Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord won the Palme d’Or at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, making the Romanian director the tenth filmmaker to win the award twice. His first Palme came in 2007 for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” his searing account of illegal abortion in Communist-era Romania. Nearly two decades later, with a film set not in Romania but in Norway, he claimed it again. The jury was led by Park Chan-wook, who, at the press conference, joked that he did not want to give the Palme to anyone, because it is an award he himself has never received. Then, after a pause, he added: “But I had No Other Choice.”
The Film
Fjord stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as Romanian Evangelical Christians who relocate to Norway, only to have their children taken from them by child services for spanking them. The film centres on a bruised-child mystery at its heart, built around precise staging, long takes, and a moral geometry that refuses heroes and villains. Mungiu described it as a film about what he called “left-wing fundamentalism,” a deliberate provocation. In his acceptance speech, he was more expansive: “Today, the society is split, it’s divided, it’s radicalized. And if you want, this film is a pledge against any kind of fundamentalism.”
The Full Awards
The Grand Prix went to Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur. Best Director was shared between Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for The Black Ball, and between Paweł Pawlikowski and Fatherland. The Jury Prize went to Valeska Grisebach’s The Dreamed Adventure. Best Actress was shared between Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto for All of a Sudden. Best Actor went to Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne for Coward. Best Screenplay was awarded to Emmanuel Marre for A Man of His Time. Barbra Streisand received an Honorary Palme d’Or and sent a video message in her absence.
At a festival that had flashier contenders, Fjord prevailed by trusting restraint. That, in the end, was the most Cannes outcome possible.
