CANNES: The competition for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival wraps up Saturday with a clutch of favourites jockeying for one of global cinema's most coveted prizes.
A Cate Blanchett lesbian love story, a gruelling Auschwitz drama, an all-star tableau on the ravages of age, and a slow-burn martial arts movie from Taiwan all looked well-placed to capture top honours from a jury led by Joel and Ethan Coen.
But in one of the tightest races in years, an Italian ode to a dying mother and the pitch-black comedy "The Lobster" about modern love starring Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz also seemed within striking distance.
Audiences swooned over "Carol" by US director Todd Haynes, featuring knock-out performances by Blanchett and Rooney Mara as lovers nearly crushed by the conservative values of their time.
It rocketed to the top of critics' "best of" charts after its premiere last Sunday.
Another revelation from this year's festival was "Son of Saul" by first-time feature director Laszlo Nemes, which takes film-goers inside the gas chambers of Auschwitz in a way never before seen on screen.
Critics hailed the picture for bringing the memory of the Holocaust alive in a visceral way 70 years after the liberation of the camps, as the last survivors enter their twilight years.
"The films that win tend to create a completely realised and self-contained universe. 'Son of Saul' does that," Vogue reviewer John Powers told AFP.
"The evocation of that universe, the world of Auschwitz, is powerful and exquisitely directed."
Peter Bradshaw of London's The Guardian newspaper called it "an astonishing debut film" of "extraordinary focus and courage".
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