By Frank Paiva
Special to MSN Movies

Also: Complete list of Palme d'Or winners

Also: Brief History of the Cannes Film Festival

Every year in May, in the French Riviera, about 20-22 films do battle at the Cannes Film Festival. A judging panel of acclaimed industry professionals delivers its ruling on closing night to a very vocal audience of critics and industry folks (and the millions who watch on TV).

But although the award holds incredible esteem in Europe, just 19 Palme d'Or winners have grossed more than $1 million in the United States, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. 2006's winner, "The Wind That Shakes the Barley," was released Stateside in March of 2007 -- 10 months after its surprising Palme d'Or win. That's hardly a great track record for a 60-year-old festival. So why is the award coveted by filmmakers around the globe? It's because the Palme d'Or represents cinema in its most artistic, experimental, controversial and political form.

As such, the prize is often presented to risky, important films that otherwise wouldn't receive much attention. Sometimes it goes to pretentious love-it-or-hate-it films, drawing boos from audiences or rival filmmakers. Either way, when coupled with the right marketing push, it ensures international notice, distribution and discussion.

Here is a short breakdown of Palme d'Or winners, from the famous to the obscure, the amazing to the boring, and all that's in between.

The Controversial

Cannes entries thrive on controversy. Taboo themes and images create an instant market of voyeuristic ticket buyers worldwide, no matter how bad the movie. Case in point: Vincent Gallo's "The Brown Bunny," which Roger Ebert called the worst film ever to play Cannes (and that's saying a lot).

But in the history of the Palme d'Or, perhaps no film has been as controversial as Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11." Moore's polarizing directing style was the topic of international scrutiny in 2004. Many detractors claimed the film won for its political message, not for its quality of filmmaking. They argued the movie was sloppily made, lacked diversity of opinion and merely reinforced Moore's already large ego. Quentin Tarantino, jury president that year, issued a statement saying the award was given for artistic achievement, not as a political statement. The claim fell on deaf ears.

"Fahrenheit 9/11" is the highest grossing Palme d'Or winner in America, with a total domestic box office of $119.2 million. Lionsgate played the controversy to their advantage. The film quickly became the highest grossing documentary of all time. It was the second documentary to win the Palme d'Or after Jacques Cousteau and Louis Malle's "The Silent World" won in 1956.

Other controversial Palme d'Or winners include 1967's "Blow-Up." Michelangelo Antonioni's thriller was the first British film to show full-frontal female nudity. In 1961, the government of Spain banned Luis Buñuel's "Viridiana" because it criticizes Catholicism. The film wasn't released in Buñuel's home country until 1977. Finally, 1968's "If...," directed by Lindsay Anderson, featured Malcolm McDowell as the head of a counterculture guerilla rebellion at a British public school.

The Auteurs

Many of history's greatest directors have won the Palme d'Or. Among them are Robert Altman, Orson Welles, Shohei Imamura, Akira Kurosawa and Federico Fellini. Living masters who've received the prize include Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Roman Polanski and Mike Leigh. Jane Campion remains the sole female winner, for "The Piano."

A handful of today's premier directors benefited from Palme d'Or wins. In 1989, Steven Soderbergh's debut "sex, lies, and videotape," which had already taken Sundance by storm earlier that year, cemented its international importance by taking the Palme. Soderbergh would later win an Oscar for Best Director for "Traffic."

Quentin Tarantino's 1994 win for "Pulp Fiction" came at the height of the independent film revolution in the mid '90s. The award catapulted Tarantino to the top of the movement and renewed interest in his failed 1992 gangster epic, "Reservoir Dogs." Tarantino would later win a Best Screenplay Oscar for "Pulp Fiction."

Joel and Ethan Coen's strange combination of period noir and dark comedy achieved international renown with their win for "Barton Fink" in 1991. The film was the first to win the Palme d'Or by a unanimous vote (which angered competing director Lars Von Trier, and led to his calling jury president Roman Polanski "a midget" ... but that's a story for another time). While the Coen Brothers had been filmmakers to watch since their Sundance-winning debut, "Blood Simple," in 1984, their work often divided audiences. The brothers would later share an Oscar for writing "Fargo."

The Somber Movies

Cannes has a long tradition of awarding the Palme d'Or to depressing movies about poverty and/or political strife. Lately, this has been especially true. But just because a film deals with weighty issues doesn't automatically make it worthwhile. A movie where life is dreary and never gets better is an extremely tough sell. This is why many Cannes winners don't make much money or are generally forgotten.

The prime example is 1999's "Rosetta," one of the bleakest portraits of poverty on celluloid. Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne directed the film, whose title character is a teenager being exploited in a minimum-wage job where she's trying to get enough money to move away from her alcoholic, trailer-park mother. The movie, quite frankly, is a depressing bore.

Nevertheless, the brothers in 2005 would again win the Palme d'Or for the similarly gloomy, but much better "L'Enfant (The Child)." Together, they are one of just six filmmakers to win the award twice. The other five are Alf Sjöberg, Shohei Imamura, Bille August, Francis Ford Coppola and Emir Kusturica.

The final Palme d'Or winner of the 20th century is the most dismal of all. Lars Von Trier's hotly debated 2000 musical, "Dancer in the Dark," had equally fervent viewers cheering and booing from opposite camps. The movie follows a young woman (played by singer Björk) as she loses her sight and her grip on reality. The film would later be nominated for an Oscar for Best Song for "I've Seen It All." Björk performed the song in her infamous swan dress. The film, however, failed to make money in America.

The Best Picture Nominees

If the Palme d'Or represents the best in international film, then it stands to reason that many winners also take home an Oscar for Best Picture, right? Not quite. Thirteen Palme d'Or recipients have been up for Best Picture, but only two have taken home the trophy.

The first film is Billy Wilder's 1945 drama, "The Lost Weekend." The movie stars Ray Milland as a wannabe writer suffering from alcoholism. As his frustration with writer's block gets deeper, so does his inebriated madness. The film is adapted, rather unfaithfully, from a novel by Charles R. Jackson.

The second film is Delbert Mann's 1955 romantic drama, "Marty." The movie stars Ernest Borgnine as the title character, who awkwardly pursues a schoolteacher played by Betsy Blair. "Marty" was the first movie to win the Palme d'Or as we know it today. Up until 1955, the award was called the Grand Prix.

The nominated films that did not win include "Friendly Persuasion" (1957), "M*A*S*H" (1970), "The Conversation" (1974), "Taxi Driver" (1976), "Apocalypse Now" (1979), "All That Jazz" (1980), "Missing" (1982), "The Mission" (1986), "The Piano" (1993), "Pulp Fiction" (1994), "Secrets & Lies" (1996) and "The Pianist" (2002). While all of these films are in English, many non-English Palme d'Or winners have taken Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category.

Whatever film wins this year's prize, it's sure to incite controversy. The director will join a list that includes some of the most famous people in the movies. Hopefully the film isn't overlong or boring. Finally, it might even get nominated for Best Picture, but it probably won't win.

For the latest on Palme d'Or frontrunners, keep checking MSN's Cannes coverage daily.

Have a favorite film from the many listed above? Dying to get an invitation to Cannes? Whatever you think, share it with us at heymsn@microsoft.com.

In addition to making regular contributions to MSN Movies, Frank Paiva is a sophomore at New York University, where he studies theatre and writing. His essay "A Prince Charming for the Prom (Not Ever After, Though)" is now available in "Modern Love: 50 True and Extraordinary Tales of Desire, Deceit and Devotion" (Three Rivers Press).

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