César Nominations: Elle, Frantz, and More
Wednesday, January 25, 2017 at 11:46AM 
France's César Awards announced their nominations this morning. As expected Elle and Divines (currently streaming on Netflix) have much reason to celebrate. Other hits with César including François Ozon's gorgeous black and white feature about Post-War relations and guilt called Frantz (which opens in the US in March), The Innocents (an arthouse hit in the US this year) and My Life as a Zucchini which was just nominated for the Animated Feature Oscar and receives 3 nominations here.
Their foreign film category also has two Oscar players Manchester by the Sea and Toni Erdmann.
Best Film
DIVINES (on Netflix)
ELLE (now playing)
FRANTZ (opening in US in March)
LES INNOCENTES (available on blu-ray)
MA LOUTE
FROM THE LAND OF THE MOON
VICTORIA
Ma Loute is from Bruno Dumont and is called Slack Bay in some markets. From the Land of the Moon stars Marion Cotillard among others.
Best Actress
JUDITH CHEMLA dans A WOMAN'S LIFE
MARION COTILLARD dans FROM THE LAND OF THE MOON
VIRGINIE EFIRA dans VICTORIA
MARINA FOÏS dans IRRÉPROCHABLE
ISABELLE HUPPERTdans ELLE
SIDSE BABETT KNUDSEN dans LA FILLE DE
BREST SOKO dans LA DANSEUSE
As previously noted Isabelle Huppert is the all-time most nominated actress at the Césars. This is her 16th nomination but she's only won the trophy once.
Best Actor
FRANÇOIS CLUZET dans MÉDECIN DE CAMPAGNE
PIERRE DELADONCHAMPS dans LE FILS DE JEAN
NICOLAS DUVAUCHELLE dans A DECENT MAN
FABRICE LUCHINI dans MA LOUTE
PIERRE NINEY dans FRANTZ
OMAR SY dans CHOCOLAT
GASPARD ULLIEL dans IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD
Pierre Niney in FRANTZ
Pierre Niney, who is very good in Frantz, won the César a couple of years back for Yves Saint Laurent. Once more he's competing against the other Saint Laurent that he beat that year, Gaspard Ulliel
Most Promising Female
OULAYA AMAMRA dans DIVINES
PAULA BEER dans FRANTZ
LILY-ROSE DEPP dans LA DANSEUSE
NOÉMIE MERLANT dans LE CIEL ATTENDRA
RAPH dans MA LOUTE
Yes Johny Depp's daughter is now a César nominated actress
The stars of the gay drama BEING 17 are both nominated
Most Promising Male
JONAS BLOQUET dans ELLE
DAMIEN BONNARD dans STAYING VERTICAL
CORENTIN FILA dans BEING 17
KACEY MOTTET KLEIN dans BEING 17
NIELS SCHNEIDER dans DIAMANT NOIR
Staying Vertical which is from Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake) is now playing in select cities in the US. You might remember Niels Schneider from Xavier Dolan films.
Supporting Actress
NATHALIE BAYE dans IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD
VALERIA BRUNI TEDESCHI dans MA LOUTE
ANNE CONSIGNY dans ELLE
DÉBORAH LUKUMUENA dans DIVINES
MÉLANIE THIERRY dans LA DANSEUSE
Supporting Actor
GABRIEL ARCAND dans LE FILS DE JEAN
VINCENT CASSEL dans IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD
VINCENT LACOSTE dans VICTORIA
LAURENT LAFITTE dans ELLE
MELVIL POUPAUD dans VICTORIA
JAMES THIERRÉE dans CHOCOLAT
Original Screenplay
DIVINES
L’EFFET AQUATIQUE
LES INNOCENTES
MA LOUTE
VICTORIA
Adapted Screenplay
ELLE
LA FILLE DE BREST
FRANTZ
MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI
FROM THE LAND OF THE MOON
RÉPARER LES VIVANTS
Original Score
CHOCOLAT
DANS LES FORÊTS DE SIBÉRIE
ELLE
FRANTZ
MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI
Best Costume Design
LA DANSEUSE
FRANTZ
MA LOUTE
FROM THE LAND OF THE MOON
A WOMAN'S LIFE
It's worth noting here that Madeline Fontaine, the costume designer of A Woman's Life is also up for the Oscar for Jackie.
