Curtain comes down on 64th Cannes film festival

Only his fifth feature, the contemplation on the origins of life and where we go when we die was among the firm favourites to walk off with the coveted award.There was an award for Melancholia directed by Denmarks Lars Von Trier, which remained in competition despite his shock expulsion from the festival for jokingly saying he had some sympathy for Hitler during a press conference.US actress Kirsten Dunst won the best actress category for her role in her portrayal of a cosmic collision that ends all life, which critics said was a downbeat companion piece to Malicks more optimistic vision.Best actor went to Jean Dujardin for his role in The Artist, a re-make of a 1920s silent, black-and-white romance that transported audiences back to the pre-talkie era in Hollywood.The runner-up Grand Prix went to two films -- Once Upon a Time in Anatolia by Turkeys Nuri Bilge Ceylan and The Kid With a Bike by Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.The brothers had been in with a chance of winning an unprecedented third Golden Palm at the worlds biggest festival.Denmarks Nicolas Winding Refn won the best director for his high-octane thriller Drive.The ceremony brought the curtain down on a Cannes festival that will be remembered for the unprecedented expulsion of Von Trier, who won the Palme dOr in 2000.