Harrison Ford has been an international treasure for so long, it’s hard to believe that he’s now at the “beloved institution” stage of his career. And yet he came to the prestigious Cannes Film Festival with his final Indiana Jones film and received the kind of hero’s welcome that the festival only rolls out for international cinema’s greatest artists; surprising him at a ceremony with an Honorary Palme d’Or, with Thierry Frémaux, the director of the festival, proclaiming him “one of the greatest stars in cinema.”
Ford accepted in his typical gruff, no-nonsense way by saying, “I am pleased and honored, but I got a movie you gotta see.” The festival played a montage of clips from a range of Ford’s movies from Working Girl to Star Wars, to which he responded, “They say before you die, you see your life flash before your eyes, and I just saw my life flash before my eyes.”
However, he also took a moment to sincerely express his gratitude for the honor, saying, ““You know, I love you too. You give my life purpose and meaning, and I’m grateful for that.”
The Festival de Cannes’ official YouTube channel shared the video of Ford accepting his honor:
The Honorary Palme d’Or is the Festival’s way of honoring filmmakers and actors to whom they’d never awarded the top prize, and past honorees include legendary directors Ingmar Bergman, Agnes Varda, and Clint Eastwood, and actors including Tom Cruise and, now, Harrison Ford.
The Festival has been a bit of a lovefest for Ford, which has used the premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny as an excuse to laud the silver-haired silver screen icon. As reported in Vanity Fair’s live blogging at Cannes, he was given the rare privilege of walking the red carpet solo before joining the rest of the cast to pose for the cameras.