Dirty Harry’s day was made yesterday. It’s a different kind of Palme d’Or that was awarded today to the legend actor/director who should be prepping his Nelson Mandela project for lensing sometime this year. The Palme normally awarded to the best film at the annual Cannes film festival, is also attributed on the very rare occasion and out-of-season to the body of work of a filmmaker. Berman was the last director to merit this special prize.
As I’ve discovered over the years, the French love American cinema, I’m talking about the Tarantinos, the James Grays and they have a healthy fixation over Clint Eastwod’s work in front of and behind the camera.
Eastwood who was in Paris promoting the release of Gran Torino, met up with festival toppers Gilles Jacob and Thierry Frémaux at a private ceremony to receive the honor.
Here’s the press release:…
“The American filmmaker has a long and trusting relationship with the Festival which first welcomed him for the first time in 1985 with Pale Rider. He has returned to present Bird, and then White Hunter, Black Heart, Mystic River and Changeling.
Over the years, the acknowledgement of his peers has met the growing fervor of international critics to acclaim a major artist who alone makes “the synthesis of the classicism and modernity of American cinema”.
The passion he incites in film lovers is one of admiration and respect, a natural response to his elegance and legendary reserve”.
