Cannes: It's Fahrenheit 9/11.

"'What have you done? I'm completely overwhelmed by this,' said an emotional Moore, who was momentarily lost for words as the crowd roared its approval," report Joelle Diderich and Paul Majendie for Reuters. And who wouldn't be overwhelmed, emotional or at a loss for words. Just two years after a special prize was awarded to Bowling for Columbine at Cannes, Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 has won the Palme d'Or (see the complete list of winners here).

Last year, when Gus Van Sant's Elephant took the top prize, I wondered if we might hear a deluge of France-bashing from the usual quarters, despite the truly international jury, but the rhetorical floodgates had already been clogged with "freedom fries." This year, it's hard to know what to expect. The tide is turning, and while Disney certainly had its avid supporters when it decided once and for all to prohibit Miramax from distributing F-9/11 in the US, the numbers of those eager to see this film may be far greater than those eager to wish it away sight unseen. As Frank Rich puts it in an engaging piece on the film in today's New York Times:

Disney hasn't succeeded in censoring Mr. Moore so much as in enhancing his stature as a master provocateur and self-promoter. And the White House, which likewise hasn't a prayer of stopping this film, may yet fan the PR flames. "It's so outrageously false, it's not even worth comment," was last week's blustery opening salvo by Dan Bartlett, the White House communications director. New York's Daily News reported that Republican officials might even try to use the Federal Election Commission to shut the film down. That would be the best thing to happen to Michael Moore since Charlton Heston granted him an interview.

Posted by dwhudson at May 22, 2004 2:22 PM