Norway-set drama about political polarization ‘Fjord’ wins Palme d’Or at Cannes

Cristian Mungiu’s Norway-set drama about political polarization, “Fjord,” has won the Palme d’Or, handing the Cannes Film Festival ’s top honor for the second time to Mungiu, the Romanian director of “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.”

At a 79th Cannes Film Festival that saw few films cause a stir, “Fjord” found wide admiration for its engrossing tale of what Mungiu called “left-wing fundamentalism.” It stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as Romanian Evangelicals who move to Norway, but soon after have their children taken from them by child services for spanking them.

“Today the society is split. It’s divided. It’s radicalized,” said Mungiu. “This film is a pledge against any type of fundamentalism. It’s a pledge for these things we quote very often, like trauma and inclusion and empathy. These are lovely words but we need to apply them more often.”

Mungiu becomes just the 10th filmmaker to win the Palme d’Or twice. His “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” a Romanian abortion drama, won the award in 2007.

The win for “Fjord” extends one of the movies’ most extraordinary streaks. Neon, the specialty label, has now taken seven Palme d’Or winners in a row. “Fjord” adds to its unparalleled run, including last year’s champion, Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident,” and the 2024 winner, “Anora.” The latter went on to win best picture at the Oscars.

‘Minotaur’ wins Grand Prix

The Grand Prix, or second prize, went to “Minotaur,” Andrey Zvyagintsev’s domestic thriller set against Russia’s war with Ukraine. Loosely based on Claude Chabrol’s 1969 film “The Unfaithful Wife,” “Minotaur” is about a Russian businessman suspicious of his wife’s indiscretions. At the same time, he’s tasked with conscripting 150 of his workers for Vladimir Putin’s war machine.

“The only person who can stop this butchery is you, Mr. President of the Russian Federation,” Zvyagintsev said, accepting his award. “Put an end to this slaughter. The whole world is waiting for this.”

By wide consensus, it wasn’t a banner festival. Hollywood largely sat out this year’s edition. Many of the selections struggled to bowl over critics. The global buzz that Cannes typically generates was fitful at best.

But the awards handed out Saturday as the 79th Cannes drew to a close will significantly raise the international profiles of the winners. Last year’s Cannes produced a long string of Oscar nominees, including “Sentimental Value” and “The Secret Agent.”

The nine-member jury that decided the awards was headed by Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook. Demi Moore, Chloé Zhao and Stellan Skarsgård were also jurors. Chan-wook, a Cannes regular including last year with his satirical thriller “No Other Choice,” joked that he preferred not to give away the Palme.

“To be honest, I didn’t want to award the Palme d’Or to any of the films, because it’s an award I myself have never gotten,” Chan-wook told reporters after the ceremony. “But I had no other choice.”

Awards are split and shared

Two films won for best director: the Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski, for his postwar drama “Fatherland,” and the Spanish creative duo Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo for “The Black Ball,” a generation-spanning queer epic “The Black Ball.”

It was Pawlikowski’s second time winning the same Cannes prize in as many films, following his “Cold War” in 2018. But the award marked a breakthrough for Ambrossi and Calvo in their first Cannes entry.

“No one knew us. Thierry didn’t know us,” Ambrossi told reporters, referring to Thierry Fremaux, Cannes artistic director. “It was just that the movie spoke.”

Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto, the two stars of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden” shared the best actress award. In the elegantly empathetic drama, the two play women brought together in friendship out of their mutual sense of care for others.

The jury also split the best actor prize. They chose Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne, the two stars of “Coward,” Lukas Dhont’s drama about young Belgian men sent to the front lines of World War II.

The prize for best screenplay was awarded to Emmanuel Marre for “A Man of His Time,” a French drama about a Nazi collaborator in Vichy France. Marre based it on the experiences of his own great-grandfather.

The jury prize, or third place, went to German filmmaker Valeska Grisebach’s “The Dreamed Adventure,” a crime drama set in a Bulgarian border town.

Saturday’s ceremony was missing its tribute honoree. Barbra Streisand was to receive an honorary Palme d’Or, but a knee injury prevented her from attending. Isabelle Huppert nevertheless celebrated Streisand during the ceremony, and Streisand appeared in a taped video message.

The Camera d’Or, Cannes’ award for best first film, went to Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo’s post-genocide drama “Ben’Imana,” the first Rwandan film to be officially selected for the festival.

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