"The Artist" - a truly French success story?

It has been the talk of France over the past couple of days, the success of the film "The Artist" at this year's Oscars.

(screenshot from "The Artist" trailer)

The film, directed by the man by with an almost unpronouncable name (pity the poor Americans) Michel Hazanavicius, and starring Jean Dujardin picked up five statuettes, including Best Director, Film and Actor.



Without wanting to appear entirely churlish, how much is the gongification of the film and those involved down to the quality of what was up on the Big Screen and how much is due to a "master of movie industry promotion" Harvey Weinstein?

Is the film really a French success or just another example of how much power Weinstein wields in Hollywood?

Yes it's a film worth seeing. It's enjoyable and in a review when it first went on general release here in France, there was the recommendation here that, "If there's one film - just one single film - you should absolutely go to see this year it has to be 'The Artist'."

It's delightful, immensely entertaining and beautifully shot; "A pastiche…but lovingly made and extremely watchable," is how Screen International described it, and that was pretty much spot on.

When it premiered at Cannes, the long journey to international recognition was given one heck of a boost when Dujardin picked up Best Actor.

With a canny eye for what might appeal, Weinstein had already picked up the distribution rights before Cannes and by the time the film went on general release here in France in October, there were already rumours that it might be nominated in the main section of the Oscars and not consigned to the Foreign Picture category.

Its appeal was obvious.

Although not exactly original in being a silent film (after all how did the industry begin?) it was different enough to the 3D, special FX, kitchen sink sort of blockbuster diet the movie-going public is so often fed.

And what had originally been the very source of Hazanavicius' difficulties when he first came up with the idea in the 1990s but failed to get the funding, suddenly became one of its strengths as the promotional juggernaut switched up a gear.

Different equalled allure.

It paid dividends with the buzz from successive awards ceremonies including Golden Globes, British Baftas and French Césars (although in the case of the last, not Best Actor for Dujardin) combining with a formidable charm offensive to woo the Academy members who vote for the Oscars.

Throw in the theme of the film (Hollywood), where it was shot (Hollywood) and the homage it paid to several other (Hollywood) films and it surely had "winner" written all over it.

Plus there was no real language barrier to overcome.

Yes it is a French film directed by a Frenchman, starring French actors and produced by another Frenchman in the form of Thomas Langmann the son of the late (Oscar-winning) French director Claude Berri.

But equally its success is arguably very US driven.

Although it'll provide an international and financial boost to the careers of those involved especially Hazanavicius, his partner Bérénice Bejo and perhaps most notably Dujardin - provided they're willing to make as much of a commitment to living and working in Hollywood - it's undeniably also a tribute to the power and influence of one man - Harvey Weinstein.

"The Artist" triumphs at the Césars but there's no award for Jean Dujardin

French actor Jean Dujardin might well be among the frontrunners to pick up the Oscar in the Best Actor category but guess what.

He hasn't won the French equivalent, the César.

Those awards were handed out on Friday evening at a luvvies' ceremony event held at Le Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

The Césars are definitely not on the same OTT par as their US equivalent but, for the French film industry, they're just as important.

So who won the award for Best Actor?

Omar Sy.

Omar Sy (screenshot from "Intouchables" trailer)

Who, you might be asking.

Well film buffs might be aware that the 34- year-old played one of the lead roles in the French comedy that has taken this country by storm, "Intouchables."

The film made by directors Eric Tolédano and Olivier Nakache took the true story of Philippe Pozzo di Borgo, paralysed from the neck down in a paragliding accident in 1993, and the man he paid to look after him Abdel Sellou and adapted it for the big screen.

It is, in the words of some of the official blurb "the meeting of two 'handicaps' - one physical the other social."

"Following a paragliding accident, Philippe (played by François Cluzet), a rich aristocrat, is in need of someone to look after him. He hires Driss (played by Omar Sy), a young man from the "troubled" inner suburbs of Paris and just out of prison. In short the person least suited for the job. Together they reconcile Vivaldi and Earth Wind and Fire, repartees and ghetto jokes, tailored suits and tracksuits..."

