Five Years Ago, Which of These Films Actually Deserved the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2017?

A twitter user posted about Cannes 2017, for many one of the weakest editions the fest had ever seen, but still plenty of 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. Smith’s fellow jurors, Jessica Chastain and Maren Ade specifically, were also ready to reward Campillo the Palme, but Smith didn’t relent. 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 deserved 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.”