Set Decorations
CHOCOLAT
LA DANSEUSE
FRANTZ
MA LOUTE
PLANETARIUM
Cinematography
ELLE
FRANTZ
LES INNOCENTES
MA LOUTE
FROM THE LAND OF THE MOON
Editing
DIVINES
ELLE
FRANTZ
IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD
FROM THE LAND OF THE MOON
Sound
CHOCOLAT
ELLE
FRANTZ
MAL DE PIERRES
L’ODYSSÉE
Best Director
HOUDA BENYAMINA pour DIVINES
PAUL VERHOEVEN pour ELLE
FRANÇOIS OZON pour FRANTZ
ANNE FONTAINE pour LES INNOCENTES
XAVIER DOLAN pour IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD
BRUNO DUMONT pour MA LOUTE
NICOLE GARCIA pour FROM THE LAND OF THE MOON
Short Film
APRÈS SUZANNE
DES CLOCHETTES
CHASSE ROYALE
MAMAN(S)
VERS LA TENDRESSE
Animated Short
CAFÉ FROID
CELUI QUI A DEUX ÂMES
JOURNAL ANIMÉ
PERIPHERIA
Animated Feature
THE GIRL WITHOUT HANDS
MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI
THE RED TURTLE
The Girl Without Hands just opened this past month in France. The other two nominees in the category, both Oscar nominated.
Best First Film
CIGARETTES ET CHOCOLAT CHAUD
LA DANSEUSE
DIAMANT NOIR
DIVINES
ROSALIE BLUM
Documentary Feature
DERNIÈRES NOUVELLES DU COSMOS
FIRE AT SEA
MERCI PATRON
SWAGGER
VOYAGE À TRAVERS LE CINÉMA FRANÇAIS
Fire at Sea is of course also up for the Best Documentary prize at the Oscars.
Foreign Film
AQUARIUS (Brazil)
GRADUATION (Romania)
THE UNKNOWN GIRL (Belgium)
IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD (Canada)
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (US)
I, DANIEL BLAKE (UK)
TONI ERDMANN (Germany)
Nice leanup
Reader Comments (21)
I can't get the "My Life as a Zucchini"/"My Life as a Courgette" differentiation down. Both English and French awards bodies seem to refer to it as Zucchini, so where has it been released as Courgette?
"Chocolat"? That's soooo 2000!
Nick -- it's actually listed as MA VIE DE COURGETTE in their official nomination pdf
J'adore Being 17
Actually, Pierre Niney won the Best Actor César (not the Most Promising Actor) for his "Yves Saint-Laurent", beating the 'other' YSL Gaspard Ulliel. This year the Best Actor race looks very uncertain, with no clear frontrunner or extremely-lauded performances (maybe Ulliel could get the César for the highly-appreciated Xavier Dolan film?).
Ulliel was excellent in the Dolan film. To me, he gives the best male performance of the past year.
Some interesting stats (to me, at least :)
- Isabelle Huppert is now only 1 nomination away from the all-time record for actors/actresses, held by Gérard Depardieu (17).
- Films by François Ozon have now earned 44 nominations, but have yet to win a single César. I think this year Paula Beer will win Promsing Actress, breaking the curse.
- Among the 7 BP nominees, 4 are directed by women. I think that's a record.
- 3 of the 7 Director nominees are women, just like last year.
- Kristen Stweart missed a nomination, as Personal Shopper was totally snubbed. Other notable films snubbed are Nocturama (by Bertrand Bonello) & Things to Come.
- "L'Odyssée" (biopic of Cousteau starring Lambert Wilson) earned a single nomination for Sound: incredible, as I thought it was a shoo-in for at least Production Design, Cinematography and Actor.
@Stefano: you're right about Niney. He was actually nominated twice for Promising Actor before winning in Lead for "Yves Saint-Laurent".
