Peter Jackson will be presented with an honorary Palme d’Or at the opening ceremony at this year’s 79th Cannes Film Festival, even though he has never had a film at the festival itself. However, he left a lasting mark on Cannes. Jackson recalls his first visit to the Croisette in 1988 for his first film, Bad tasteHe was in the market. But it was his return trip in 2001 that made cinema history, when he showed the first glimpse of stills from the film. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
New Line Cinema’s decision to invest more than $270 million in three films based on JRR Tolkien’s classic novel was a huge gamble, if not outright foolishness. But the 26 minutes of footage shown to the press quickly silenced the naysayers.
“With relief and some excitement, I can say that Peter Jackson’s portrayals not only look convincing, they look stunning,” Ian McKellen, who played the wizard Gandalf, wrote in a blog he kept at the time. Then, New Line turned up the hype by throwing one of Cannes’s most legendary parties, high up on a hill at Château Castellaras.
As described in extensive detail on fan site TheOneRing.net, “Orcs, hobbits, elves and men were dancing wildly to French versions of ‘Oh What a Night’ and the latest Latin performances. At the back of the crowd, you could see the flickering of candles as a huge cake floated towards the front. The band played a strange/rather disturbing version of Happy Birth, and Bilbo’s cake appeared in front of us. We all cheered wildly and toasted our favorite hobbit.”
Festival director Thierry Frémaux was not exaggerating when he said, in announcing the Palme d’honour, “There is clearly a before and after Peter Jackson. Larger-than-life cinema is his trademark, and his overall entertainment is particularly ambitious. He has permanently transformed Hollywood cinema and its concept of spectacle.”
THR Newsletters
Sign up to get THR news straight to your inbox every day
Subscribe subscription
