The 76th Cannes Film Festival will come to an end on the evening of May 27th local time. As usual, this year’s Palme d’Or has been released on the afternoon of May 26th. The film “Anatomy of Death from a Fall” was shortlisted in the main competition (Anatomie d'une chute) has a wonderful performance in the border collie Messi (Messi), became this year's grand prize winner.
Messi in "The Anatomy of Falling Death"
Founded in 2001, the Dog Palme d'Or is not an official Cannes award, but an idea thought up by a group of media people who come to Cannes every year to watch films and run news. The prize for the award, which used to be a leather dog collar (but this year it was replaced with a red cloth scarf), is awarded to the most scene-stealing dog actor in each year's competition or exhibition. Over the past two decades, dog actors in films such as "Man Without a Past", "Dogville", "The Peerless Queen", "The Artist" and "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" have won this honor.
"The Anatomy of a Falling Death" was written and directed by Frenchman Justine Triet, telling the story of a trial confrontation surrounding a bizarre death. After the second impact of the Palme d'Or. After the film's premiere, it received quite good media reviews, and currently has a 100% freshness rating on the film review website "Rotten Tomatoes" (from 19 media people's ratings).
Award-winning border collie Macy recorded a video to express his gratitude.
Macy Bianmu plays a pet dog named Snoopy in the film. He is the heartfelt playmate of the visually impaired young protagonist in the film, and has many roles. The director also repeatedly stated in an interview with the media that this animal character is very important to the entire film, and its status is not weaker than other characters.
As for the dog that took second place, the Grand Jury Prize, it was Alma, a mixed-breed dog who starred in Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki's new film "Fallen Leaves"—along with the film. Starring Alma Posti's eponymous name-Win, its character in the film is named Chaplin.
Alma the dog, who appeared in "Dead Leaves"
Kaurismaki's work is quite destined for the Dog Palme d'Or. As early as 2002, the dog named Hannibal in "A Man Without a Past" won the Palme d'Or. And the reasonable puppy in "Le Havre" in 2011 also won the jury award. It is worth mentioning that these two dog actors are actually Kaurismaki's domestic dogs, and they and their companions are frequently seen in his works over the years.
This year's Palme d'Or awards ceremony was held at the popular Long Beach restaurant in Cannes, perhaps because of corporate sponsorship - the cryptocurrency pet game platform Dogami, which was just established the year before, became the gold owner. The pomp has surpassed that of previous years, and even three new award categories have been set up.
In the end, the best guest dog award went to the puppy in "La Chimera" (La Chimera), which was shortlisted for the main competition. The Critics' Week entry, Vincent Must Die, received the Outstanding Performing Dog Award for its pit bull terrier. The veteran British director Ken Loach won the Lifetime Achievement Award for his consistent concern for dogs in his past works. This time, his new work "The Old Oak" (The Old Oak), which was shortlisted for the main competition unit, also featured dogs. The black mixed-breed dog Laura (Lola) played a dog named Marla in the film.
Laura the dog in "The Old Oak Tavern"
Audiences who are familiar with Ken Loach's movies may remember that, including "I Am Blake" and other movies, there will be disabled dogs with only three legs left in many of his works. In previous interviews, he said that he intentionally photographed these disabled dogs in almost every movie, but sometimes he could keep them in the finished film, and sometimes he had to reluctantly cut them off during post-editing. On the one hand, its intention is to remind the world to pay attention to the fate of disabled animals. On the other hand, it has been regarded as a lucky sign and psychological hint by him, and it is a talisman for smooth shooting operations. Therefore, in 2016, he was awarded a "Dog Humanism Palme d'Or", and he became the first winner of the new Lifetime Achievement Award set up by the organizer this year.
