65th Cannes film festival admires 'Amour'

CANNES - The 65th Cannes film festival has handed out its top prize Palme d'Or to "Amour"(Love), as it wrapped up with a star-studded closing ceremony here on the rainy Sunday night in the French Riviera resort.

Director Michael Haneke reacts after receiving the Palme d'Or award for the film "Amour" (Love) during the awards ceremony of the 65th Cannes Film Festival, May 27, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

The ceremony came after all stars walking on the soaked red carpet, as "The Artist" star and hostess Berenice Bejo said, "Nothing will stop the cinema, especially not the rain."

Journalists were packed like sardines in a moderate-size wifi cafe on the third floor of the palace, highly concentrating on the awards announcement live broadcast on TV while bursting into applause and hails from time to time.

Starring two French legendary stars both in their 80s, namely Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuel Riva, "Amour" tells a story of an old man looking after his frail wife hit by a stroke, with actress Isabelle Huppert as the daughter.

It has been the second time for Haneke to win the Palme d'Or since his "The White Ribbon" in 2009. Other previous winners in this year's competition include Ken Loach, Christian Mungiu and Abbas Kiarostami.

Besides the Palme d'Or, the second-place grand prize went to Matteo Garrone's "Reality" while the third-place jury prize was given to Ken Loach's "The Angels' Share."

Mads Mikkelsen was awarded the best actor for "The Hunt" while Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan were jointly given the best actress award for starring in the "Beyond the Hills."

Carlos Reygadas took the best director award home for his "Post Tenebras Lux" that features a story of a Mexican family, while Cristian Mungiu's "Beyond the Hills" was given the best screenplay award and Benh Zeitli's "Beasts of the Southern Wild" won the Camera d'Or for best first film.

It is believed to be of great help in boosting the box office as well as other potential awards for all contenders at the festivals to bring home a prize.

The nine-strong jury for the main competition was headed by Italian director and Palme d'Or winner Nanni Moretti, who said in a press conference following the closing ceremony that "none of the awards had been handed out unanimously."

Commenting on the fact that superstars including Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman ended up going home empty-handed, Moretti said, "I am not against glamour, but it has to be in the films that please me."

Several jury members, including British director Andrea Arnold and Haitian director Raoul Peck, said they were deeply touched by "Amour" for its tenderness and sincerity.

This year's competition line-up embraced a breadth of subjects and types, although with violence and sex repeatedly touched.

There were no female directors in this year's competition line-up, and only two in the new talent section, namely Catherine Corsini and Sylvie Verheyde, both from France.

Films out of the main competition included the 3D animation "Madagascar 3: Europe's most wanted", Ken Burns' documentary "The Central Park Five" and Philip Kaufman's "Hemingway & Gellhorn", among many others.

The Cannes film festival has been held annually since 1946, with the exception of 1948 and 1950 due to lack of funds.

This year, the world's top movie showcase that ran from May 15 to 27 was a bit depressed by lingering rainy and windy weather for a few days in the middle of the festival as well as sudden rains on Sunday night.

Last year, the Palme d'Or went to "The Tree of Life" by veteran American filmmaker Terrence Malick, while this year's 22 competition films were picked out of nearly 1,800 submissions.

Claude Miller's "Therese Desqueyroux" was screened at the end of this year's closing ceremony.