"I think this is it," Lee said of "Highest 2 Lowest," his fifth and perhaps final film with the "Training Day" star.

The Oscar winner had an emotional evening at Cannes, receiving a surprise honor from his longtime friend Spike Lee.

Denzel Washington sandwiched a whirlwind trip to the Cannes Film Festival in between Broadway performances for the premiere of Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest” and was rewarded with a surprise honorary Palme d'Or.

Spike Lee and Denzel Washington have walked a long road together. The director and actor’s collaboration has run for 35 years, starting with “Mo’Better Blues” and including the seminal “Malcolm X.” But one thing they’ve never done is ascend the red carpet at Cannes Film Festival as comrades in arms.

Spike Lee is calling out a bad call from the Academy more than 30 years later: The auteur, along with most cinephiles, is convinced that Denzel Washington was snubbed for the Best Actor Oscar for “ Malcolm X .” Al Pacino instead won over Washington for “Scent of a Woman.”

Highest 2 Lowest was shot across New York, with elaborate action scenes in the Bronx, set against the backdrop of Yankee Stadium. During the presser, Lee was asked about shooting in New York and how he thinks the recent drop in production in the city could be resolved.

Among the weirdest films to premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival is Spike Lee ’s out-of-competition drama-thriller Highest 2 Lowest, the kind of idiosyncratic indulgence only a filmmaker of Lee’s stature is allowed.

Kimber Elayne Sprawl discusses reimagining of Emilia in Broadway production of "Othello," and working alongside Denzel Washington.