Cesar Winners: "Les Misérables" is tops... but now we're curious about "La Belle Epoque"
Saturday, February 29, 2020 at 12:00PM
NATHANIEL R in Alexis Menenti, An Officer and a Spy, Anaïs Demoustier, César Awards, Fanny Ardant, La Belle Epoque, Les Miserables, Papicha, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Roman Polanski, Roschdy Zem
Yes yes, we were supposed to be taking the weekend off. But we forgot about the Césars held yeseterday in France. So...
Cast & Crew of "Les Miserables" at the Cesars
While Roman Polanski's "J'Accuse!" led the César nominations in the end it lost "Best Film" to France's Oscar nominatedLes Misérables. Both films won multiple prizes. Curiously considering two prizes for Polanski himself, two films which center on the sexual abuse of kids (By the Grace of God and "M") also won Césars. The dramedy La Belle Epoque, starring longtime gallic icons Daniel Auteuil and Fanny Ardant, also made a strong showing with 3 wins. A complete list of winners, some stats, and the trailer to La Belle Epoque are after the jump...
Céline Sciamma, “Portrait Of A Lady On Fire” (2nd nom in this category)
Arnaud Desplechin, “Oh Mercy” (5th nom in this category, 1 previous win)
Yes, Polanski has won every time he's been nominated as a director at the Césars, starting with Tess (1979) which also nabbed him an Oscar nomination for direction.
Best Actress
Emmanuelle Devos with César winner Anaîs Demoustier at the Cesars
Anais Demoustier, “Alice and The Mayor” ★ (4th nom, 1st win)
Parasite dominated this particular award in just about every country. But it's worth noting that this was Pedro Almodóvar's fourth time up for Best Foreign Film at the Césars. Volver, All About My Mother, and Tie Me Up Tie Me Down were also nominated in their years with All About... winning as it did at the Oscars.
“Wonder Boy Olivier Rousteing, ne sous X,” Anissa Bonnefont
While "M"'s poster features the smiling image above, it's actually a documentary about sexual abuse. It follows the actor Menahem Lang (Promised Land, Jellyfish) returning to the town of his childhood east of Tel Aviv where he was repeatedly raped and the closed utra Orthodox community that makes discussing such things difficult.
We haven't yet seen Papicha (Algeria's most recent Oscar submission)but we're a bit sad that Atlantics couldn't take any Césars. Have you watched it on Netflix yet?
Pawel Edelman, “An Officer and a Spy” (3rd nom, 1 previous win)
Julien Poupard, “Les Miserables” (1st nom)
Claire Mathon, ” Portrait of a Young Lady on Fire” ★ (2nd nom, 1st win)
Irina Lubtchansky “Oh Mercy” (2nd nom)
A deserved win for Claire Mathon, who also exquisitely shot Atlantics this past year, but why was this the only prize that Portrait won? Why don't the French love it as much as we do?
Best Costumes
Jean du Jardin in Chavanne costumes
Emmanuelle Youchnoski, "La Belle Epoque" (1st nom)
Pascaline Chavanne, "An Officer and a Spy" ★ (9th nom, 2nd win)
Alexandra Charles, "Jeanne" (2nd nom)
Dorothee Guiraud, "Portrait of a Lady on Fire (1st nom)
Best Production Design
Stephane Rozenbaum, "La Belle Epoque" ★ (2nd nom, 2nd win)
Benoit Barouh, "The Wolf's Call" (2nd nom)
Franck Schwarz, "Cyrano My Love" (1st nom)
Jean Rabasse, "An Officer and a Spy" (6th nom, 2 previous wins)
Thomas Grezaud, "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" (1st nom)
Best Original Score
Fatima Al Qadiri, "Atlantics" (1st nom, debut film)
Alexandre Desplate, "An Officer and a Spy" (10th nom, 3 previous wins)
Dan Levy, "I Lost My Body" ★ (1st nom, 1st win)
Marco Casanova & Kim Chapiron, "Les Miserables" (1st nom)
Gregoire Hetzel, "Roubaix, Une Lumiere" (4th nom)
Best Sound
"La Belle Epoque"
"The Wolf's Call" ★
"An Officer and a Spy"
"Les Miserables"
"Portrait of a Lady on Fire"
Other Prizes...
Audience Award
Les Misérables ★
Animated Short
La Nuit Des Sacs Plastiques ★
Here's the trailer to LA BELLE EPOQUE if you're curious... It's got a bit of a Westworld without all the violence vibe or Fantasy Island without all the Mr Roarke and Tattoo or The Truman Show without all the deception. We're officially curious.
So the nom/win tally went like so
AN OFFICER AND A SPY - 12 nominations / 3 wins
LES MISERABLES -10 nominations / 4 wins
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE - 10 nominations / 1 win
LA BELLE EPOQUE - 9 nominations / 3 wins
BY THE GRACE OF GOD - 8 nominations / 1 win
THE SPECIALS - 8 nominations / 0 wins
OH MERCY - 6 nominations
I LOST MY BODY - 3 nominations / 2 wins
ATLANTICS - 3 nominations / 0 wins
PAPICHA - 2 nominations / 2 wins
THE WOLF'S CALL (LE CHANT DU LOUP) - 2 nominations / 1 win
CYRANO MY LOVE and SEULES LES BETES and IN THE NAME OF THE LAND- 2 nominations / 0 wins
Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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