Leonardo DiCaprio and the Cannes Film Festival pay tribute to Robert De Niro

Special Envoy to the Cannes Film FestivalThe Cannes Film Festival's ability to create moments redolent of film history must be acknowledged. On an opening day marked by the conviction for sexual assault against Gérard Depardieu, the French festival began this Tuesday with a tribute to another actor, surely the most important in modern American cinema: Robert De Niro, who had never received an award at Cannes, an error that the festival has corrected with the honorary Palme d'Or awarded to De Niro by another great actor, Leonardo DiCaprio Lumière.

The choice is not accidental: the two actors worked together for the first time in This boy's life (1993). That role, at just 16 years old, alongside a giant like De Niro, was the beginning of DiCaprio's career. He recalled that his efforts in the casting only provoked laughter among those present; however, when the producer asked him for advice, De Niro immediately pointed to DiCaprio. "That moment changed my life forever," he acknowledged. "And it changed again when Bob told Martin Scorsese: 'I made a movie with this guy, maybe you should work with him.' Bob doesn't talk much, but when he speaks, what he says matters. It doesn't matter if he's speaking to a friend, to his family, or to fight for the family's."

Upon coming out on stage, the honoree hugged DiCaprio with a love and tenderness that he doesn't usually show in public. De Niro recalled his long relationship with Cannes, which began in 1973 with the premiere of Mean streets to the Fifteenth Directors' Festival. "I came as president of the jury, I came as a fan, and I came because it's a community for those of us who love the art of telling stories on screen." Of course, he took the opportunity to attack Trump, stating that "art is a threat to autocrats and fascists" and denouncing the US president's cuts to the arts, humanities, and education, as well as the imposition of tariffs on film: "All of these attacks are an unacceptable problem, and it's not the only one.

Musical memory of David Lynch

During the opening of Cannes, the figure of David Lynch, who died last year, was also remembered with a performance by the singer Mylène Farmer, friend and collaborator of the director of Twin Peaks. Furthermore, the president of the jury, Juliette Binoche, who hours earlier refused to explain why she had not signed a manifesto against the war in Gaza, clarified her position on the conflict by paying tribute to the Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, with whom she worked in 2025, and who was murdered a few days ago.

Full of memorable moments – including the surprise appearance of a very clownish Quentin Tarantino who officially declared the festival open – the ceremony ended up overshadowing the opening film, Going on a journey. And if it was already difficult to understand what a debut film With no big-name stars opening the world's most important film festival, it was even harder after seeing this modest musical comedy based on a César-winning short film. Starring a pregnant chef about to open a haute cuisine restaurant who returns to her parents' roadside restaurant, Going on a journey creates a story as pleasant as it is inconsequential about the cook's reunion with a teenage love and the quarrels between father and daughter. The distinguishing factor is an assortment of French pop songs performed with an awkward and endearingly amateurish style by the cast. However, the result is closer toThe other side of the leg that of the We know the song (Where I knew the song), by Alain Resnais.