The Palme d'Or, can horror take Cannes?
Posted by Ms Harker | Filed under Horror Films
The list of films in contention for competition at Cannes 2009 was announced a couple of days ago. Much to my delight two films which I have featured already on this blog, as I am very excited about them Thirst and Antichrist are in the running. ‘The Woman in Black’ over at Dread Central published a list of the films she considered within the horror genre which are in the running for the Palme d’Or (best film of the festival) and also those that will be showing simply as part of the festival program. Sam Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell is showing as part of the program also. These three films I’m very keen to see especially Thirst.
However ‘The Woman in Black’s’ post got me thinking. Has a horror film ever won the Palme d’Or at Cannes? I went to the site and looked through the list of winners which dated back to 1956 and struggled to spot one. Apocalypse Now won the Palme d’Or in 1979, does that count as horror? Lets say it does, that’s one film in the Horror genre that has taken Cannes since 1956! What goes on?
There is a lot of buzz going around about Lars von Trier’s Antichrist. He won the Palme d’Or in 2000 with Dancer in the Dark, starring Bjork. Can he do it again with Willem Dafoe’s bare arse and a tree made of human limbs? People are a twittering and a blogging about it mainly due to Anitchrist being Lars von Trier’s first foray into the horror genre. There are also some stunning stills that have been released from the film on their website; which if they are any indication the film is not only going to be chilling but visually captivating and challenging.
Now I could be wrong, there may be other films that people consider horror that have won at Cannes. Or is it that the genre is usually ignored due to artsy snobbery and the reason it has a look in this year is due to the past success of Lars von Trier? Or shock, gasp, *clutch at neck* has horror been accepted as mainstream and therefore broken into these competitions, shaking the assumptions that all produced within the genre are low brow gore fests.
So the question I have for you my readers is this horror’s year at Cannes?
Ms Harker
Is horror becoming mainstream?
3 Responses to “The Palme d'Or, can horror take Cannes?”
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hagiblog Says:
April 27th, 2009 at 2:03 amI have to say that horror’s probably been mainstream for awhile now. Scream and The Blair Witch Project seemed to bring horror to the forefront.
That’s great as it gets more horror films made and put into theaters where I can actually see them but there’s the downside. We get the usual crap that the studios put out and call horror. I still prefer the less known releases since they seem to try to break new ground more often.
I think it’s about time that some great horror films get recognized at Cannes. At least they’re showing them, but I’m not sure it will ever be horror’s time to win. Isn’t that the fun of it though? Being a horror fan is like being in your own little group that others look down on. Something about that excites me. Of course I used to wear makeup to school and always enjoyed being into what others hated. HAHA! -
horrorsnotdead Says:
April 28th, 2009 at 12:17 pmThis is certainly horror’s year in terms of showing up guns blazing, but no matter how good ANTICHRIST is, it’ll never trump fest bait like a THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY, for example. I’m glad there is cross over and jealous as fuck that there is, actually, but a Palme d’Or may never happen.
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jessbo88 Says:
April 29th, 2009 at 7:58 pmCan’t a girl dream
You’re right though re: Antichrist, I was hoping ‘Thirst’ would get some more coverage but its all about Dafoe’s arse. However as you said there is more presence in the genre this year, which has me clicking my nails with glee!Ms Harker
