Irish Saga Wins Cannes' Top Prize

'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' Focuses On Country's Struggle For Independence

(AP) 
The grand prize for second-place film was given to French director Bruno Dumont's "Flanders," a stark drama following soldiers from dreary farm country through a grisly tour of duty in the Middle East.

The third-place jury prize went to British filmmaker Andrea Arnold's "Red Road," a somber tale about a Scottish woman carrying out surveillance on a man responsible for tragedy in her past.

"Only about five hours ago I was in London, so this is very strange," first-time director Arnold told the Cannes crowd. "It means that maybe more people will see my film, which is very important."

The award for best film from a first-time director went to Romanian filmmaker Corneliu Porumboiu for his Christmas drama "A Fost Sau N-A Fost?"

On Saturday, Chinese director Wang Chao's "Luxury Car," about a retired teacher searching for his lost son, won top honors in a secondary Cannes competition called "Un Certain Regard."

The main competition's three high-profile American films — including Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette," starring Kirsten Dunst as the 18th century French queen — were shut out for prizes. "Marie Antoinette" earned praise for its style and visual panache but was criticized as a superficial treatment of the Austrian aristocrat who became a symbol of extravagance preceding the French Revolution.

The other U.S. entries were Richard Linklater's consumer satire "Fast Food Nation," which had a lukewarm reaction, and Richard Kelly's darkly comic tale of apocalypse "Southland Tales," which received a scathing response from critics who scorned it as self-indulgent nonsense.

The nine-member jury that chose Cannes winners was headed by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai and included actors Samuel L. Jackson, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth, Monica Bellucci and Ziyi Zhang. Wong said the decision for the top prize was unanimous.

The 59th edition of the world's most prestigious film festival opened May 17 with Tom Hanks and Ron Howard's "The Da Vinci Code," which received a harsh reception from Cannes critics but went on to become an instant blockbuster the following weekend. The film did not compete for prizes at Cannes.

Other high-profile films that screened out of competition included the superhero adventure "X-Men: The Last Stand," the animated comedy "Over the Hedge" and the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," chronicling former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's efforts to educate the public about global warming.