5. The Palme d'Or Best Picture Streak Is Done
Over the past two years, rather improbably, the winner of Cannes' most prestigious award, the Palme d'Or, has managed to garner enough support within the artistic-leaning sect of the Academy to achieve a surprise Best Picture nomination. First in 2011 was Terrence Malick and his ethereal, experimental meditation on God, the Cosmos, and the relationship between child and parents, The Tree of Life. Given that film's free-flowing, non-narrative style, it was surprising to see The Tree of Life make it into the Best Picture lineup (even with an expanded field), but Malick had been previously successful with the Academy. German auteur Michael Haneke on the other hand has never been simpatico with the Academy, so despite his good reputation among cinephiles, it was quite the achievement last year for Haneke's Amour to receive both the Palme d'Or and a Best Picture nomination, the first completely foreign-produced, foreign-language film to do so since Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The third time will most likely not be the charm though with this year's Palme d'Or winner, Blue is the Warmest Color. While Abdellatif Kechiche's film may be a perfectly wonderful movie, the chances of a 3-hour, French coming-of-age lesbian film, with purported graphic and gratuitous sex scenes, being successful at the Academy Awards is slim to none. Given the amount of universal praise the film is receiving from critics, Blue is the Warmest Color might have a shot in the Foreign Film category, but it's not even certain yet whether the French will choose it as their representative. In fact, another well-received premiere on the Croisette, Asghar Farhadi's follow up to A Seperation, The Past, may well end up being France's choice du jour for the Academy this year (although whether the claim on the film's Oscar chances belongs to France or Iran is unclear at this point). While its chances at the Oscars are probably better than 2010's Palme d'Or winner, Uncle Boonmme Who Can Recall His Past Lives, anyone involved with Blue is the Warmest Color shouldn't get their hopes up.