Kamal Ghorui
John Travolta was surprised with an honorary Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of his directorial debut Friday.Clad in a white beret, Travolta walked the Cannes red carpet with his 26-year-old daughter Ella Bleu Travolta. The actor wrote, directed and co-produced ‘Propeller One-Way Night Coach’, based on his own 1997 children’s novel.Thierry Fremaux, the festival’s artistic director, brought out the award for Travolta just before the screening of his “Propeller One-Way Night Coach.” A visibly moved Travolta clutched his chest while Fremaux presented the trophy.“You said this would be a special night, but I didn’t know it would mean this,” Travolta said to Fremaux.“This is beyond the Oscar!” exclaimed Travolta.“My favourite movies in the history of my life have always been the winners of the Palme d’Or.”Travolta – who has never won an Oscar – revived his flagging career with his iconic turn as hitman Vincent Vega in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction”, which won the festival’s Palme d’Or top prize in 1994. Many critics hailed it as his greatest performance, one that has since gone down in cinema history.Cannes had kept the award under wraps until Travolta walked on stage for the premiere.Beyond the award, Travolta, 72, said he was hugely surprised to have his directorial debut, which stars his daughter, Ella Bleu Travolta, accepted at the world’s most prestigious film festival.He said when its director Thierry Fremaux told him in November that “it would be the first film ever accepted that early I cried like a baby.“I had no expectation my film would be accepted,” he added.‘Propeller One-Way Night Coach’ is an autobiographical tale that unfolds in the golden age of aviation. It tells of a young airplane fan making a one-way trip to Hollywood with his mother. “This is the blueprint of my life,” said the actor. “Everyone that was in the movie is sitting in the audience right there, my family.“And this is why this film exists and why I exist as an artist because of those people right there,” he added, motioning to his family and crew.As per a social media post, the actor dedicated his directorial debut to his late wife, actress Kelly Preston and their late son Jett. The film’s reel featured a special mention of his family. The note read, “This film is dedicated to Kelly, Jett, Ben and Ella” It also added, “My mother and father – my brothers and sisters all of whom are my life’s inspiration!”
