Almodovar Admits His Cannes 2017 Presidency Was a Sh*tshow

There are some real doozies in Pedro Almodovar’s recent Spanish-language interview. I’ve covered many of them already in the past 24 hours. However, Almodovar is, finally, acknowledging the sh*tshow that was his Cannes presidency in 2017.

In the interview, the Spanish master talks about what a disappointing experience it was to be Cannes president. It is hinted by him that there were people on the jury who were unpleasant and aggressively imposed their criteria. Almodovar quite simply did not want to fight and tried to make it as democratic a vote as possible for the Palme d’Or. He even admits to not liking the resulting prize winners either. He does, however, acknowledge that his favorites that year were “120 BPM”, “The Square” and “You Were Never Really Here,” adding that it was a weak year for the festival.

Indeed, Cannes 2017, for many, was one of the weakest editions the fest’s history, but there were still some highlights. It wasn’t just the competition, but there also were excellent titles in the sidebars.

David Lynch premiered the first two episodes of “Twin Peaks: The Return.” Director’s Fortnight had Sean Baker’s “The Florida Project” and Chloe Zhao’s “The Rider,” both deserved to be in competition that year. Ditto Agnes Varda’s “Faces/Places,”

However, let’s focus on the competition. Here are the 19 films that were vying for the Palme d’Or.

Ruben Ostlund’s “The Square” eventually won the Palme, but not without controversy. Venice programmer Cédric Succivalli put it this way:

“I would have been with Pedro on this one, Campillo's BPM easily! What a pity Will Smith vehemently 'blocked' this one because he was utterly shocked by the representation of masculine fluids on screen! I will never forget Pedro's tears during the post ceremony press conference...”

There was a lot of tension between jury President Pedro Almodóvar and juror Will Smith when the latter blocked the former's favorite — Robin Campillo's gay activism historical drama BPM — from winning the Palme in 2017. Supposedly, Sorrentino backed up Smith as well in the anti-BPM block.

Smith’s fellow jurors, Jessica Chastain and Maren Ade specifically, were also ready to reward Campillo the Palme, but Smith didn’t relent in his opposition. Oddly enough, Smith’s Palme pick was one of the critical misfires from that year’s competition: Kornél Mundruczó‘s “Jupiter’s Moon.”

So, five years hence, what actually should have the Palme? I would have gone with a somewhat radical choice, an “action” movie, The Safdies’ pulse-pounding “Good Time,” followed by Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here,” Ostlund’s “The Square,” Michael Haneke’s underrated “Happy End” and Andrea Zvyagintsev’s “Loveless.”