But with a backlog of great movies, and the film world delighted to be back after it was cancelled last year, it proved a vintage year.

Here are some of the highlights from the world’s leading movie get-together.

1. No kissing

For Cannes to ban “la bise” – the French double-kiss on the cheeks – sounded like a crime against humanity. Sure enough, the organisers simply couldn’t help themselves as the gods and goddesses of cinema walked down the red carpet.

Jessica Chastain and Carla Bruni were among those receiving a very public peck on opening night, and there was further furore over social media pictures of unmasked cinema-goers, triggering a reinforcement of the Covid rules.

The regular tests and vaccine passes appear to have prevented the festival from becoming a super-spreader event. But some visitors were grossed out by the spit tests needed every 48 hours – or struggled to supply what was required.

“‘That’s not enough spit, monsieur,’ the test lady told me sternly,” recalled Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw.

2. Stars are born

Everyone fell a little bit in love with Renate Reinsve, the 33-year-old Norwegian star of the joyous and blub-inducing “Worst Person in the World”, about a young woman figuring her way through love and life.

Unknown before Cannes, the rave reviews left Reinsve overwhelmed. “The other day I woke up and I puked. And today I woke up and I cried,” she said.

Another breakout was Vicky Krieps from Luxembourg. Already known from “Phantom Thread” a few years back, she confirmed her star status with two more impressive performances, and she also has a string of big-budget films coming soon.

3. Lesbian movies

Lesbian movies are definitely having a moment, though in very different ways. Paul Verhoeven, the Dutch director behind “Robocop” and “Basic Instinct”, brought his usual level of subtlety to lesbian nun drama “Benedetta”.

In serial killer romp “Titane”, the lead character’s interest in women is perhaps trumped by the fact she manages to get pregnant by a vintage Cadillac.

Same-sex relationships also feature, in more ordinary ways, in two well-received competition entries – Finland’s “Compartment No 6” and the beautiful character study “Paris, 13th District” from France’s Jacques Audiard.

4. Bad dads

Sean Penn played alongside his real-life daughter Dylan in “Flag Day” about a useless deadbeat father, one of many that cropped up in this year’s Cannes selection.

In “Stillwater”, Matt Damon’s Trump-country oil rig worker has good intentions but makes terrible decisions as he tries to help his daughter who is locked up for murder in Marseille.

“The Worst Person in the World” had a terrible father, while the father in “Titane” faces a particularly brutal comeuppance for his bad behaviour.

5. Music in film

The music business was well-represented this year, starting with the opening film “Annette”, which starred Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard in possibly the weirdest musical ever, penned by legendary LA pop duo Sparks.

Grammy-nominated hip-hop artist Freddie Gibbs provided another unexpected entry with his movie debut “Down with the King”, about a rapper who gets drawn into skinning pigs and herding cattle in rural America.

American director Todd Haynes won plaudits for “The Velvet Underground”, a documentary about the 1960s rock legends.

And for relief, there was the fluffy Celine Dion biopic “Aline: The Voice of Love”. Critics were divided over whether this account of the Canadian megastar was a “sincere and moving homage” or “so pointless as a film that you can only see it as an extravagant piece of conceptual art”.