CANNES – After eleven days of electrifying and challenging cinema at the Cannes Film Festival, the prestigious Palme d’Or was awarded to MULLINS PROC. CRX34-8, a thorough portrayal of 60-year-old Toronto native Dave Mullins’ latest routine colonoscopy.
“Outstanding, simply outstanding,” said jury president and Mad Max director George Miller. “MULLINS PROC. CRX34-8 is a riveting, innovative work that goes where no film has gone before: a human colon. And we agreed unanimously that the real golden palm here is the skilled hand of Dave’s proctologist.”
Shot using fibre optical cameras attached to an endoscope that meandered through Dave’s large intestine last year, MULLINS PROC. CRX34-8 is free of dialogue, music and extravagant visual effects, instead relying on its visceral imagery to tell the story. Critics have lauded the film’s inventiveness and courage, focusing especially on Dave’s “demanding” and “quietly haunting” performance.
“Many actors will bare themselves, but few will allow you inside,” said French film critic François Bazin. “Dave leads us through a winding tunnel of emotions in what is an unexpectedly poignant metaphor for coming-of-age and the strength of the human spirit. And through its continuous take, the film grabs us and doesn’t let go.”
The audience at the film’s gala screening was engrossed from the opening scene of the film, when the probe entered the exterior sphincter and proceeded slowly through the rectum. Loud gasps pervaded the theatre at the gut-wrenching climax wherein a precancerous polyp was discovered just before the ileum, followed by cheering and applause as the growth was removed by a snare device.
During the ten-minute standing ovation that followed the screening, Dave couldn’t help but tear up.
“I’m overwhelmed by all the recognition the film has gotten,” said Dave. “It wasn’t all smooth sailing, since I was on a liquid-only diet in the day leading up to the shoot and the nitrous oxide wore off before [the procedure] was done, but it really paid off in the end. I’m proud of what we made.”
“It’s crazy to think that if my doctor hadn’t sent the film right to Cannes, none of this would have happened.”
The success of the film in France has led to a distribution deal with the Weinstein Company, which includes a wide theatrical release and a conversion to IMAX 3D.
When asked about the possibility of a sequel, Dave gave a knowing smile and added, “At my age, expect one in two years.”
