Jean Dujardin must have been just as surprised as everyone else when he didnât hear his name being called out as they announced the Best Actor award at tonightâs César ceremony in Paris. The Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma opted instead for Omar Sy, who stars in Untouchables, the biggest box-office smash of 2011 in France. A choice that many question.
âJean Dujardin will win an Oscar for best actor but not a César. How embarrassingâ¦â tweeted (in French) @Les_Cesar_fake, a sentiment that was shared by many others.
Shortly after winning Best Actor, Omar Syâs Wikipedia page was updated and said that he had won the best actor award âeven though he didn't deserve it.â The comment was removed five minutes later⦠Another running joke is âOmar mâa tuerâ (Omar killed me), in reference to the film of the same name. Maybe the Académie did not want to overcompensate Dujardin⦠or maybe this was their way of telling the Oscars, âWe can do out own thing just to annoy you and everyone else.â
The Artist nevertheless won six of the ten awards it was nominated for, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress. Hit the jump for a recap of the evening and a full list of winners.
Bérénice Bejo was brutally honest in her speech: âI love all the other nominated actresses, but I really wanted this award!â I bet Jean Dujardin did too.
Presented for the eighth time by Antoine de Caunes, the 37th annual ceremony of the Césars was uneventful, its writers visibly uninspired and a general sense of boredom permeated inside the Théâtre du Châtelet. De Caunesâ indifference was as palpable as the winners were predictable.
Pierre Schoellerâs LâExercice de lâEtat won three of its 11 nominations and Maïwennâs emotions were high as her Cannes Jury Prize winner Polisse took two awards. Sylvain Estibalâs excellent When Pigs Have Wings won Best First Feature Film and Joann Sfarâs Le Chat du rabbin was crowned Best Animated Movie. Spanish actress Carmen Maura, a favorite of Pedro Almodovar, was declared Best Supporting Actress for her role in Les Femmes du 6e étage and American set designer Laurence Bennett won for his work on The Artist.
While the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science didnât consider Drive for an Oscar, the César Académie had nominated Nicolas Winding Refnâs picture for Best Foreign Film, alongside some âolderâ films like Black Swan and The Kingâs Speech. The trophy finally went to Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadiâs award-winning A Separation, also nominated for an Oscar. His French distributor accepted the award on his behalf.
Antoine de Caunes, very vocal against piracy tonight, took a final dig before the In Memoriam segment:
âWe lost a giant of cinema this year: Megaupload.â
Haha. The biggest tribute was for legendary French actress, Annie Girardot, who died almost a year ago.
The other homage of the evening was for Kate Winslet. The British actress was the recipient of this yearâs honorary César, presented to her by Michel Gondry. The French filmmaker, who directed her in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, gave a rather unusual bilingual speech. âMa chère Kate, Kitty, Kitty Cat, itâs never too late to win a Césarâ¦â The French part of his speech recognized her as a talent, while the English part amply praised her cleavage and derrière! âMichel was my introduction to French cinema,â Winslet said afterwards. But she seemed even more proud to have worked with Roman Polanski (in Carnage) and wanted to remind everyone twice. âIâm going to say it again, I worked for Roman Polanski!â and ended her speech in the local tongue: âMerci de votre gentillesse et cette charmante soirée!â (Thank you for your kindness and this charming evening.)
Yasmina Reza and Roman Polanski being absent, Winslet was once again invited to take the stage to accept the Best Adaptation award for Carnage. She was also a source of fascination. âHi Kate,â said French actor and comedian Laurent Laffitte, before presenting the Best Foreign Film award. âYou might have seen me in The Little Kleenex,â in reference to Guillaume Canetâs Les Petits Mouchoirs, in which he starred in 2010. And that was one of the funnier jokes of the eveningâ¦
And the winner isâ¦
Best Picture
The Artist, directed by Michel Hazanavicius
Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Foreign Film
A Separation, directed by Asghar Farhadi
Best Actress
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Best Actor
Omar Sy, Intouchables (Untouchables)
Most Hopeful Actress
A tie: Clotilde Hesme for Angèle et Tony and Naidra Ayadi for Polisse
Most Hopeful Actor
Grégory Gadebois, Angèle et Tony
Best Supporting Actress
Carmen Maura, Les Femmes du 6e étage
Best Supporting Actor
Michel Blanc, LâExercice de lâEtat
Best Original Screenplay
LâExercice de lâEtat, written and directed by Pierre Schoeller
Best Adaptation
Yasmina Reza and Roman Polanski, Carnage
Best Animated Movie
Joann Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux, Le Chat du rabbin
Best First Feature Film
Le Cochon de Gaza (When Pigs Have Wings) directed by Sylvain Estibal
Best Documentary
Tous au Larzac, directed by Christian Rouaud
Best Short Film
LâAccordeur, directed by Olivier Treiner
Best Original Soundtrack
Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Best Photography
Guillaume Schiffman, The Artist
Best Editing
Laure Gardette, Polisse
Best Sound
Jean-Pierre Laforce, Olivier Hespel and Julie Brenta, LâExercice de lâEtat
Best Costume Design
Anaïs Romand, LâApollonide - souvenirs de la maison close
Best Set Design
Laurence Bennett, The Artist