On Tuesday, 13 May 2025, one of cinema’s most enduring icons, Robert De Niro, will receive an honorary Palme d’orat the opening ceremony of the 78th Festival de Cannes—a tribute to a career that has shaped the face of modern film. Fourteen years after presiding over the Jury in 2011, the American actor, director and producer returns to Cannes, not as a juror, but as a living symbol of cinematic legacy.
“There are faces that stand in for the 7th Art, and lines of dialogue that leave an indelible mark on cinephilia,” states the official tribute. With De Niro, both apply. Whether through a harsh gaze or a gentle smile, his acting has always been defined by an interiorised style—quietly intense, always authentic.
“I have such close feelings for Festival de Cannes…” De Niro said upon learning of the honour. “Especially now when there's so much in the world pulling us apart, Cannes brings us together — storytellers, filmmakers, fans, and friends. It's like coming home.”
From Bohemian Roots to Silver Screen Revolution
De Niro’s entry into cinema coincided with a turning point in American film history. His early roles in The Wedding Party, Greetings, and Hi, Mom!—all directed by a young Brian De Palma—anchored his screen presence in the anti-hero tradition. These formative performances exuded a charisma shaped by his bohemian upbringing in New York City, where the son of painters absorbed a streetwise attitude that infused his characters with layers of code, conduct and simmering ethics.
This raw energy found a defining outlet in his collaboration with Martin Scorsese, beginning in 1973 with Mean Streets, a vivid portrayal of their shared Little Italy neighbourhood. What followed was a creative partnership that would come to redefine American cinema.
Signature Roles and Landmark Performances
The following year, De Niro stepped into one of his most iconic roles—young Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Part II. Tasked with inhabiting the early years of Marlon Brando’s legendary character, De Niro navigated the challenge without imitation, delivering a performance that earned him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
By 1976, his name had become synonymous with prestige, bringing Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900 and Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver to Cannes. It was the latter, in which De Niro played the troubled Travis Bickle, that claimed the Palme d’or. His process—obtaining a New York cab license and improvising the now-legendary mirror scene—was a key ingredient in the film’s visceral impact.
His partnership with Scorsese deepened with each film. From learning the saxophone for New York, New York, to physically transforming for Raging Bull—a role that earned him the Oscar for Best Actor—De Niro’s commitment to his craft became the stuff of legend. When developing The King of Comedy, he even interviewed his own fans to prepare for the role of Rupert Pupkin, a fame-obsessed character who opened Cannes in 1983.
A year later, he returned to the Croisette with Once Upon a Time in America, Sergio Leone’s swan song. Then came The Mission, and later, a rare distinction: just ten years after Taxi Driver, he starred in a second Palme d’or winner.
A Legend Reinvented
The 1990s brought reinvention. De Niro turned his signature intensity toward comedy in Mad Dog and Glory, Jackie Brown, Mafia Blues, and the now-classic Meet the Parents. Simultaneously, he maintained his long-time collaboration with Scorsese in films like Goodfellas, Cape Fear, and Casino.
Behind the camera, he was no less ambitious. In 1989, he co-founded TriBeCa Productions with Jane Rosenthal, and by 1993 had directed his first film, A Bronx Tale, a story of neighbourhood loyalties and generational tension. Thirteen years later, he followed it with The Good Shepherd.
Civic Voice, Cinematic Power
After the trauma of 9/11, Robert De Niro turned outward, co-founding the TriBeCa Film Festival in 2002 to help reclaim a devastated community. It was here that another side of his legacy emerged: political engagement, rooted in the same humanism that animates his best roles.
From the war-scarred psyches he portrays to the corrupt systems his characters expose, De Niro has consistently plumbed the dark heart of American society. Whether reflecting on the trauma of the Vietnam War, the decline of the State, or the manipulation of souls by the entertainment industry, his filmography stands as a commentary as much as a performance.
In Joker, and most recently in Killers of the Flower Moon, De Niro’s presence reminds us that cinema can still be profound, still unsettling—and still necessary.
A Well-Deserved Honour
On 13 May 2025, Robert De Niro will receive the Honorary Palme d’or at the Festival de Cannes. Not just as a tribute to past glories, but as recognition of an artist who continues to challenge, provoke, and inspire.
