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Italian Film 'The Son's Room' Wins Top Cannes Prize
''The Son's Room,'' Italian director Nanni Moretti's stirring account of a happy family shattered by the death of a teen-age son, won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday. After accepting the Palme d'Or, Moretti emotionally thanked everyone involved with the film and threw his arms in the air in elation. ''The Son's Room'' features a character named Giovanni living a near-perfect life with his wife and two children. Then his teen-age son is killed in a freak diving accident. Moretti, who plays the lead, intelligently examines how people cope with the worst that can happen to a family.
"The Piano Teacher" also took both acting awards, with Isabelle Huppert winning best actress and Benoit Magimel winning best actor.
"The fact that this film got three prizes is incredible," Haneke said. "I am very, very moved."
Best-director honors were split between Joel Coen for his film-noir thriller "The Man Who Wasn't There," co-written with his brother, Ethan, and David Lynch for his enigmatic Hollywood tale "Mulholland Drive."
The directing awards were presented by Jodie Foster, who had to drop out as Cannes jury president because of a scheduling conflict for a film she was shooting.
The Golden Camera award for first-time directors went to Canada's Zacharias Kunuk for "Atanarjuat The Fast Runner," the story of two Eskimo brothers who challenge the rule of an evil shaman.
The screenplay award went to Bosnia's Danis Tanovic for the irreverent war satire "No Man's Land," which he also directed.
The jury awarded a prize for technical achievements to Tu Duu-Chih, sound designer for two films in competition, "Millennium Mambo" and "What Time Is It There?"
Director and actress Liv Ullmann headed the 10-member Cannes jury, which included directors Terry Gilliam and Edward Yang and actresses Julia Ormond and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
The festival closed Sunday night with French director Raoul Ruiz's period drama "Les Ames Fortes," starring model Laetitia Casta.
The top prize in a separate competition called "Un Certain Regard" went to first-time French director Yves Caumon for "Boyhood Loves." The competition included films that did not make the main awards category, but were deemed worthy of screening at the festival.
"Boyhood Loves" stars Mathieu Amalric as a man trying to reconnect with his neglected parents after his father takes ill.
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