The highest prize awarded at the annual Cannes Film Festival, the Palme d’Or is the French festival’s version of Best Picture and carries with it automatic Oscar buzz. But, historically speaking, the honor hasn’t automatically translated to Oscar success, as only two Palme d’Or winners have won the Oscar for Best Picture, Marty in 1955 and Parasite in 2022. That’s not to say that the Cannes winner doesn’t regularly make an appearance at the Oscars. Just last year, Cannes winner Triangle of Sadness was nominated for Best Picture, Director and Original Screenplay and this year, the Cannes Festival winner, Anatomy of a Fall, has even bested that with five nominations in total for Editing, Original Screenplay, Actress, Director and Picture.
The reason for so little overlap between Palme d’Or winners and Oscar Best Picture winners likely comes down to the completely different aesthetic between the two voting bodies. Cannes festival goers and judges pride themselves on awarding artists who present groundbreaking elements in storytelling or who are edgy, unique or challenge the boundaries of the medium. Oscar voters, by contrast, normally prefer safe, traditional and accessible storytelling, paired with high production values and performances. Rarely do you find films that can please both groups. But, in Anatomy of a Fall, writer/director Justine Triet has brilliantly created a film that is all at once accessible yet experimental, challenging yet relatable and weird yet traditional, a film for both France and Hollywood, and my favorite film of 2023.