39th César Awards Winners

Even if I promise to NOT get upset, I am very upset. So will not comment today. Most of you know how much I dislike French comedies, so no surprise if I say that top winner is okay but not much else.

Winners are in *BLUE. If you wish to read winners at official site go here.

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1/31/14
A few minutes ago at Fouqet's restaurant on Champs Elysees (ahh!), the French Academy announced the nominations for this year edition and fear no more, Abdellatif Kechiche master opus has many (8) nominations along with some excellent movies that were released in France during 2013 and yes, 2013 was another extraordinary year for French Cinema.

When we consider all nominations there are 47 that come from Cannes films and most were honored at the festival with award(s). That's another reason why these nominations show incredible high cinema-quality. Nevertheless La Vie d'Adèle is not the film with more nominations (8) but is the film where most nods come from "main" categories; Cannes honored and box office success, Me, Myself and Mum leads the tight pack with 10 nods, and L'inconnu du Lac also got 8 nods as La Vie d'Adèle. These three films are the top contenders. Still remember that more nominations doesn't necessarily mean more awards, at least in this award as just have to check last year where the most nominated film got no awards at all.

Perhaps the major snubs for me are the few nominations for Jeune & Jolie and Grand Central plus some surprises like Jimmy P nominated for Best Film, but most complex -at least for me because who are nominated- are categories like actress in a lead role, female newcomer, and actor in a lead role as there are some excellent performances being honored. Still have my favorites and -of course- hope Léa Seydoux gets the honor, as well as Adèle Exarchopoulos and Mads Mikkelsen.

Can't help but to share that most social media (and now general news!) is talking about one peculiar issue that obviously is NOT related to cinema, Julie Gayet nomination! Well, is great to have a good laugh so early in my morning.

Awards ceremony will be on February 28 at Châtelet, with François Cluzet acting as President and my favorite Cécile de France as Maîtresse de Cérémonie. Ceremony is stream live by Canal + and as every year will be and odyssey to find a stream available worldwide, sigh.

These are the nominations for the twenty-two (22) categories.

Best Film
9 mois ferme (9 Month Strech) by Albert Duponel
*Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table! (Me, Myself and Mum) by Guillaume Gallienne
L'inconnu du Lac (Stranger by the Lake) by Alain Guiraudie
Jimmy P. (Psychothérapie d'un Indien des Plaines) (Jimmy P.) by Arnaud Desplechin
Le Passé (The Past) by Asghar Farhadi
La Vénus à la Foururre (Venus in Fur) by Roman Polanski
La Vie d'Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2 (Blue is the Warmest Color) by Abdellatif Kechiche

Best First Film
La Bataille de Solférino (Age of Panic) by Justine Triet
La Cage dorée (The Gilded Cage) by Ruben Alves
En solitaire (Turning Tide) by Christophe Offenstein
La fille du 14 juillet (The Rendez-Vous of Déjà-Vu) by Antonin Peretjatko
*Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table! (Me, Myself and Mum) by Guillaume Gallienne

Best Animated Film
Aya de Yopougon (Aya of Yop City) by Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie
*Loulou l'Incroyable Secret by Eric Omond
Ma maman est en Amérique, elle a rencontré Buffalo Bill (My Mummy is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill) by Marc Boreal and Thibaut Chatel

Best Foreign Film
*The Broken Circle Breakdown by Felix Van Groeningen
Blancanieves by Pablo Berger
Blue Jasmine by Woody Allen
Dead Man Talking by Patrick Ridremont
Django Unchained by Quentin Tarantino
La Grande Bellezza by Paolo Sorrentino
Gravity by Alfonso Cuarón

Best Director
Albert Dupontel for 9 mois ferme (9 Month Strech)
Guillaume Gallienne for Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table! (Me, Myself and Mum)
Alain Guiraudie for L'inconnu du Lac (Stranger by the Lake)
Arnaud Desplechin for Jimmy P. (Psychothérapie d'un Indien des Plaines) (Jimmy P.)
Asghar Farhadi for Le Passé (The Past)
*Roman Polanski for La Vénus à la Foururre (Venus in Fur)
Abdellatif Kechiche for La Vie d'Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2 (Blue is the Warmest Color)

