Cannes: 70 years of scandals at the film festival
From to Nazis to mankinis, we look back at the scandals that have rocked the Cannes film festival
The Cannes film festival, the most important in the world, turns 70 this year. As the French Riviera resort prepares for the event, which starts Wednesday, we look back at the scandals that have rocked the festival:
‘La Dolce Vita’
Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” -- now considered a classic -- won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1960. But the Catholic Church condemned it as a mockery of Christ’s second coming, branding it “La sconcia vita” (The repulsive life) for what was then deemed gratuitous decadence.
The film was banned and censored in many countries. The Palme d’Or winner the following year, surrealist director Luis Bunuel’s “Viridiana”, also incurred the Church’s wrath for its portrayal of a novice nun’s sexual awakening.
The 1968 ‘revolution’
As student protests and strikes paralysed France in May 1968, directors Claude Lelouch, Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut and Roman Polanski helped bring Cannes to a close early by going on strike too.
The end came when director Carlos Saura prevented the premiere of his own film “Peppermint Frappe” by dangling off the curtains in front of the screen. No awards were given.
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