We didn't expect it, but Julia Ducournau's “Titanium” won the Palme d'Or.
She is the second woman and the first Frenchwoman to win the trophy.
This genre film as divisive as it is virtuoso reveals Agathe Rousselle and defends inclusion with passion by telling the story of a psychopath and her strange relationship with an aging firefighter played by Vincent Lindon.
What a pleasant surprise to see Julia Ducournau win the Palme d'Or for
Titane
!
The director is the second woman (after Jane Campion for
La Leçon de piano
in 1993) and the first French woman to win the precious trophy.
“We are happy that the Palm has been awarded to a woman,” added Jessica Hausner, director of the film
Little Joe
and member of the jury, “but this was never taken into account in our discussions.
"
And not for just any woman!
She is only 37 years old.
And only two films to his credit.
Discovered by Critics' Week for
Grave
in 2016, as a cannibalistic tale, the filmmaker here signs the portrait of a psychopath embodied by Agathe Rousselle, magnetic revelation of a disturbing film.
Horror cinema does not horrify him. On condition of disturbing without repugnance:
“
I don't like creepy films, explained Julia Ducournau to
20 Minutes
at the time of the release of Grave
.
I hope mine are not and that they give off a liberating breath. The director had also told 20 Minutes to be a true fan of Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg.
“
In his films, we see a lot of mutilated and injured bodies… it may seem violent, but he doesn't compromise with death. He does not use words to try to intellectualize it, to soften it, but images. It is very concrete. As in his first film, the influence of the Canadian master is undeniable in his new film
.
"I am delighted to see
Titanium
crowned because genre cinema is too often underestimated", specified Mylène Farmer, another member of the jury.
Clivorous even for the jury
Spike Lee and his jury obviously struggled to come to an agreement as they revealed during the press conference given just after the prize list.
"We had twenty-four films but not twenty-four awards," said Spike Lee.
We knew we had to achieve a result.
So we discussed, with passion, but without ever shouting.
It was very respectful.
"Not enthusiastic Mr. President who, all the same confessed concerning the character played by Agathe Rousselle in
Titane
:" It was the first time that I saw a woman get pregnant by a Cadillac.
"
A few minutes earlier, the filmmaker, very moved between his actress Agathe Rousselle and the other star of the film Vincent Lindon, thanked the jury for "recognizing the visceral need that we have for a more inclusive and more fluid world and to have let in the monsters ”.
Titanium is a very beautiful monster that we can already discover indoors.
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