Cannes:
Love (Amour), the wrenching tale of an elderly man caring for his dying wife, scooped top prize atthe Cannes Film Festival, handing a second Palme d'Or to Austria's Michael Haneke.
The jury headed by Italian director Nanni Moretti announced the winner among the 22 films in the awards race ata star-studded gala in the French Riviera city that wrapped up a 12-day world cinema marathon.
Haneke's duo of octogenarian French actors, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, bowled Cannes over in the tale of two retired music teachers whose adoring relationship is tested when she suffers a stroke.
Both actors climbed on stage to accept the award with Haneke, who dedicated it to the many people involved in the film -- and to his wife of 30 years.
"This film is an illustration of the promise we made to each other, if either one of us finds ourselves in thesituation that is described in the film," the 70-year-old director told the audience.
Hands-down favourite to win, the French-language Love marked a journey into tender, intimate territory for a director better known for exposing the chilling secrets of the soul.
The Austrian took the Palme d'Or three years ago for a very different work, The White Ribbon a black-and-white study of malice in a German village on the eve of World War I, which some saw as a parable on the roots of Nazi savagery.
He joins a highly select club of two-time laureates, including US director Francis Ford Coppola, Denmark's BilleAugust, Serbia's Emir Kusturica, Japan's Shohei Imamura and the Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.Cannes' best actor award went to Danish heart-throb Mads Mikkelsen, searing as a man falsely accused of molesting a child in the psychological thriller The Hunt.
Best known to international audiences as Le Chiffre in 2006's the James Bond sequel Casino Royale, Mikkelsen dedicated his prize to director Thomas Vinterberg, back in Cannes 14 years after the incest drama Festen.
Two Romanian actresses, Cosmina Stratan and Cristina Flutur, shared the best actress prize for their roles inCristian Mungiu's "Beyond the Hills", about a young nun and her friend who falls victim to deadly "exorcism".Mungiu, who also won this year's screenplay prize, captured the Palme d'Or in 2007 for the Communist-era abortion drama 4 Years, 3 Months and 2 Days.
Mexican Carlos Reygadas took best director prize for the baffling family drama Post Tenebras Lux, whose Latin title means "after darkness, light" and derives from the biblical Book of Job.
The jury headed by Italian director Nanni Moretti announced the winner among the 22 films in the awards race ata star-studded gala in the French Riviera city that wrapped up a 12-day world cinema marathon.
Haneke's duo of octogenarian French actors, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, bowled Cannes over in the tale of two retired music teachers whose adoring relationship is tested when she suffers a stroke.
Both actors climbed on stage to accept the award with Haneke, who dedicated it to the many people involved in the film -- and to his wife of 30 years.
"This film is an illustration of the promise we made to each other, if either one of us finds ourselves in thesituation that is described in the film," the 70-year-old director told the audience.
Hands-down favourite to win, the French-language Love marked a journey into tender, intimate territory for a director better known for exposing the chilling secrets of the soul.
The Austrian took the Palme d'Or three years ago for a very different work, The White Ribbon a black-and-white study of malice in a German village on the eve of World War I, which some saw as a parable on the roots of Nazi savagery.
He joins a highly select club of two-time laureates, including US director Francis Ford Coppola, Denmark's BilleAugust, Serbia's Emir Kusturica, Japan's Shohei Imamura and the Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.Cannes' best actor award went to Danish heart-throb Mads Mikkelsen, searing as a man falsely accused of molesting a child in the psychological thriller The Hunt.
Best known to international audiences as Le Chiffre in 2006's the James Bond sequel Casino Royale, Mikkelsen dedicated his prize to director Thomas Vinterberg, back in Cannes 14 years after the incest drama Festen.
Two Romanian actresses, Cosmina Stratan and Cristina Flutur, shared the best actress prize for their roles inCristian Mungiu's "Beyond the Hills", about a young nun and her friend who falls victim to deadly "exorcism".Mungiu, who also won this year's screenplay prize, captured the Palme d'Or in 2007 for the Communist-era abortion drama 4 Years, 3 Months and 2 Days.
Mexican Carlos Reygadas took best director prize for the baffling family drama Post Tenebras Lux, whose Latin title means "after darkness, light" and derives from the biblical Book of Job.