We haven't expressed the proper gratitude to Gaspard Ulliel for that glorious frontal in Saint Laurent. We deserve nothing.
Being 17 is the best film this year that nobody saw/talked about.
On that note, Andre Techine is the best, most consistently masterful writer/director that nobody watches/talks about. Especially within queer cinema, Wild Reeds, Witnesses and Being 17 tower over just about everything made in the past 30 years.
goran -- 100%
Saint Laurent > Yves Saint Laurent. Gaspard Ulliel was robbed, and I hope the César voters make it up to him.
Wish Isabelle Adjani had been recognized for Carole Matthieu.
Regarding her extreme good luck this year, this seems like a lock for La Huppert. But then again, even Jean Dujardin lost at the Cesar after winning the Oscar.
Being 17 was really touching. Like a more modern version of Wild Reeds, which is one of the great gay movies of all time (IMHO). It really won me over.
Frantz is not that great of a movie overall, but Niney and Beer rise above the fray.
Omg!! both Thing to Come & Personal Shopper are totally snubbed!!! Both directors (who are coincidentally married to ea other) won Berlin Silver Bear Best Dir & Cannes Best Dir, respectively & their movies have quite high profile...Strange that they are both snubbed on home ground...
I thot the French luv KStew??? Was expecting her to score a nom for Personal Shopper.
Was also expecting La Huppert to score a double nom for Elle & Things to Come since she was awarded best actress by so many stateside critics, citing both her performances.
Does Cesar has a rule that an actor cannot be double nom in the same category like the Oscars??
Crazy to me that Queen Huppert has only won once among all those nominations. I think she's got it this year.
Surely, she should've won for The Piano Teacher (unanimous Cannes Best Actress!) but I guess not.
Marion Cotillard may win the Best Actress for From the Land of the Moon over la reine Isabelle, although the Césars might correct Isabelle's lone win by bestowing her with the Meilleure Actrice for Elle. Which is most appropriate, fitting and well-deserved.
Virginie Efira who played Rebecca in Elle is up against Huppert in the lead actress award for her role in Victoria. This is Virginie's first César nomination. Also the Elle guys were nominated for the César for the first time: Jonas Bloquet and Laurent Lafitte. Anne Consigny was also nominated for Elle as supporting actress. Her 4th César nomination.
Great to see Nathalie Baye for It's Only the End of the World. This will be her tenth César nod. She already won 4 Césars in the past. I still can't forget her performances in Vénus Beauté (Institut) and Une Liaison Pornographique (retitled as An Affair of Love elsewhere).
I'm surprised at Ma loute's multiple nominations. I don't think it was that good. Frantz is not among François Ozon's best but I like him to win finally. His Under the Sand was a thing of rare beauty.
SLACK BAY is not a good movie, but Bruni is the best thing about it (they bypassed a nomination for over-the-top Binoche, so...)
Nice to see DIVINES up for a bunch, and BEING 17 for those two acting. Sad for no PERSONAL SHOPPER or THINGS TO COME. How strange.
@Claran : yes, the're now a rule forbidding anyone to get more than one nomination in his/her category.
A performance can't also be up for both Promising Actor/Actress & Lead/Supporting.
@Charlie, Thx for the info, although I googled & found out from IMDB tt another french actress, Cecile de France was double nom in best actress cat in 2006, althot she din win..
Guess they changed the rule now...I can agreed w being nom for one performance per category, but why most promising cant b up for lead/supp?? Puzzling...only explanation is tt they wanna fspread the wealth to as many actors/actresses as possible! Lol
@Claran: yes, that rule is fairly recent. Cécile de France got 3 Best Actress nominations in 2 years LOL And that was a field of 5 at the time !
Promising can't be up for lead/supp since Tahar Rahim won both Promising & Lead for 'A Prophet'. I'm glad this rule allows more performances to be seen.
Being 17 was prettty good!
Finally eeing both Personal Shopper and that divisive Dolan film at the Portland International Film Festival next week.