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Leos Carax's "Holy Motors," did not win a prize as expected, but it was definitely nominated for one. In the past the competition jury was not allowed to speak about the deliberations, but now, as Nanni Moretti, the Jury's chair, said, that taboo has been broken. Not only can they speak about it, but they can hold an official press conference.
When Moretti was asked why there was no prize given to "Holy Motors" applause broke out in the Press Room. That is very unusual. I thought he would sidestep the question and in the beginning he did. Moretti said there were many films that didn't win a prize. Technically, he was correct. There were 22 films in competition.
But then, he took it straight on. He acknowledged that three films divided the Jury more than any others, the Carax film Holy Motors, Ulrich Seidl's film "Paradise: Love" (about the white Sugar Mamas from Austria who go to Kenya to buy love from the local gigolos), and Carlos Reygadas' "Post Tenebras Lux." He concluded that out of those three there was perhaps the most talk about "Holy Motors," but Reygadas won the prize.
Juror Andrea Arnold (British director of "Fish Tank,") defended Reygadas, saying how much she loved images in that film. Juror Raoul Peck also defended it saying it appealed to both his intellect and his emotions and he thought the director took great risks with a film that perhaps had a fractured structure.
At the beginning of the press conference someone made a statement that some of the films in the festival seemed more concerned with style than their characters. I wonder if that ultimately is what derailed "Holy Motors."
Juror Alexander Payne ("The Descendants") was asked how he felt that none of the seven films from North American had won a prize, and whether he would be able to go back to America. The Jury quickly boo-booed the question. Gaultier pointed out that he and Emmanuelle Devos were French and there were no French awards. And Alexander Payne said you cannot judge a trend in films by country borders, nor one event.
Andrea Arnold sneered, as she did when a journalist asked Gaultier which film had the best costumes. Gaultier said he saw no costumes, meaning the clothes in each film were so well integrated into the movie that none stood out as costumes, they were all appropriate. It seemed like a fair question and a fair answer, but Andrea Arnold jumped in and attacked the journalist for asking a stupid question. She said Gaultier was an intelligent man like the rest of the jury and shouldn't be thought of as only looking at clothes. She continued on the attack until the moderator Henri Behar told her the question had been sufficiently answered, then she apologized and said she was a little drunk, but felt protective of Gaultier.
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