Paul Schrader Slams Cannes for Honoring John Travolta With Palme d’Or: “It’s an Embarrassment”

Paul Schrader doesn’t give a flying thought to what others think. Exhibit A is his Facebook account, which is clearly managed by him, with no PR firm involved.

He’s now taking aim at the Cannes Film Festival, which awarded John Travolta an honorary Palme d’Or over the weekend. Schrader is slamming that decision with a short passage posted online:

I can’t fathom the thinking behind this. It’s an embarrassment.

Sour grapes much? Sure, there are plenty of other actors who may have deserved the honor more, but it’s not as if Travolta is some acting journeyman. Plus, he was already at the fest when it happened, presenting his directorial debut, so the timing made sense.

It’s not like Travolta hasn’t left a mark on film history either. Au contraire. Once upon a time, he was a bona fide movie star — a household name with a filmography that could make most actors weep with envy: “Pulp Fiction,” “Saturday Night Fever,” “Grease,” “Blow Out,” “Face/Off,” “Urban Cowboy,” and “Get Shorty.” Sure, these days the guy is basically squatting on a throne built out of straight-to-VOD rubble, but the Palme was meant to honor the totality of his career.

Travolta was originally supposed to star in Schrader’s 1980 film “American Gigolo” — the role that ultimately went to Richard Gere. Travolta had dropped out shortly before filming.   More recently, former Paramount executive Barry Diller claimed Travolta may also have been uncomfortable with the film’s “gay subtext,” and Schrader himself reportedly echoed that interpretation.

As for what Schrader, something tells me his next film, “The Basics of Philosophy,” was rejected by Cannes for this year’s edition. Just a hunch. It’s supposed to premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September.