Every year, Cannes Film Festival in France hosts some of the year’s most promising new films and is considered to be, arguably, the most important event in the film industry every year. The festival can make or break a film well before it even has the chance to reach theaters with the Palme d’Or, the festival’s highest honor, serving to recognize the most promising new film that debuted that year. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced those behind the festival to take 2020 off, this year’s celebration signalled a return to normalcy for both society and the movie industry after a year of theaters being closed and releases being delayed for months on end. It was certainly no disappointment for an array of reasons, the most talked about being this year’s Palme d’Or recipient: Titane, a film about a woman who is impregnated by a car, was dubbed the golden child at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
After an absolutely bizarre year, Titane doesn’t sound as far-fetched as it might have in the past. The film, Julia Ducourau’s second after her 2016 debut Raw, follows the story of a troubled woman who, through a series of events, is impregnated by a vintage Cadillac, and that seemingly only begins to scratch the surface of the neo-Lynchian plot. The project is seemingly just as cerebral as it is dark and menacing, and that is probably exactly why it won this year’s Palme d’Or. The win was further punctuated by Spike Lee, this year’s jury president, accidentally announcing the award’s recipient sooner than originally expected, likely only making the experience even more memorable for Ducourau. The aspiring filmmaker is also only the second woman in the festival’s history to win the award.
The pandemic has seemingly ushered in a new era of film. While the bizarre and strange weren’t taboo in the past, the surrealness of humanity is seemingly being embraced more than ever before. Project’s like Titane are increasingly gaining notoriety despite how outlandish they may be, and now they are even winning some of the industry’s most prestigious awards. Interested moviegoers will simply have to wait and see when Titane hits theaters worldwide in the coming future.