"Intouchables" touches more than just one nerve. It makes you laugh and cry as the performances, especially of the excellent Omar Sy, carry you along. The dialogue is credible, the situation less so - but that's the beauty really because it's based on a true story; Yes fact can be stranger than fiction.

Packing 'em in right from the beginning, "Intouchables" went on general release in France on November 2 and three weeks later, six million people had already seen it.

Queues outside cinemas were long - very long - and booking ahead more than advisable.

And the phenomenon just kept going. To date the film has put more than 19 million bums on seats in France - not bad in a country with a population of around 65 million.

Forget those stuffy US reviewers (such as Variety's Jay Weissberg) who just didn't "get it" (perhaps they don't speak a word of French) and labelled it as running to stereotypes or at worst "racist".

Film critics in France and industry insiders couldn't quite believe how badly the US had seemed to understand the humanity behind the film.

Perhaps they'll be happier when the inevitable own all-American version is made.

A deserved award for Sy, and perhaps disappointment for Dujardin who is, of course, now on his way to Hollywood to try his luck at the Oscars.

There was more than a little consolation for The Artist though as it picked up six Césars on the night including the biggies Best Film, Best Director for Michel Hazanavicius and keeping it in the family Best Actress went to Hazanavicius' partner, Bérénice Bejo.

There were also gongs for The Artist for Best Original Music, photography and decor.

Marion Cotillard's public breastfeeding "incident"

It's apparently a story that "shocked" diners at the restaurant of the Chateau Marmont Hotel in West Hollywood recently and was clearly enough of a "scandal" (inverted commas required) to make the pages of the weekly US tabloid The National Enquirer.

Marion Cotillard (from Wikipedia)

French Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard was spotted breastfeeding her five-month-old son Marcel in public!

Yes, sit down for a moment. Gather your wits about you and take a deep breath. It's as bad as that.

The "incident" is hard to confirm from this side of the Pond because access to The National Enquirer's site sadly (ahem) isn't available in France.

But according to the weekly French celebrity gossip magazine Closer, its US equivalent is running with the story that once again has "Americans shocked".

And it's almost as much almost of a faux pas (although that might just be Closer taking a tongue-in-cheek approach to The National Enquirer piece) as the 36-year-old's questioning in an interview of the official explanation of the September 11 terrorist attacks; an interview that had taken place before but was republished shortly after she received her Oscar for Best Actress in the film "La Môme" (La vie en rose) in 2007.

A witness, shocked by Cotillard's recent "revelation" apparently described to The National Enquirer how the French actress took Marcel in her arms when he began crying and thinking nobody was watching, "Opened her blouse to expose her right breast to allow him to feed."

Yes, terrible isn't it?

"When she noticed that everyone was apparently looking she asked the nanny for a blanket to cover Marcel and her breast," the witness added.

Just as well perhaps that US socialite and reality TV star Kim Kardashian wasn't around at the time.

In 2010 the 31-year-old reportedly got all of a Twitter about a woman she had seen breastfeeding in public.

Seriously though, shouldn't the headline to Closer's story and that of The National Enquirer have read something along the lines of "French actress Marion Cotillard seen breastfeeding in public. So what! (Or Hooray!)

Next (story) please.

Michel Hazanavicius' "The Artist" - a film to see

If there's one film - just one single film - you should absolutely go to see this year it has to be "The Artist".

(screenshot "The Artist" trailer)

French critics have been heaping praise on it ever since it premiered at the Cannes film festival in May when Jean Dujardin took home the award for Best Actor.

Director Michel Hazanavicius' idea might seem completely potty.

At a time when 3D is all the rage, special FX, music, BIG Hollywood names, colour, the kitchen sink - you name it - are all part of what supposedly tickles the fancy of film-goers, what does the 44-year-old director, screenwriter and producer come up with?

A film in black and white of course - and a silent one to boot!

Hazanavicius apparently had the idea of making a black and white silent movie as far back as the early 90s but couldn't get the funding together.

