That sound you can hear is Empire’s own Cannes guru, Damon Wise, spluttering in annoyed frustration as Scrabble score-boostingly named Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Uncle Boonnee Who Can Recall His Past Lives won the coveted Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday night.
Weerasethakul gave a shout out to the President of the Jury in his acceptance speech: "I'd like to thank the jury, particularly Tim Burton, whose haircut I really like," before adding, "I'd like to send a message home: This prize is for you."
In other prize-snatching news, Xavier Beavois’ Of Gods And Men got the Grand Prize for his tale of a Christian monks facing terror in Algeria. The jury prize was handed to Mahamet-Saleh Haroun's A Screaming Man, while Mathieu Amalric took home Best Director for On Tour.
And, like the poster for this year’s festival coming to life, Juliette Binoche took the stage to accept the Best Actress gong for Certified Copy, directed by Abbas Kiarostami.
The Best Actor award was shared this year between Biutiful’s Javier Bardem and Italy’s Elio Germano, who starred in Our Life.
Mexico’s Michael Rowe nabbed Best First Film for his entry into Director’s Fortnight, Leap Year (no, not the Amy Adams comedy), and South Korean director Lee Chang-dong won the screenplay award.
For more Cannes madness than you’ll ever need (including The Floating Head of Mark Strong and more from Damo, who didn't like **Uncle Bonmee **one bit), hit up our cracking Videblogisodes and the Under The Radar blog.