It wasn’t a surprise when Terrence Malick won the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2011 with “The Tree of Life,” it was the most critically-praised movie of the festival’s 64th edition and even ended up #2 in our Best Movies of the 2010s critics poll. However, it turns out that Malick’s masterpiece was not the original choice for the Palme. Speaking to the French publication Liberation (via The Film Stage), Olivier Assayas has confirmed long-standing rumors that Lars von Trier’s “Melancholia” was the film that actually won the jury’s hearts.
Assayas, who served on the jury with President Robert De Niro, said De Niro was actually “unfamiliar with international cinema” (I’m not surprised there). According to Assayas, only Jude Law and himself believed “The Tree of Life” should have won the Palme d’Or. The majority of the jury members actually wanted the magnificent “Melancholia” and the only reason why they decided to switch it from von Trier to Malick was because of the infamous “Melancholia” press conference where von Trier made some insensitive anti-semitic jokes, saying he understood why Hitler did what he did and could sympathize with the former Nazi dictator.
Assayas said. “Everyone got on their high horse. My position was to say that I was not engaged as a morality judge, and that ‘Melancholia’ was magnificent. There were consequences on the record, as he was a serious contender for the [Palme d’Or]. At first, there were only two of us, Jude Law and I, who thought that Terrence Malick’s ‘The Tree of Life’ could also claim the highest prize. The reason other members joined our cause was because they had lost their favorite.”
The jury ended up awarding Melancholia’s Kristen Dunst the Best Actress prize. Assayas served on that jury alongside President Robert De Niro, and members Jude Law, Uma Thurman, actress Martina Gusmán, producer Nansun Shi, writer Linn Ullmann, and filmmakers Mahamat-Saleh Haroun and Johnnie To.
The fact that the De Niro-led crew couldn’t separate the art from the artist is not that surprising, as many can’t seem to do that these days, but not giving the Palme to Von Trier just because of his comments is such a wanker-induced decision. The prize should always go to the best and most deserving film, no matter what was said or done off-set. I would have personally rewarded “The Tree of Life” the Palme, but “Melancholia” is a close second, a film that was a stunning and almost-religious experience when I first saw it back in the fall of 2011.
Cannes 2011 had noteworthy films which included also included “The Artist,” “Footnote,” “The Kid With A Bike,” “Once Upon A Time In Anatolia,” “The Skin I Live In,” and “We Need to Talk About Kevin.” So, there was a lot to choose from, but the jury debated the right two movies for the top prize.