‘Anatomy of a Fall’ wins Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or; 3rd time female director wins top honor

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Justine Triet, winner of the Palme d’Or for ‘Anatomy of a Fall,’ poses for photographers during a photo call following the awards ceremony at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

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Jonathan Glazer, winner of the jury prize award for the film ‘The Zone of Interest’, poses for photographers during a photo call following the awards ceremony at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

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Koji Yakusho, winner of the award for best actor for ‘Perfect Days’, poses for photographers during a photo call following the awards ceremony at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

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Merve Dizdar, winner of the award for best actress for ‘About Dry Grasses,’ poses for photographers during a photo call following the awards ceremony at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

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Pham Thien An winner of the Camera d’or award for ‘Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell,’ from left, Quentin Tarantino, Jonathan Glazer winner of the jury prize award for ‘The Zone of Interest’, Justine Triet winner of the Palme d’Or for ‘Anatomy of a Fall,’ Hirokazu Koreeda holding the award for best screenplay for ‘Monster’ on behalf of Yuji Sakamoto, Koji Yakusho winner of the award for best actor for ‘Perfect Days,’ and Alma Poysti winner of the jury prize award for ‘Dead Leaves,’ appear during the awards ceremony of the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023 (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

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Justine Triet, winner of the Palme d’Or for ‘Anatomy of a Fall,’ second from left, Antoine Reinartz, from left, Sandra Huller and Milo Machado Graner pose for photographers during a photo call following the awards ceremony at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

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Jane Fonda poses for photographers upon arrival at the awards ceremony during the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)

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Roger Corman addresses the audience during the awards ceremony of the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023 (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

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Swann Arlaud, from left, director Justine Triet, Sandra Huller and Milo Machado Graner pose for photographers at the photo call for the film ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

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Eva Longoria poses for photographers upon arrival at the awards ceremony during the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

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Donata Wenders, left, and Wim Wenders pose for photographers upon arrival at the awards ceremony during the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)

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Hirokazu Koreeda, left, and Sakura Ando pose for photographers upon arrival at the awards ceremony during the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

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Fan Bingbing poses for photographers upon arrival at the awards ceremony during the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

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Tom Hanks, from left, Scarlett Johansson, director Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film ‘Asteroid City’ at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

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Harrison Ford poses for photographers with his honorary Palme d’Or at the photo call for the film ???Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny??? at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Friday, May 19, 2023. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

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El director Todd Haynes, a la izquierda, y Natalie Portman posan para retratos de la película ‘May December’ en la 76a edición del festival internacional de cine de Cannes, en el sur de Francia, el domingo 21 de mayo de 2023. (Foto Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP)

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Alicia Vikander poses for photographers at the photo call for the film ‘Firebrand’ at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

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Scarlett Johansson poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film ‘Asteroid City’ at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

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Director Justine Triet poses for photographers at the photo call for the film ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

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Rita Wilson, from left, Tom Hanks, composer Alexandre Desplat, Bryan Cranston and Maya Hawke pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film ‘Asteroid City’ at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. (Photo by Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP)

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Lily-Rose Depp poses for photographers at the photo call for the television series “The Idol” at the 76th international television series festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

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Ethan Hawke, left, and director Pedro Almodovar pose for portrait photographs for the film ‘Strange Way of Life’ at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Thursday, May 18, 2023. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)

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Julianne Moore poses for photographers at the photo call for the film ‘May December’ at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Sunday, May 21, 2023. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

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Jane Fonda poses for photographers upon arrival at the awards ceremony during the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

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Jury members Rungano Nyoni, from left, Paul Dano, Denis Menochet, Ruben Ostlund, Maryam Touzani, Atiq Rahim, Damian Szifron, Julia Ducournau, and Brie Larson pose for photographers upon arrival at the awards ceremony during the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)

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Quentin Tarantino, left, and Roger Corman appear during the awards ceremony of the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023 (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

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Daniella Pick, left, and Quentin Tarantino pose for photographers upon arrival at the awards ceremony during the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 27, 2023. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

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By JAKE COYLE

Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” won the Palme d’Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival in a ceremony Saturday that bestowed the festival’s prestigious top prize on an engrossing, rigorously plotted French courtroom drama that puts a marriage on trial.

“Anatomy of a Fall,” which stars Sandra Hüller as a writer trying to prove her innocence in her husband’s death, is only the third film directed by a woman to win the Palme d’Or. One of the two previous winners, Julia Ducournau, was on this year’s jury.

Cannes’ Grand Prix, its second prize, went to Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest,” a chilling Martin Amis adaptation about a German family living next door to Auschwitz. Hüller also stars in that film.

