There are various awards shows held every year for the world of film, with some naturally attracting more attention than others. If you had to single out the biggest in the Western world, it would have to be theAcademy Awards, which have been held since the late 1920s and naturally have a certain amount of prestige attached to them (even if, like any awards show, there are flaws). Others will point to theCannes Film Festivalas being almost as big, and maybe more important than the Oscars, depending on your taste in film.At Cannes, at least, there seems to be more of an emphasis on films from all areas of the world, not just the U.S., while the Oscars are very American-focused.
The top honor at the Oscars is the award for Best Picture, while at Cannes, themost sought-after award is the Palme d’Or(which has gone by some other names throughout the festival’s history, including the “Grand Prix du Festival International du Film” and just the “Grand Prix”).Palme d’Or winners that are also nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars aren’t too rare, but films that win both awards aren’t very common. In fact, since 1946, such a crossover has only happened four times, with all four films to win both top prizes being ranked below.
4’Marty' (1955)
Directed by Delbert Mann
Martyis such a small and unassuming film, but by design. It’s also theshortest film to win Best Pictureat the Oscars, which checks out considering how direct and straightforward it is overall, too.Martyis about a guy named (hold onto your butts) Marty, and his life isn’t too exciting. He works as a butcher and still lives with family, but things change for him when he meetsa woman who he instantly connects to, emotionally, even if some of the other people around him don’t really understand what he sees in her.
It’s anunlikely and refreshingly grounded character-focused filmthat doesn’t have high stakes in the traditional sense, but works because you come to care for the main characters and want to see their relationship work out.Martyshows that with enough care as far as filmmaking and acting are concerned, that’s all you really need.It’s also technically the first movie to win the “Palme d’Or,”given that, before 1955, the top prize given at the Cannes Film Festival was the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film. Speaking of Grand Prix du Festival International du Film winners…
3’The Lost Weekend' (1945)
Directed by Billy Wilder
So,The Lost Weekendwas one of those pesky Grand Prix du Festival International du Film winners, but it’s still being counted here because that was the equivalent of the Palme d’Or in the festival’s earliest years, and briefly from 1964 to 1974, for some strange reason. Further weirdness comes about from the factthatThe Lost Weekendwonduring the first Cannes Film Festival, and it received the top prize alongside 10 other movies. Maybe it’s just a fact of life that awards shows begin kind of unusually… consider how the first Academy Awards ceremony, for example, gave out two top awards:Outstanding Picture and Best Unique and Artistic Picture.
Anyway, relating toThe Lost Weekendspecifically, it might not be quite as famous assome otherBilly Wildermovies, but it’s still pretty great and certainly earned the level of praise and acclaim it received back in the 1940s.It looks at alcohol addictionin a hard-hitting fashion (at least for the time it came out), and still holds value today for showing that such a drug – though legal in most places for people of a certain age – can nonetheless be extremely harmful if misused. It’s a no-nonsense drama that hits the beats it needs to,all the while being easy to appreciate for what it represented at the time, and containing things that are still engaging when watched through modern-day eyes.
The Lost Weekend
The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four-day drinking bout.
2’Anora' (2024)
Directed by Sean Baker
It took more than 60 years for a Palme d’Or winner to also win Best Picture, followingMartywinning both, but in relatively recent years, it’s happened twice. The most recent wasAnora, which did feel maybe more like a Palme d’Or winner generally speaking, but to the credit of the Academy Awards, there have been some more dynamic and interesting picks in recent years (arguablyOppenheimer, and definitelyEverything Everywhere All at Once).Anoraispretty racy and daring, in terms of its style and the genres it tackles, but it is also fairly approachable and easy to find entertainment value in, for the most part.
It begins as acomedic love story of sorts,morphs into more of a darkly comedic thriller, and then becomes more of a drama as its final act comes around.Anoraintends to be a bit of a rollercoaster emotionally, and it’s an impressive/varied ride, in that regard.Whether it’sSean Baker’s very best filmmight be up for debate, but it is his most accessible to date, which ensures the Academy Awards success makes a little more sense. And of those relatively few movies that have won Best Picture and the Palme d’Or, it’s quite comfortably the second-best.
Anora follows a young sex worker from Brooklyn who impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch, igniting a potential fairy tale. Upon learning of the union, his influential parents travel to New York to annul the marriage, jeopardizing her unexpected chance at a new beginning.
1’Parasite' (2019)
Directed by Bong Joon-ho
LikeAnora,Parasitecan becalled something of a comedy/drama/thriller movie, and it too won both the Palme d’Or at Cannes and Best Picture at the Oscars.It’s a satirical filmabout class warfare, essentially; a movie filled with tragic characters who are all impacted by the rules of the society they live in. That might makeParasitesound preachy, but it has a certain amount of nuance and care when it comes to unpacking some very topical issues, and that it does this while also being extremely entertaining is what makes it a modern classic.
Andcalling it a modern classic is not hyperbole. Maybe you got tired of hearing about how greatParasitewas, but that hasn’t stopped it from being great, andit will likely remain relevant, engaging, and honestly pretty depressing for as long as the issues it explores stay prevalent in the modern world. No one can know for sure which movie will best define the early 21st century, at least as far as historians decades (or centuries) in the future looking back go, but if you were a betting person, there would be far worse movies to bet on thanParasite.
Greed and class discrimination threatens the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.
