As credits roll, jury left cold by Cannes fare

‘‘We had a selection where I think the average wasn’t very high,’’ he told a final news conference. ‘‘I felt that most of the films were a little bit less good than I expected.’’

He said three movies could have won the coveted Palme D’Or, which eventually went to Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for L’Enfant, a powerful, documentary-style film about a young thief who sells his own child. Paparazzi were also less than impressed with the star talent on display on the red carpet and at late-night parties along the bustling Croisette waterfront.

Not everyone was as gloomy, however. ‘‘This is a good year for serious cinema,’’ said British film critic and author Mark Cousins. ‘‘It seems to me that there were more potential ‘palmists’, or winners this year. By my reckoning there were seven films that were possible winners. Usually it’s four, or even three.’’

After triumphing with Rosetta in 1999, the Dardennes’ victory places the double-winning duo in elite company. The other big winner at Saturday’s glittering evening ceremony was Hollywood actor Tommy Lee Jones, who has directed his first feature film that went on to win best screenplay and best actor for Jones himself.

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada explores life along the American-Mexican border, and Jones plays a gnarled ranch foreman out to give his dead friend a decent burial. American Jim Jarmusch took the runner-up prize for BrokenFlowers, a portrayal of a man in his 50s who is told he has a son he did not know of, and goes in search of the mother.

Austrian Michael Haneke may be the most disappointed of the major filmmakers in Cannes, although he picked up best director for Cache (Hidden). Some thought that Taiwan director Hou Hsiao-Hsien deserved something for his Three Times, featuring three stories set in three different times but using the same actors. —Reuter