César Noms: Mustang, Marguerite, Melanie, and More...

Kristen Stewart's César win last year for Clouds of Sils Maria was historicThis year's César nominations (i.e. The French Oscars) have been announced. Due to the oddities of release schedules statesides, especially when it comes to subtitled pictures, many of the French films we've been discussing as "best ofs" like Girlhood, Saint Laurent, and Clouds of Sils Maria were 2014 features in France and honored accordingly. The only real crossovers with our current awards season are Denis Gamze Erguven's Oscar nominated Mustang (now playing in very limited release in the States) which is all over their nominations and two of their "Foreign Film Nominees" Hungary's Son of Saul and Italy's Youth which will compete with last year's US Best Picture winner Birdman.

Their nominations were led by the prestige vehicle Marguerite (which is "loosely based" on the story of Florence Foster Jenkins who is getting her own American biopic starring Meryl Streep this year) and Arnaud Desplechin's My Golden Days which are both expected to receive US theatrical releases in 2016. (If you see a link, it goes to our review of the picture, or past articles about the actor or director)

BEST FILM 

• Dheepan, Jacques Audiard
• Fatima, Philippe Faucon
• The Measure of a Man, Stephane Brize
• Marguerite, Xavier Giannoli
• Mon Roi, Maïwenn
• Mustang, Deniz Gamze Erguven
• Standing Tall, Emmanuelle Bercot
• My Golden Days, Arnaud Desplechin

Let's discuss their nominations and various beautiful Frenchies after the jump. 

Dheepan, The Measure of a Man, and Marguerite were the finalists that lost out to Mustang to be France's Oscar submission this year. Unless France gets really patriotic (Mustang is very Turkish after all in both setting and language) one assumes that will continue at the Césars. France has a fairly steady film industry so it's much to early to know what they might consider for Oscar submissions in 2016 but of these Best Film nominees there are only two that could qualify for next season which are Fatima and Mon Roi, which were both released after the cut-off date for the current Oscars. Mon Roi, must have had a delayed release back home because you'll recall it netted a Best Actress prize at Cannes 2015 which Emmanuelle Bercot shared with Rooney Mara in Carol. 

BEST DIRECTOR

• Jacques Audiard for Dheepan
• Stephane Brize for The Measure of a Man
• Xavier Giannoli for Marguerite
• Maïwenn for Mon Roi
• Deniz Gamze Erguven for Mustang
• Emmanuelle Bercot for Standing Tall
• Arnaud Desplechin for My Golden Days

For reasons I can't quite fathom the César's expanded their lead acting and picture and director categories a few years back making them look rather easy to land now. I pray to the cinematic gods nightly that this doesn't happen to the Oscars but more and more awards shows are doing it this way diluting their honors. It's noteworthy that the awards that do it never think to expand the less famous categories though there are more supporting actors in each year's cinemas than their are acting leads, and just as many below the line triumphs too. Despite going 7 wide in both Picture and Director these categories are an exact match (well, except the tie in Best Picture resulting in one extra nomination for Fatima which did not have a corresponding director nomination though Phillipe Faucon was nominated elsewhere).

Diversity Wonder: Three female directors of seven and one of them is also nominated for Best Actress... for a different film altogether! 

BEST ACTRESS 

Catherine Deneuve plays a judge dealing with a juvenile delinquent in "Standing Tall"

• Loubna Abidar for Much Loved
• Emmanuelle Bercot for Mon Roi
• Cecile de France for Summertime
• Catherine Deneuve for Standing Tall
• Catherine Frot for Marguerite
• Isabelle Huppert for Valley of Love
• Soria Zeroual for Fatima

Bercot's Cannes win makes her one to watch here but you never know with the Césars. Deneuve and Huppert both haven't won Césars since the 1990s (Indochine & La Cérémonie respectively) but they're frequently nominated. Their pictures usually get US releases (albeit only on the coasts unless they prove popular) since they have loyal albeit aged US fanbases. And, true to form, both Valley of Love and Standing Tall have small US distributors signed on. Who knows when we might see them though.

BEST ACTOR 

French cinema mainstay Vincent Lindon has yet to win the César

• Jean-Pierre Bacri for La Vie Tres Privee de Monsier Sim
• Vincent Cassel for Mon Roi
• Francois Damiens for Cowboys
• Gerard Depardieu for Valley of Love
• Antonythasan Jesuthasan for Dheepan
• Vincent Lindon for The Measure of a Man
• Fabrice Luchini for Courted

Vincent Lindon, probably best known stateside for Friday (2002) and La Moustache (2005) won Cannes for Best Actor so I'd expect him to repeat on his sixth César nomination since he's never won. 

