Cannes: The Year of Living Less Dangerously

By RICHARD CORLISS

The Cannes Film Festival caught a political fever last year, and Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 copped the top-prize Palme d'Or. This May anti-Bush harangues gave way to cooler fare: family dramas and open-ended mysteries. L'Enfant, by the Belgian Dardenne brothers, took the highest honor. But here are this Riviera veteran's personal palmes:

o BEST FILM IN THE COMPETITION

Marco Tullio Giordana's Once You're Born, a smart, heartfelt Italian drama about illegal immigrants--which was also many critics' pick for Worst Film in the Competition.

o BEST FILM OUT OF THE COMPETITION

Adam Curtis' British documentary The Power of Nightmares. Like Fahrenheit but with a calmer tone and a higher IQ.

o BEST ACTOR

Tommy Lee Jones, as a cowboy on a noble, deranged mission, in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. The jury agreed, giving him this prize.

o MOST OVERUSED PLOT

A father tries to connect with the son he abandoned years ago: Bill Murray in Broken Flowers, William Hurt in The King, Sam Shepard in Don't Come Knocking. And Darth Vader in the Star Wars series, whose Sith and final episode opened here.

o HOTTEST PAPARAZZI MAGNET

Bollywood bombshell Mallika Sherawat, whose warm smile and tight dresses restored Cannes's rep as a showcase for steamy glamour.