‘Tree of Life’ Is the Big Winner at Cannes 2011

It may have started off on what looked like the wrong footing, but Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, closed the 2011 Cannes Film Festival on a high note by taking home the big prize.

As we also noted a few days ago, at the first screening of the film, which is said to be too artsy to ever be commercial, some critics booed and even more got up and left halfway.

This prompted some talk about the film would fare in theaters with audiences and even made skeptics state that it would probably turn out to be a box office flop because it was far too hard to understand and digest.

In the face of all this criticism, Malick is having the last (figurative) laugh, as his film just scooped the prestigious Palme d’Or award in Sunday’s closing ceremony, PopEater reports.

“Robert De Niro, 2011 chair of the Cannes Film Festival’s selection jury, announced the winner of the Palme d’Or at Sunday’s closing ceremony in the South of France,” says the e-zine.

“‘Tree of Life,’ a 1950’s drama starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, and directed by Terrence Malick, won the prestigious top prize. Two producers accepted,” PopEater further says.

Brad Pitt was no longer in Cannes at the closing ceremony, though he was there early last week, when the film premiered: the aforementioned e-zine says he flew out of town with partner Angelina Jolie, for the LA premiere of “Kung Fu Panda 2.”

Another surprise winner at this year’s festival was actress Kirsten Dunst, who won Best Actress for her role in Lars Von Trier’s “Melancholia.”

Because of the director’s pro-Hitler and pro-Nazi comments made at a photocall for the film, which also got him banned from Cannes indefinitely, many believed “Melancholia” would not even stand a chance in the competition.

Below is the official trailer for “Tree of Life.” It’s out in limited release in the US on May 27.