BEST FOREIGN FILM 

Europe was way more into "Youth" than America was

• Birdman, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
• Son of Saul, Laszlo Nemes
• Je Suis Mort Mais J’Ai Des Amis, Guillaume and Stephane Malandrin
• Mia Madre, Nanni Moretti
• Taxi, Jafar Panahi
• The Brand New Testament, Jaco Van Dormael
• Youth, Paolo Sorrentino

France's foreign film category is not "Foreign Language Film" which is why you see two French Language entries from Belgium in play. Canadian Xavier Dolan won this award last year for Mommy, also French language. 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY 

• Noe Debre, Thomas Bidegain, Jacques Audiard for Dheepan
• Xavier Giannoli for Marguerite
• Deniz Gamze Erguven and Alice Winocour for Mustang
• Emmanuelle Bercot and Marcia Romano for Standing Tall
• Arnaud Desplechin and Julie Peyr for My Golden Days 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• David Oelhoffen and Frederic Tellier for SK1
• Samuel Benchetrit for Asphalte
• Vincent Garenq and Stephane Cable for L’Enquete
• Philippe Faucon for Fatima
• Helene Zimmer and Benoit Jacquot for The Diary of a Chambermaid

SK1, which I had never heard of, is apparently about "France's first serial killer" so yes that genre will not die anywhere. (sigh)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS 

21 nights with Pattie

• Sara Forestier for Standing Tall
• Agnes Jaoui for Comme un Avion
• Sidse Babett Knudsen for Courted
• Noemie Levovsky for Summertime
• Karin Viard for 21 Nights with Pattie

Have I ever told you I love Karin Viard? At least what little I've seen of her Stateside.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 

• Michel Fau for Marguerite
• Louis Garrel for Mon Roi
• Benoit Magimel for Standing Tall
• Andre Marcon for Marguerite
• Vincent Rottiers for Dheepan

This is apparently the Best Sexy French Man category since Garrel, Magimel, and Rottiers (pictured above) are all in the mix. 

BEST NEW ACTRESS 

• Camille Cottin for Connasse, Princesse des Coeurs
• Sara Giraudeau for Les Betises
• Zita Hanrot for Fatima
• Diane Rouxel for Standing Tall
• Lou Roy-Lecolllinet for My Golden Years

Karidje Toure who was so marvelous leading Girlhood lost this category last year! 

BEST NEW ACTOR

• Swann Arlaud for Les Anarchistes
• Quentin Dolmaire for My Golden Days
• Felix Moati for All About Them
• Finnegan Oldfield for Cowboys
• Rod Paradot for Standing Tall

We love seeing "New" Actor/Actress categories for foreign country awards because then we can wonder if we will ever see the people mentioned or ever come to either love them or wonder what the fuss was about. Showbiz careers can be so flash in the pan. But maybe a new star we'll all love in 10 years or so is in the mix here somewhere in these two categories? 

BEST DOCUMENTARY 

Cyril Dion & Melanie Laurent promoting their doc

• Le Bouton de Nacre, Patricio Guzman
• Cavanna, Jusqu’a l’Ultime Seconde, J’Ecrirai, Denis Robert and Nina Robert
• Demain, Cyril Dion and Melanie Laurent
• L’Image Manquante, Rithy Pahn
• Une Jeunesse Allemande, Jean-Gabriel Periot

The Guzman nomination here is for The Pearl Button. And if you're like "Melanie Laurent made a documentary!?" then the answer is apparently yes. Her Tomorrow documentary is about possible solutions for climate change.

BEST FIRST FILM 

SK1 is about an infamous serial killer

• SK1, Frederic Tellier
• Cowboys, Thomas Bidegain
• Mustang, Deniz Gamze Erguven
• The Wakhan Front, Clement Cogitore
• Nous Trois ou Rien, Kheiron

BEST COSTUMES 

Léa Seydoux stars in "Diary of a Chambermaid"

• Anais Romand for The Diary of a Chambermaid
• Pierre-Jean Larroque for Marguerite
• Selin Sozen for Mustang
• Catherine Leterrier for L’Odeur de la Mandarin
• Nathalie Paoul for My Golden Days

BEST SET DECORATION 

Marguerite sings

• Michel Barthelemy for Dheepan
• Katia Wyszkop for The Diary of a Chambermaid
• Martin Kurel for Marguerite
• Jean Rabasse for L’Odeur de la Mandarine
• Toma Baqueni for My Golden Days

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

French legends Depardieu & Huppert headline "Valley of Love"

• Eponine Momenceau for Dheepan
• Glynn Speekaert for Marguerite
• David Chizallet for Mustang
• Irina Lubtchansky for My Golden Days
• Christophe Offenstein for Valley of Love

Momenceau's made her feature debut as a cinematographer with Dheepan. You've probably seen Offenstein's images before. He also lensed international buzz titles Where Do We Go Now? (2011) and Tell No One (2006). Two female nominees here... how long til Oscar notices a female cinematographer? They're so rare on American pictures. 

