(Cover) - EN Movies - Mel Gibson and his movie The Beaver received a ten-minute standing ovation at the Cannes International Film Festival.

In the picture, Mel plays a man who can only communicate with his family using a hand puppet. Jodie Foster also stars in it, and was the picture's director.

Mel has experienced a turbulent time of late, with his ex-girlfriend making claims of domestic violence and tapes of him appearing to use racist language made public. Due to that he has steered clear of much of the movie's publicity, but he did make an appearance at the prestigious film event in France yesterday.

Wearing a tuxedo and sunglasses, Mel walked the red carpet at the premiere alongside Jodie. He seemed relaxed and happy as he made his way inside the Grand Thtre Lumire, even stopping to pose for pictures.

Although the movie has received mixed reviews in America, it was a huge hit at Cannes. After the screening the audience leapt to their feet, clapping and cheering, and stayed there for at least ten minutes.

Among the stars to show up for the event were Naomi Campbell, Leonardo DiCaprio and his on/off girlfriend Bar Refaeli.

Mel did not attend the pre-screening press conference, leaving Jodie to field questions on her own. Many of them related to her co-star and Jodie had nothing but praise for the way Mel played the part.

"I know that he is incredibly proud of the movie and I think that he is proud of what he's shown and I think he wants people to see that side of him and he's an incredibly private man so what he shows on screen is deep as you could possibly get," she said.

Jodie also revealed she expected the movie to do better in Europe than America due to the subject matter. (C) Cover Media