And the Oscar goes to

February 23, 2008

Ah but not yet. The French of course have managed to steal the show just ahead of time by holding their own annual film award fest - the Césars - a few days ahead of the Hollywood extravaganza.

And perhaps it was no bad a thing. As while Gallic hopes are firmly pinned on Marion Cotillard in Sunday’s event for her performance as Edith Piaf in “La Môme” (La vie en rose), they’ve managed to take the sting out of any potential disappointment by giving her a trophy at Friday night’s ceremony.

Mind you the luvvies of French cinema have been yacking on about little else ever since Cotillard was nominated for an Oscar in the best actress category a month or so ago. They’re clearly desperate to add to the meagre toll of just two awards for French actresses over the years: Simone Signoret for best actress in “Room at the top” way back in 1959, and more recently Juliette Binoche for her supporting role in the 1996 film “The English patient.”

So now Cotillard has pocketed the César, it’s the first flight out to glitzy world of Glamour Pure, in that understated way only the Americans know how to do properly.

And that was perhaps the most striking absentee from the Friday night’s ceremony. It was after all a very staid affair with none of the razzmatazz, humour and music of the Oscars, but all the back-slapping, granny-thanking, tear-filled, seemingly endless speeches.

Sure the setting was sumptuous to the nth degree – the magnificent 19th century Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. And it was heaving to the gills with the oh-so-chic, super-nonchalant A-listers of the French cinematographic industry. But even though they might believe rightly or wrongly that they make the best cinema on the planet, it’s a very small world and an extremely close-knit community, and to be quite honest, who outside of the country “gives a damn”?

Interesting also to see the slant the French take on the best foreign film which, in an almost fingers-up gesture to Hollywood, included only one US production. That said, the winner was the very same film upon which those across the pond bestowed their honour last year, the German-made “The lives of others”, directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.

The evening was all in all more than a bit of a tear jerker. As one reviewer put it “without tears the Césars wouldn’t be real.” – and there were sniffles galore as the lachrymal ducts were pushed to breaking point.

When Hafsia Herzi staggered onto the stage to collect her trophy early on in the evening for best female newcomer in “La Graine et le Mulet” (which also beat out La Môme for best film) she blubbered for the best part of five painfully dead-air minutes, squeezing out the occasional “pardon”. She clearly set the tone for much of the rest of the ceremony.

Just for the record the other major winners in “and the award goes to” included Abdellatif Kechiche as best director (“La graine et le Mulet”), Mathieu Amalric as best actor in “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” Julie Depardieu (yes it really is a small world) as best supporting actress in “The Secret” and Sami Bouajila for best supporting actor in “Les Temoins”.

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