BEST EDITING 

• Juliette Welfling for Dheepan
• Cyril Nakache for Marguerite
• Simon Jacquet for Mon Roi
• Mathilde van de Moortel for Mustang
• Laurence Briaud for My Golden Days

Oscar nominee alert! Juliette Welfling was nominated for Best Editor for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

BEST SOUND 

• Danie Sobrino, Valerie Deloof and Cyril Holtz for Dheepan
• Fancois Musy and Gabriel Hafner for Marguerite
• Nicolas Rovost, Agnes Ravez and Emmanuel Croset for Mon Roi
• Ibrahim Gok, Damien Guillaume and Olivier Goinard for Mustang
• Nicolas Cantin, Sylvain Malbrant and Stephane Theibaut for My Golden Days

BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC 

• Raphael for Cowboys
• Ennio Morricone for Come What May
• Stephen Warbeck for Mon Roi
• Warren Ellis for Mustang
• Gregoire Hetzel for My Golden Days

Oscar nominee alert. Ennio Morricone scored more than just The Hateful Eight this past year. He also provided the music for the WW II drama Come What May

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE 

• Adama, Simon Rouby
• April and the Twisted World, Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci
• The Little Prince, Mark Osborne

None of these films were on the eligibility list for this year's Animated Feature Oscar but there's sometimes a lag in that category. Case in point: The Little Prince and April and the Extraordinary World (title change for America I guess) are both due in US theaters in March. The latter is from GKids with Marion Cotillard providing the lead vocals. It's a WW II adventure about a teenage girl whose scientist parents disappear mysteriously. 

BEST ANIMATED SHORT 

• La Nuit Americaine d’Angelique, Pierre-Emmanuel Lyet and Joris Clerte
• Le Repas Dominical, Celine Devaux
• Sous Tes Doigts, Marie-Christine Courtes

BEST SHORT FILM 

• La Contre Allee, Cecile Durcocq
• Le Dernier des Cefrans, Pierre-Emmanuel Urcun
• Essaie de Mourir Jeune, Morgan Simon
• Guy Moquet, Demis Herenger
• Mon Heros, Sylvain Desclous

Finis!

Have you seen any of these pictures? If not what's the last French language film you saw in the cinemas? 

Comments

[Irvin]

"The Little Prince" is MARVELOUS. Will probably be nominated for Best Animated Feature next year.

[@cinecharlie]

Thanks Nathaniel for this coverage!
There are 8 Best Film nominees instead of the usual 7, due to a tie.

Worth noting the Oscar BP winners are on a roll because they've always been nominated for Foreign Film since Slumdog (excluding Hurt Locker, which got a small release here).

[Hayden W.]

Speaking of Youth and expanding the Oscar fields: Do you think Jane Fonda would've campaigned this year if she were vying for one of six nominations? That woman does not settle for what is beneath her!

[Jonathan]

Animated film nominee "Adama" is a gorgeous, unique hybrid animation that mixes hand-drawn backdrops with 3D computer-modeled characters. I've never seen anything quite like it - definitely watch for it whenever it is released here.

[Marek]

Going just by the poster, is Marguerite about Florence Foster Jenkins? Has anyone seen it yet? Funny that Meryl is doing a film based on the same story.

[NATHANIEL R]

Marek -- i looked it up since you posted this. YUP. It' s "loosely based" on Florence Foster Jenkins' story so i guess i erred by calling it a "biopic".

[Pam]

So Mustang is a French film in Turkish directed by a Turkish director with Turkish actors shot in Turkey? Forgive me, but I don't really understand the rules of these various academies. I know it's France's Oscar entry. So if the production company is French, then it's a French film, right? However, it's so good, I don't even care. ;)

Same goes for all the Best Picture noms for Oscars like Amour, The Artist, The King's Speech, etc.?

[Richter Scale]

Pam- Mustang was co-produced with France, has French producers, the editor is French and Alice Winocour (the film's co-screenwriter9 is French (in fact, director Deniz Gamze Ergüven went to film school in Paris). Now, why is the film competing on behalf of France when the story is Turkish? Well, Turkey has pretty much disowned the film (apparently they weren't very happy with the way it portrays Turkey), so France came to its rescue and submitted it.

[Mirko]

I'm very glad Abidar is nominated. I liked Much Loved but I was blown away by her perf.

[Marek]

Nathaniel - either way I am looking forward to both films. I saw a play based on FFJ's life. Should be a treat for any actressexual... 😉

[stjeans]

"Valley of Love" is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G & Huppert is (as usual) E-X-T-R-O-R-D-I-N-A-R-Y in it. Depardieu is also very, VERY good. When the guy commits (which as been rare lately) he can do miracle. I hope it opens in the US so you guys get a chance to see it. Very special film, one of my favorite of last year for sure.

[cal roth]

I've seen My Golden Days (love Desplechin) and Quentin Dolmaire is going to be a huge star. He's like a mini Garrel.

[Edward L.]

I always love the Cesars. Such a great awards selection each year. And France always has so much to pick from.

The most recent French film I saw in the cinema was Microbe & Gasoil, which is a charming movie.

[Glenn Dunks]

I believe the director of MUSTANG, while Turkish, resides in France.

I also have no problem with the Cesars expanding their categories. Or any award organisations in countries like France, actually. If it allows more exposure to local films then so be it.

I'm excited to finally see MEASURE OF A MAN at some point. I am a fan of Vincent Lindon.