It wasn't until after the success in France of his two spy spoof movies "OSS 117: Le Caire nid d'espions" ("OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies") in 2006 and "OSS 117: Rio Ne Répond Plus" ("OSS 117: Lost in Rio") in 2009, both of which starred Dujardin, that Hazanavicius sent the script of "The Artist" to the producer Thomas Langmann, who managed to get together a €10 million budget.

The film was shot at Warner Studios in Los Angeles in just 35 days, a feat which Hazanavicius admits, didn't really give him a chance to appreciate fully exactly how "mythical" the setting was.

"It was very short and I didn't have the time to be clear about where I was," he said.

"I had to keep to a very tight schedule and convince those working on the film to adapt to the French method of movie making."

The result? A romantic comedy described as "A pastiche…but lovingly made and extremely watchable," by Screen International.

Jean Dujardin (screenshot "The Artist" trailer)

Its storyline perhaps isn't entirely original: George Valentin (Dujardin) a star of silent movies in the late 1920s at a time when talkies are the future meets young actress Peppy Miller (played by Hazanavicius' wife, Bérénice Bejo) looking for her big break. As Valentin's star wanes, so Miller's rises.

(screenshot "The Artist" trailer)

But - and it's a big but - there's emotion, passion, music, dance, wonderful cinematography (yes it's possible in black and white) more than a few nods to classic Hollywood films that should keep any cinephile happy and, and and...oh yes a dog in the shape of Jack (played by Jack Russell Uggy who also won an award at Cannes - the Palm Dog).

"The Artist" opened in France October 12 and there are rumblings that it won't just be entered into that also-ran Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars next year - but will be in the main competition for the proper gongs.

So here's a word of advice - go see it.

Enjoy - and hey....even if you don't speak a word of French, it'll likely be the first film from this country that you'll sit through and be able to understand in its entirety.

French film festivals - the Americans are coming!

Less than a week after the announcement that US actor Robert De Niro would jury chairman at the 64th annual Cannes film festival in May comes the news that another American will be "topping the bill" so-to-speak at this year's César awards in February.

Jodie Foster, Berlin 2007 (image from Wikipedia, author Franz Richter)

Actress Jodie Foster will add her very own brand of American flair, in fluent French of course, to this country's equivalent of the Oscars next month as president of the 36th annual César awards ceremony to be held at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

While De Niro's appointment continues a trend that will have seen three out of the last four jury presidents at Cannes coming from across the Pond (Sean Penn in 2008 and Tim Burton in 2010) Foster will become the first foreigner since the late Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni to preside over the César ceremony and only the fourth American ever after Kirk Douglas (1990), Gene Kelly (1984) and Orson Welles (1982)

The choice of the 48-year-old Foster perhaps comes as no surprise as the weekly national Le Journal du Dimanche pointed out on its website.

She is, as the paper reminds its readers, "an accomplished francophone" who studied at the Lycée Français in Los Angeles.

Apart from an acting career which includes the not-so trifling accolade of winning two Oscars for best actress (1988 in The Accused and 1991 in The Silence of the Lambs) and being nominated on two other occasions (for best supporting actress at just 14 years of age in the 1976 film Taxi Driver and again in the best actress category in the 1994 movie Nell) Foster has also directed and produced.

And, as US Daily reports, she is no stranger to French cinema having "appeared in Eric Le Hung's 1977 film Moi, Fleur Bleue (Stop Calling Me Baby (Moi, fleur bleue), Claude Chabrol's Le Sang des autres (The Blood of Others) in 1984 and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Un long dimanche de fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement) in 2004.

The César award ceremony will take place on February 25 and be broadcast live on Canal + television.

The nominees in each of the categories will be announced on January 21 in Paris.

The double-American whammy should put paid (for a while at least) to those assertions that the French always look sniffily down their collective Gallic noses when it comes to US "culture", although perhaps both Foster and De Niro are noteworthy exceptions to the rule that "The world is turning Disney".



The making of the real The Silence of the lambs






The spoof starring Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders