An artist’s true currency is the acknowledgment of his work. The movies die by the length of their applause at the Cannes Film Festival. The high society gathering of cinephiles decides the fate of the film way before the credits roll. Sometimes, the attendees form their memories around the applause, not the film.

Anything above five or six minutes is going to leave an everlasting impression. But if you’re off the mark, understand that the audience has been left cold by what they’ve seen. At the Cannes Film Festival 2023, Martin Scorsese’s film received a nine-minute standing ovation. However, it’s far from the massive length of applause other films have received.

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Top 10 Longest Standing Ovations In The History Of The Cannes Film Festival

10. Elvis (12 minutes)

Baz Luhrman’s ‘Elvis’ with a memorable Austin Butler is a dizzying, hallucinating look at a larger-than-life rockstar and its puppeteer, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks). Luhrman and his cast were commended for around 12 minutes, also earning love from the Presley estate. Austin Butler was nominated for Best Actor at the 2023 Oscars for playing the eponymous King of Rock and Roll.

9. The Artist (12 minutes)

The 2011 film from Michel Hazanavicius starring Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejois is a weepy love letter to the final glory days of cinema’s birth. This doomed romance between a has-been and a rising movie star played perfectly to the film festival crowd, making them applaud this silent masterpiece for 12 minutes.

8. Bowling For Columbine (13 minutes)

It feels disorienting to clap for a documentary dealing with the epidemic of school shootings, but that’s what happened at Cannes Film Festival in 2002. Constantly questioning its neighbors’ political, economic, and social status, Michael Moore uses the medium of documentary to tear through the bravado behind owning weapons and show the urgency of gun control.

7. Belle (14 minutes)

The ‘Beauty And The Beast-inspired film ‘Belle’ received a 14-minute round of applause at the Cannes Film Festival 2021. The Mad House and Studio Ghibli veteran Mamoru Hosoda previously came to the film festival with ‘Mirai’ in 2018. It was also nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars.

6. Capernaum (15 minutes)

It’s often asked if the kids are okay, but Nadine Labaki bluntly states it as the parents’ fault in ‘Capernaum.’ The film follows a boy’s hard times and how he fights his sealed fate, an unforgiving system that conspires against him to be a decent human being. It received a 15-minute standing applause, not to mention there wasn’t a single dry eye in the house.

5. The Paperboy (15 minutes)

Lee Daniels’ follow-up to the Oscar-nominated ‘Precious’ was a swampy investigative thriller called ‘The Paperboy.’ Starring Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, John Cusack, and Nicole Kidman, the film’s screening was met with heckling but didn’t stop it from getting a 15-minute round of applause at the Cannes Film Festival.

4. The Neon Demon (17 minutes)

Has there ever been a more frustratingly divisive filmmaker than Nicolas Winding Refn in recent memory? The Danish auteur has consistently stuck to his guns, refusing to pander to commercial sensibilities. His 2017 film about the monstrous exploration of beauty and youth, ‘The Neon Demon’ with Elle Fanning, seemed to make an impact at the Cannes Film Festival. The audience got on their feet and applauded for 17 beautiful minutes.

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3. Mud (18 minutes)

Jeff Nichols’s Dickensian telling of a boy’s story picked an incredible reception from the Cannes Film Festival audience. Starring Matthew McConaughey on the cusp of his ‘McConaissance’ reinvention, the audience went ga-ga for the film and gave an 18-minute standing ovation at its premiere.

2. Fahrenheit 9/11 (20 minutes)

Canadian filmmaker Michael Moore is no stranger to appreciation at the Cannes Film Festival. Not only did ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ has the rare distinction of winning the prestigious Palme d’Or as a documentary, but it also received a standing ovation for 20 minutes. Moore previously received a 13-minute standing ovation with his school shooting documentary ‘Bowling For Columbine.’

1. Pan’s Labyrinth (22 minutes)

Guillermo Del Toro’s dark Spanish fantasia was a show-stealer at the 2006 edition of the Cannes Film Festival. While the Spanish didn’t win the Palme d’Or, the film received a record-breaking standing ovation of 22 minutes. While Guillermo Del Toro may have gone on to win multiple Academy Awards, there’s nothing like the rousing applause that lasted for almost half an hour.

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