Best Actress
Fanny Ardant in Les Beaux Jours (Bright Days Ahead)
Bérénice Béjo in Le Passé (The Past)
Catherine Deneuve in Elle s'En Va (On My Way)
Sara Forestier in Suzanne
*Sandrine Kiberlain in 9 mois ferme (9 Month Strech)
Emmanuelle Seigner in La Vénus à la Foururre (Venus in Fur)
Léa Seydoux in La Vie d'Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2 (Blue is the Warmest Color)

Best Supporting Actress
Marisa Borini in Un Château en Italie
Françoise Fabian in Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table! (Me, Myself and Mum)
Julie Gayet in Quai d'Orsay
*Adèle Haenel in Suzanne
Géraldine Pailhas in Jeune & Jolie

Best Female Newcomer
Lou de Laâge in Jappeloup
Pauline Etienne in La Religieuse (The Nun)
*Adèle Exarchopoulos in La Vie d'Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2 (Blue is the Warmest Color)
Golshifteh Farahani in Syngué sabour - Pierre de patience (The Patience Stone)
Marine Vacth in Jeune & Jolie

Best Actor
Mathieu Amalric in La Vénus à la Foururre (Venus in Fur)
Michel Bouquet in Renoir
Albert Dupontel in 9 mois ferme (9 Month Strech)
Grégory Gadebois in Mon âme par toi guérie (One of a Kind)
*Guillaume Gallienne in Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table! (Me, Myself and Mum)
Fabrice Luchini in Alceste à bicyclette (Cycling with Moliere)
Mads Mikkelsen in Michael Kohlhaas (Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas)

Best Supporting Actor
*Niels Arestrup in Quai d'Orsay
Patrick Chesnais in Les Beaux Jours (Bright Days Ahead)
Patrick d'Assumçao in L'inconnu du Lac (Stranger by the Lake)
François Damiens in Suzanne
Olivier Gourmet in Grand Central

Best Male Newcomer
Paul Bartel in Les Petits Princes
*Pierre Deladonchamps in L'inconnu du Lac (Stranger by the Lake)
Paul Hamy in Suzanne
Vincent Macaigne in La fille du 14 juillet (The Rendez-Vous of Déjà-Vu)
Nemo Schiffman in Elle s'en va (On My Way)

Best Original Screenplay
Mariette Désert and Katell Quillévéré for Suzanne
*Albert Dupontel for 9 mois ferme (9 Month Strech)
Asghar Farhadi for Le Passé (The Past)
Philippe Le Guay for Alceste à bicyclette (Cycling with Moliere)
Alain Guiraudie for L'inconnu du Lac (Stranger by the Lake)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Antonin Baudry, Christophe Blain and Bertrand Tavernier for Quai d'Orsay
Arnaud Desplechin, Julie Peyr and Kent Jones for Jimmy P. (Psychothérapie d'un Indien des Plaines) (Jimmy P.)
*Guillaume Gallienne for Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table! (Me, Myself and Mum)
David Ives and Roman Polanski for La Vénus à la Fourrure (Venus in Fur)
Abdellatif Kechiche and Ghalya Lacroix for La Vie d'Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2 (Blue is the Warmest Color)

Best Cinematography
*Thomas Harmeier for L'extravagant voyage du jeune et prodigieux T.S. Spivet (The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet)
Claire Mathon for L'inconnu du Lac (Stranger by the Lake)
Jeanne Lapoirie for Michael Kohlhaas (Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas)
Mark Ping Bing Lee for Renoir
Sofian El Fani for La Vie d'Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2 (Blue is the Warmest Color)

