IN A verdict certain to be controversial, the jury of the 50th Cannes Film Festival last night awarded its major prize, the Palme d'Or, to a worthy but simplistic Iranian film and a well made but unremarkable Japanese film.
The Iranian film, The Taste of the Cherry, directed by Abbas Kiarostami, was initially refused permission to compete at Cannes by the Iranian authorities because of the sensitivity of its subject matter - suicide and the Muslim religion - in Iran.
The film was finally allowed compete on the day the festival opened 12 days ago and was rushed to Paris for subtitling. Mr Kiarostami received a sustained standing ovation when he attended the festival screening of his film on Friday.
The Japanese winner of the Palme d'Or is Unagi (The Eel), in which a man, paroled after eight years in prison for killing his wife, starts a new life as a barber in a small town. It was directed by Shohei lmamura, who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1983 for the little seen Ballad of Narayama.
Neither of this year's two Palme d'Or winning films seems likely to find any significant international audience.
The Cannes jury announced another major surprise last night when jury president Isabelle Adjani declared that Sean Penn was voted best actor for his highly mannered performance as a disturbed and erratic man in Shea So Lovely, directed by Nick Cassavetes.
Much more deserving was the best actress award to Cathy Burke as a physically abused spouse in the British entry, Nil By Mouth, directed by actor Gary Oldman.
The much admired Canadian entry, Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter, had to be content with the runner up prize for best film, the Grand Prix du Jury, while another critical favourite, Ang Lee's The Ice Storm, had to make do with the best screenplay prize which went to writer James Schamus.
Following the awards ceremony, the most divisively received Cannes programme for years closed with the European premiere of the American thriller, Absolute Power, directed by Clint East wood, who also stars as a veteran burglar who witnesses the murder of a woman having a fling with the President of the United States.