The Tree Of Life and Kirsten Dunst overcome boos and Hitler jokes to win big at Cannes

Despite receiving a mixed reception of cheers and boos from its audience, Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life walked away with the Palme d’Or yesterday at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. (And that conflicting perspective is the essence of life itself, no?) The runner-up Grand Prix award was a tie between the Dardenne’s The Kid With A Bike and Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Once Upon A Time In Anatolia, while the Jury Prize went to the French cop drama Polisse, Best Screenplay went to Joseph Cedar’s Footnote, and Pablo Gorgelli received Best First Feature (or Camera d’Or) for Las Acacias. Rising filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn also had his reputation cemented with a Best Director win for his brainy genre twist Drive, and Jean Dujarin took Best Actor for the much-talked-about silent film homage The Artist. And finally, Kirsten Dunst overcame the controversy of Lars Von Trier’s already-infamous press conference by winning Best Actress for Melancholia, an honor she modestly celebrated by eating a baby. (Be sure to check out Mike D’Angelo’s daily Cannes reports for more in-depth coverage.)