Cannes 2009: Haneke’s The White Ribbon Grabs The Palme d’or

You could say that head of Jury Isabelle Huppert has officially returned the favor. She won for Best actress at Cannes with The Piano Teacher, but Michael Haneke who has been to Cannes for about a half dozen times and has walked away with nothing has finally grabbed the most prestigious of film hardware. I had thought that they would go with Antichrist, but had pegged this as a second place vote for the top prize only. Huppert can’t help but feel a linage to Haneke, but I don’t think she swayed the other jury members who probably saw the deep connection between the kids, the monsters who “owned them” and envisioned the eventual turn out. It’s not my favorite of the festival, but it is a solid piece all the same. Sony Pictures Classics will distribute The White Ribbon, hopefully sometime this year.