 1992)
Winning two Palme d’Or is a feat reserved only for the greatest filmmakers of all time, including Francis Ford Coppola, Ken Loach and Michael Haneke, among others. Still, we can’t truthfully say that Bille August deserves his spot. The director won for Pelle the Conqueror in 1987 and then again for The Best Intentions in 1992, with the latter being an entirely forgettable melodramatic turkey that tells a mundane love story that takes place between two unlikely souls.
As is becoming a trend on this list, August’s film beat out a number of more worthy winners, including Terence Davies’ The Long Day Closes, Robert Altman’s The Player and Jean-Claude Lauzon’s Léolo.
5. The Silent World (Jacques Cousteau, Louis Malle, 1956)
Taking things back to the very start of the festival’s history, Jacques Cousteau and Louis Malle’s 1956 film The Silent World won the Palme d’Or in just the ninth edition of Cannes. A documentary that tells the story of the world beneath the ocean waves, the problem with The Silent World is that, by today’s standards, it’s a rather dull piece of filmmaking, especially when compared to modern greats.
Suppose you want a truly great documentary about the ocean floor. In that case, we’d recommend James Reed and Pippa Ehrlich’s My Octopus Teacher, Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Blackfish or the Blue Planet series narrated by David Attenborough.
4. Friendly Persuasion (William Wyler, 1956)
Don’t get us wrong, William Wyler is one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century. Still, absolutely no one (and we mean no one) would name 1956’s Friendly Persuasion as one of his best over such classics as 1937’s Dead End or 1953’s Roman Holiday, to name just two. Dull and mundane, Friendly Persuasion is a highly forgettable flick that tells the story of a pacifist Quaker family who is tested during the American civil war.
Criminally, Wyler beat the likes of Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, Federico Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria, and Robert Bresson’s A Man Escaped to the top prize, making the win one of the most underserved in Cannes history.
3. The Mission (Roland Joffé, 1986)
There’s no other way of explaining it, Roland Joffé’s 1986 film about 18th-century Spanish Jesuits trying to protect a South American tribe is pure awards bait. Starring Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons and Liam Neeson, The Mission is a middle-of-the-road drama that puts its stars front and centre in impressive clothing and screams for an award. Unfortunately, the Cannes Film Festival listened.
Once again, this is a case of the worst film winning, too, with Andrei Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice, Jim Jarmusch’s Down by Law, and Neil Jordan’s Mona Lisa each missing out on the top prize.
2. Under the Satan Sun (Maurice Pialat, 1987)
Maurice Pialat’s Palme d’Or win for Under the Satan Sun in 1987 was so controversial that the crowd booed when he went up to accept the award, prompting him to turn and shout, “I don’t like you either!”. Telling the story of a priest burdened with his own spirituality, which finds purpose in a woman who has been accused of murder, Under the Satan Sun is a divisive affair that stars Gérard Depardieu and Sandrine Bonnaire.
Beating Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire and Stephen Frears’ Prick Up Your Ears, it’s fair to say that Pialet’s movie is one of the most publicly hated Palme d’Or winners of all time.
1. Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore, 2004)
Taking the top spot on our list of the worst Palme d’Or winners of all time is Michael Moore’s plain documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 from 2004. Put together with his familiar arrogant style that suggests that he is the smartest person in any room on earth, Fahrenheit 9/11 won the most esteemed prize at Cannes thanks to politics alone, being the right film with the right message released at the right time.
Aside from its humble political aims, Fahrenheit 9/11 is pretty bland filmmaking. Indeed, Michael Moore should have never been given a Palme d’Or ahead of his contemporary rivals Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Hirokazu Kore-eda and Park Chan-wook, who each impressed with Tropical Malady, Nobody Knows and Oldboy, respectively.