Best Editing
*Valèrie Deseine for Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table! (Me, Myself and Mum)
Jean-Christophe Hym for L'Inconnu du lac (Stranger by the Lake)
Christophe Pinel for 9 mois ferme (9 Month Strech)
Camille Toubkis, Albertine Lastera and Jean-Marie Lengellè for La Vie d'Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2 (Blue is the Warmest Color)
Juliette Welfling for Le Passé (The Past)

Best Original Soundtrack
Jorge Arriagada for Alceste à bicyclette (Cycling with Moliere)
Loïk Dury and Christophe "Disco" Minck for Casse-tête chinois (Chinese Puzzle)
Etienne Charry for L'Ecume des Jours (Mood Indigo)
*Martin Wheeler for Michael Kohlhaas (Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas)
Alexandre Desplat for La Vénus à la Fourrure (Venus in Fur)

Best Sound
Marc-Antoine Beldent, Loïc Prian, Olivier Dô Hùu for Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table! (Me, Myself and Mum)
Philippe Grivel and Nathalie Vidal for L'inconnu du lac (Stranger by the Lake)
*Jean-Pierre Duret, Jean Mallet and Mélissa Petitjean for Michael Kohlhaas (Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas)
Lucien Balibar, Nadine Muse and Cyril Holtz for La Vénus à la fourrure (Venus in Fur)
Jérôme Chenevoy, Fabien Pochet and Jean-Paul Hurier for La Vie d'Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2 (Blue is the Warmest Color)

Best Costumes
Olivier Bériot for Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table! (Me, Myself and Mum)
*Pascaline Chavanne for Renoir
Anina Diener for Michael Kohlhaas (Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas)
Florence Fointaine for L'Ecume des Jours (Mood Indigo)
Florence Fontaine for L'extravagant voyage du jeune et prodigieux T.S. Spivet (The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet)

Best Set Design
Yan Arlaud for Michael Kohlhaas (Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas)
Benoit Barough for Renoir
Aline Bonetto for L'extravagant voyage du jeune et prodigieux T.S. Spivet (The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet)
Sylvie Olivé for Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table! (Me, Myself and Mum)
*Stéphane Rozenbaum for L'Ecume des Jours (Mood Indigo)

Best Documentary
Comment j'ai détesté les maths by Olivier Peyon
Le dernier des injustes (The Last of the Unjust) by Claude Lanzmann
Il était une forêt by Luc Jacquet
La maison de la radio by Nicolas Philibert
*Sur le chemin de l'école by Pascal Plisson

Best Short Film
*Avant que de tout perdre (Just Before Losing Everything) by Xavier Legrand, 29'
Bambi by Sebastien Lifshitz, 58' (this is not a short film! - is a documentary)
La fugue by Jean-Bernard Marlin, 23'
Les Lézards by Vincent Mariette, 14'
Marseille la nuit by Marien Monge, 40'

Best Animated Short Film
Lettres des Femmes by Augusto Zanovello
*Mademoiselle Kiki et les Montparnos (Kiki of Montparnasse) by Amélie Harrault

If you wish to check nominations at official site go here but have to downlowad a pdf file.

Most surprising nomination is for Bambi by Sebastien Lifshitz not because is not good, as a matter of fact is an excellent must be seen documentary (!), but because is nominated as a short film (!) with 58 minutes! Go figure, hope they fix this.

There are a few films that I have not seen, some because decided not to see and now maybe will, others because escaped my radar and one/two that I'm dying to see and haven't seen them yet. Still the "important" (lol) ones have seen them and yes, they're fantastic films! Most interesting, from those that escaped my radar, is the second film by Katell Quillévéré (remember Un Poison Violent?) Suzanne that not only has a very interesting story but also Adèle Haenel performs.

I suppose that this will be the only -non LGBT- major award where a lesbian interest movie will be competing with a gay interest movie for the top award! Doubt we will soon see this milestone again and -obviously- believe that the lesbian interest movie is highly superior to the gay interest film and to the others in the race for best film.