julien seri

According to Ridley Scott, "The Duellists" (1977) was going to win the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1977. Roberto Rossellini, who was the president of the jury that year, loved the movie & had personally said to Scott that he wanted to present the award to "The Duellists" (1977). But other members of the Jury had allegedly been bribed to vote for some other film. "Padre Padrone" (1977) won the Palme d’Or that year. Here is what Ridley Scott said about the incident: "Interviewer: You received Oscar nominations for directing “Gladiator,” “Black Hawk Down” and “Thelma & Louise.” Do those feel like the right three to you? Scott: No, I think there could have been more. I can name exactly what I could have been nominated for, because I think “The Duellists” was pretty good as well. I got the prize [Prix du Jury à la première oeuvre award] at Cannes for that. Interviewer: That’s a pretty big coup, a prize at the Cannes Film Festival for your first film. Scott: I never go there. I [expletive] hate it. When I made “The Duellists”, they said, “Oh, we want to make this the British entry at Cannes.” I go, “Wow, OK.” Now I’m in Cannes and Roberto Rossellini was on the board [the jury]. I wonder if I’ll tell you this. You judge, be careful what I’m going to tell you. Rossellini said to me, “Listen, I love the movie. I want to give you the Palme d’Or.” He said, “The committee are rejecting it because somebody in there has bribed the committee to vote for somebody else.” Mm-hmm. He said, “What do you want to do?” I said, “[Expletive]. I never thought I’d come this far.” He said, “Good man.” And the Taviani brothers won for “Padre Padrone.” That was interesting. Money had been chucked in at the top." (Ridley Scott's interview with Kyle Buchanan, The NY Times, 2024) P.S: On this day, 49 years ago, "The Duellists" (1977) premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, France.