Lost Illusions triumphs at French Césars; Lemercier wins best actress for Aline
Lost Illusions, an adaptation of Balzac's novel about the press and its abuses, signed by Xavier Giannoli, triumphed Friday at the Césars, the prestigious award ceremony of French cinema, which was, this year, sober and without surprises against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
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Valérie Lemercier was crowned best actress for Aline, a biopic she devoted to, and about, the Quebecois singing star Céline Dion.
However, Lost Illusions was the clear winner on the night. It started out as the favorite and won seven statuettes, including the one for best film. It also earned a César for best male hopeful Benjamin Voisin, 25, who plays the ambitious idealist Lucien de Rubempré, thrown into the deep end of Parisian societal ambitions in the 19th century.
A young provincial with a love of literature, his dreams are shattered by the reality of society of the time.
Best Film, best director
By rewarding Lost Illusions, the Césars, sometimes criticized for their navel-gazing or their disconnection, have made a triumph of one of the rare post-confinement French films to have combined popular success (more than 870,000 admissions) and artistic ambition.
The director, Xavier Giannoli, who succeeds Albert Dupontel, the winner of the award last year for Adieu les Cons, did not come to collect his prize. He is "an independent artist", simply commented his co-writer Jacques Fieschi, interviewed by French news agency AFP.
The other big winner was Leos Carax, who was also absent, with his rock opera Annette (five statuettes). The 61-year-old director is the first to achieve the double César for best director and director's award at Cannes, where his film was screened as the opening film of the last festival.
His star actor, the American Adam Driver, nominated in the category of best actor, was present, but left empty-handed, snubbed by the voters of the Academy who preferred Benoît Magimel.
The 47-year-old actor was rewarded for his role as a cancer patient at the end of his life in De son vivant by Emmanuelle Bercot.
Midwife and Wonder Woman
Marked by scandals and flops, the César Awards this year were expected to be a turning point.
The ceremony, broadcast on the Canal+ channel, took place without any major incident, but without ever really taking off.
It must be said that the heart was not really in the party, while the war unfolded in the east, a reality that was recalled by many stars that took to the stage, including the Australian Cate Blanchett who received a long ovation and an honorary César: "Difficult to think of anything other than Ukraine," she admitted.
Many tributes were paid to the deceased personalities, including Gaspard Ulliel, who died a month ago just 37 years old, in a skiing accident. Jean-Paul Belmondo was also honoured.
No lessons
From the outset, the master of ceremonies Antoine de Caunes had promised that the Césars would be careful not to "give lessons": "We will laugh, we will be moved, the essence of our profession is to continue whatever happens, even if the world collapses," he said.
It was finally a non-professional who brought a touch of freshness to the evening, when Aïssatou Diallo Sagna, a midwife in civilian life, who received a César for Best Supporting Actor for The Fracture, a film about the France of the yellow vests in which she plays her own role.
"This César, it is ours, the caregivers! It's our reward," she told the press, beaming.
"I am +open+ to shoot other films. I am a "Wonder Woman"! I can continue my job and shoot too. It is not incompatible. I have three children at home and bills to pay. I have to keep working," she continued, confiding that she would be back at her post at the hospital on Tuesday with just enough time to savor her trophy.
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