The awards were decided by a jury presided over by two-time Palme winner Ruben Östlund, the Swedish director who won the prize last year for “Triangle of Sadness.” The ceremony preceded the festival’s closing night film, the Pixar animation “Elemental.”

Remarkably, the award for “Anatomy of a Fall” gives the indie distributor Neon its fourth straight Palme winners. Neon, which acquired the film after its premiere in Cannes, also backed “Triangle of Sadness,”Ducournau’s “Titane” and Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” which it steered to a best picture win at the Academy Awards.

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Anya Taylor-Joy in a scene from "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

‘Furiosa,’ the follow-up to ‘Mad Max: Fury Road,’ will premiere at Cannes Film Festival

Triet was presented the Palme by Jane Fonda, who recalled coming to Cannes in 1963 when, she said, there were no female filmmakers competing “and it never even occurred to us that there was something wrong with that.” This year, a record seven out of the 21 films in competition at Cannes were directed by women.

After a rousing standing ovation, Triet, the 44-year-old French filmmaker, spoke passionately about the protests that have roiled France this year over reforms to pension plans and the retirement age. Several protests were held during Cannes this year, but demonstrations were — as they have been in many high-profile locations throughout France — banned from the area around the Palais des Festivals. Protesters were largely relegated to the outskirts of Cannes.

“The protests were denied and repressed in a shocking way,” said Triet, who linked that governmental influence to that in cinema. “The merchandizing of culture, defended by a liberal government, is breaking the French cultural exception.”

“This award is dedicated to all the young women directors and all the young male directors and all those who cannot manage to shoot films today,” she added. “We must give them the space I occupied 15 years ago in a less hostile world where it was still possible to make mistakes and start again.”

After the ceremony, Triet reflected on being the third female director to win the Palme, following Ducournau and Jane Campion (“The Piano”).

“Things are truly changing,” she said.

Speaking to reporters, Triet was joined by her star, Hüller, whose performance was arguably the most acclaimed of the festival. (The festival encourages juries not to give films more than one award.) But “Anatomy of a Fall” did pocket one other sought-after prize: the Palme Dog. The honor given to the best canine in the festival’s films went to the film’s border collie, Snoop.

The jury prize went to Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s “Fallen Leaves,” a deadpan love story about a romance that blooms in a loveless workaday Helsinki where dispatches from the war in Ukraine regularly play on the radio.

Best actor went to veteran Japanese star Koji Yakusho, who plays a reflective, middle-aged Tokyo man who cleans toilets in Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days,” a gentle, quotidian character study.

The Turkish actor Merve Dizdar took best actress for the Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “About Dry Grasses.” Ceylan’s expansive tale is set in snowy eastern Anatolia about a teacher, Samet (Deniz Celiloğlu), accused of misconduct by a young female student. Dizdar plays a friend both attracted and repelled by Samet.

“I understand what it’s like to be a woman in this area of the country,” said Dizdar. “I would like to dedicate this prize to all the women who are fighting to exist and overcome difficulties in this world and to retrain hope.”

Vietnamese-French director Tràn Anh Hùng took best director for “Pot-au-Feu,” a lush, foodie love story starring Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel and set in a 19th century French gourmet château.

Best screenplay was won by Yuji Sakamoto for “Monster.” Sakamoto penned Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s nuanced drama, with shifting perspectives, about two boys struggling for acceptance in their school at home. “Monster” also won the Queer Palm, an honor bestowed by journalists for the festival’s strongest LGBTQ-themed film.

Quentin Tarantino, who won Cannes’ top award for “Pulp Fiction,” attended the ceremony to present a tribute to filmmaker Roger Corman. Tarantino praised Corman for filling him and countless moviegoers with “unadulterated cinema pleasure.”

“My cinema is uninhibited, full of excess and fun,” said Corman, the independent film maverick. “I feel like this what Cannes is about.”

The festival’s Un Certain Regard section handed out its awards on Friday, giving the top prize to Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature, “How to Have Sex.”

Saturday’s ceremony drew to close a Cannes edition that hasn’t lacked spectacle, stars or controversy.

The biggest wattage premieres came out of competition. Martin Scorsese debuted his Osage murders epic “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a sprawling vision of American exploitation with Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” Harrison Ford’s Indy farewell, launched with a tribute to Ford. Wes Anderson premiered “Asteroid City.”

The festival opened on a note of controversy. “Jeanne du Barry,” a period drama co-starring Johnny Depp as Louis XV, played as the opening night film. The premiere marked Depp’s highest profile appearance since the conclusion of his explosive trial last year with ex-wife Amber Heard.

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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

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For more coverage of this year’s festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/cannes-film-festival

JAKE COYLE

Film writer and critic