Posted
Big favorite, the film “Lost Illusions” by Xavier Giannoli won seven statuettes, including that of the best film, at the Césars on Friday evening.
The César for the best male hope went to Benjamin Voisin, 25, for his role in “Lost Illusions”.
AFP
“Lost Illusions”, an adaptation of Balzac’s great novel on the press and its excesses, signed Xavier Giannoli, triumphed on Friday during a Cesar ceremony which was intended to be sober and unsurprising, against a backdrop of war in Ukraine.
The feature film, which was a big favorite, won seven statuettes, including that of best film. And is worth a César for best male hope to Benjamin Voisin, 25, who plays the ambitious idealist Lucien de Rubempré, thrown into the deep end of Parisian ambitions.
Young provincial in love with literature, his dreams will be shattered on the reality of society at the time of the Restoration. By rewarding “Lost Illusions”, the Césars, sometimes criticized for their navel-gazing or their disconnection, bring triumph to one of the rare post-containment French films to have combined popular success (more than 870,000 admissions) and artistic ambition.
Adam Driver leaves empty-handed
The director, Xavier Giannoli, who succeeds Albert Dupontel crowned last year for “Adieu les Cons”, did not, like the latter, come to collect his prize. He is “an independent artist”, simply commented his co-screenwriter Jacques Fieschi, interviewed by AFP.
Also absent, the other big winner is Leos Carax, with his rock opera “Annette” (five statuettes). The 61-year-old director is the first to achieve the César double for best director and director’s award at Cannes, where his film was screened at the opening of the last festival. Its 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 actor, a precocious talent whose life and career then went on a roller coaster, was rewarded at the age of 47 for his role as a cancer patient at the end of his life in “In his lifetime” by Emmanuelle Bercot. As for the best actress, the Césars did justice to Valérie Lemercier, for “Aline”, a true-false biopic that she dedicated to the international star of song Celine Dion.
Tribute to Gaspard Ulliel
Marked by scandals and flops, the Caesars were expected at the turn. The ceremony took place without fuss or major incident (apart from a brief foray by comedian Marie, who lifted her skirt and launched “Good evening, here is my ass! Happy tribute to culture”), but without never really take off. The hearings on Saturday will tell if the formula has convinced.
It must be said that the heart was not really at the party, while the war was in everyone’s head, as recalled by many stars on stage, including the Australian Cate Blanchett who received a long ovation and an honorary Caesar: “It’s hard to think of anything other than Ukraine,” she admitted. Many tributes have been paid to the missing, including Gaspard Ulliel, who died a month ago, aged 37, in a skiing accident, and Jean-Paul Belmondo.
From the outset, the master of ceremonies Antoine de Caunes had promised that the Caesars were careful not to “give lessons”: “We will laugh, we will be moved, the essence of our job is to continue whatever it happens, even if the world collapses, ”added this veteran of the exercise.
(AFP)