Cannes 2010 Winners: Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s ‘Uncle Boonme’ Wins The Palme d’Or‎, Javier Bardem & Juliette Binoche Take Best Actor Awards

One of the biggest questions we heard on the Croisette this year was, who was going to win? With an In Competition year that was regarded by many as the weakest at Cannes in decades, it seemed to be a guessing game who would emerge victorious from a relatively unremarkable pack of films.

Well, the winners have been announced, and while for the most part it’s pretty much everything we would’ve expected, Tim Burton and the rest of the jury saved the biggest surprise for the top honor. Apichatpong Weerasethakul took home the Palme D’Or for “Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives.” We reviewed the film, and even though we saw it at the end of a very long day, it still stuck with us as a difficult, but deeply rewarding film. Our only question was if it would resonate with the jury, and it certainly has. Outside of Jean-Luc Godard’s mindfucking “Socialisme,” it was definitely the most ambitious project on the Croisette, but also one of the most deeply personal, tackling (however obliquely) the current state of Thai politics.

The runner-up slot went to Xavier Beauvois’ “Of God And Men.” We were surprised at how much love this got from the people we talked to; we reviewed the film and found the based-on-a-true-story film to be reverential to the point of inertia. It’s not a bad film per se, but it’s exactly the kind of well made, well intentioned film critics love. We fully expect it to be a contender for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars later this year.

In the Best Actor and Actress categories we pretty much figured the winners in our reviews of the films. Javier Bardem and Juliette Binoche were awarded for their turns in “Biutiful” and “Certified Copy,” respectfully. While we found Alejandro González Iñárritu’s latest to be a well made but depressing slog, Bardem was easily the best thing about it, turning in a great performance. “Certified Copy” was probably one of our favorite films of the entire festival, and Binoche is pitch perfect; it was pretty much a lock she would take honors. Sharing the Best Actor award with Bardem is Elio Germano for “La Nostra Vita,” which we missed but split people we talked to. The biggest surprise for us is that Lesley Manville wasn’t tipped for Mike Leigh’s “Another Year” since we heard a lot of positive word about her performance.

Finally, Mathieu Almaric took home the Best Director statue for “La Tournée.” Again, even though this film split audiences, many recognized that Almaric’s film was a more ambitious undertaking than they had expected. Also of note, Gregg Araki took home the inaugural Queer Palm award for “Kaboom.”

The full list of winners is after the jump, plus the trailer for ‘Uncle Boonmee’:

Palme d’Or:
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul Grand Prix (runner-up):
Des Hommes Et Des Dieux (Of God and Men), directed by Xavier Beauvois Prix de la Mise en Scene (best director):
Mathieu Amalric for “Tournée” (On Tour) Prix du Scenario (best screenplay):
Poetry by Lee Chang-dong Camera d’Or (best first feature):
Año Bisiesto directed by Michael Rowe Prix du Jury (jury prize):
A Screaming Man directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun Prix d’interpretation feminine (best actress):
Juliette Binoche for “Certified Copy” (directed by Abbas Kiarostami) Prix d’interpretation masculine (best actor – a Tie):
Javier Bardem for “Biutiful” (directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu)
and
Elio Germano for “La Nostra Vita” (directed by Daniele Luchetti) Palme d’Or (short film):
Chienne d’Histoire directed by Serge Avedikian
Also winning awards at the Festival de Cannes: UN CERTAIN REGARD
Prize of Un Certain Regard: “Ha Ha Ha,” directed by Hong Sangsoo
Jury Prize: “Octubre,” directed by Daniel Vega & Diego Vega
Special Prize: The three actresses—Adela Sanzhez, Eva Bianco, and Victoria Rapos—from Ivan Fund & Santiago Losa’s “Los Labios” (The Lips) DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT
Art Cinema Award: “Pieds nus sur les limaces”, directed by Fabienne Berthaud (France)
Prix SACD/SACD Prize: “Illégal”, directed Olivier Masset-Depasse (Belgium – Luxembourg – France).
Label Europa Cinemas: “Le Quattro Volte”, directed by Michelangelo Frammartino (Italy)
PRIX SFR: “Cautare”, directed Ionut Piturescu (Romania) and “Mary Last Seen,” directed by Sean Durkin (USA)
Palm Dog Award: Vuk, the goatherd’s dog in “Le Quattro Volte,“ directed by by Michelangelo Frammartino INTERNATIONAL CRITICS’ WEEK
Grand Prix Semaine de la Critique: “Armadillo,” directed by Janus Metz
SACD Prize: “Bi, dung so!” (Bi, Don’t Be Afraid!), directed by Phan Dang Di
ACID/CCAS Support: “Bi, dung so!” (Bi, Don’t Be Afraid!), directed by Phan Dang Di
OFAJ (Very) Young Critic Award: “Sound of Noise,” directed by Ola Simonsson & Johannes Stjaerne Nilsson
Canal+ Award for Best Short Film: “Berik,” directed by Daniel Joseph Borgman
Kodak Discovery Award for Best Short Film: “Deeper Than Yesterday,” directed by Ariel Kleiman FIPRESCI CRITICS AWARDS
Cannes Competition: “Tournée,” directed by Mathieu Amalric
Un Certain Regard: “Pal Adrienn,” directed by Agnes Kocsis
Director’s Fortnight/Critics’ Week: “Todos vos sodes capitans,” directed by Olivier Laxe QUEER PALM AWARD:
“Kaboom,” directed by Gregg Araki