Isabelle Huppert Lands AFI Fest Tribute
Thursday, October 6, 2016 at 9:00AM Isabelle Huppert is having a pretty great year. Which is saying something, because it's hard to imagine her having a bad one. Between her raves for Mia Hansen-Løve’s Things to Come and Paul Verhoeven’s instantly infamous Elle, a sexual assault thriller that’s accrued steady word of mouth since its Cannes debut earlier this year, Huppert continues to sit pretty upon her throne of breathtaking unconventionalism. But while her oeuvre of compelling, challenging performances has garnered her a red-hot reputation across the globe as one of the best and bravest actresses of her generation, her domain of awards acclaim has rested largely in her home country of France. She holds the record for the most César nominations by an actress and yet Oscar has never paid her mind. With the news that AFI Fest plans to fête Huppert with a Tribute and matching Gala screening of Elle this November, perhaps she’ll push her way into the hearts and minds of Angeleno Academy voters in attendance before ballots go out.
If Huppert’s awards record of European cries and American crickets sounds familiar in this Oscar race, you’d be forgiven: we’ve already had a similar discussion a couple times this decade about under recognized actresses from the other side of the Atlantic. Last year, AFI Fest hosted a similar Tribute for Charlotte Rampling with a screening of 45 Years and then a scant few months later, Rampling was back in LA for the Oscars as a first-time Best Actress nominee. Emmanuelle Riva – iconic in Hiroshima, Mon Amour but mostly unknown to mainstream American audiences – found herself in the thick of the Best Actress race for Amour and became the oldest nominee in history for the prize. For my money, she should’ve been the oldest winner too. Couple this with the statistic that a European actress from a foreign language title has landed a Best Actress nomination three of the past five Oscar ceremonies (the third being Marion Cotillard for the Dardennes’ Two Days, One Night) and a precedent emerges that may give hope for Huppert landing that first Oscar nomination this year.
Although, as has been oft discussed in the infancy of this season, this is an usually competitive year in Best Actress. Do you think Huppert will make the cut, or it simply too tight a year for a performance in such a provocative film to squeeze in?
Reader Comments (14)
I just saw ELLE and goddamn that's what I call a movie! So crazy yet hilarious. Very watchable (at least for me) despite the appalling subject matter. Straight up challenges the watchers in the opening scene, but it's totally worth it for ISABELLE HUPPERT alone. Outstanding as usual. She will get an Oscar nomination (and probably the movie too) at the end of the year.
Oscar will go safe. Actresses like Huppert aren't celebrated more stateside because what we value in our most celebrated actresses domestically she doesn't do. Best Actress this year will be a safe slate of nominees. Portman in Jackie, Stone in La La Land, Davis in Fences, Bening in 20th Century Women, and the most boring choices of all Streep in old lady movie, and Amy (you shouldn't be anywhere near an Oscar nomination again) Adams. I'm just thankful for a new Paul Verhoeven movie.
I'm squarely in the Isabelle Huppert extreme fandom zone and I think she is one of God's gifts to cinema. Also I like to imagine that ever since they did The Maids together, Cate Blanchett and her have scheduled phone calls where they just talk about everything and nothing. BUT I think people are underestimating how thrown off people in the US may be by the subject matter of Elle. There is one way that it is ok to talk about Rape in America and it is by completely condemning it and treating it as a dark dark vile evil. There is no tolerance for the psychological and social morality exercises that Europeans play around with when they talk about it. There is very specific reasons why people like Polanski flee the US and can even find glory in Europe. I think that will be the major factor with the academy. Not Huppert's status and even less the worth of her performance. I think the movie will become a classic and definitely will have a cult following but I do not see it scoring with the Academy and I really hope I'm wrong.
Streep will not be nominated... even though she is in an "old lady" movie...
However, Kathy Bates keeps getting nominated for an Emmy by playing ogres with horrendous accents ... not too far of a reach!
"Couple this with the statistic that a European actress from a foreign language title has landed a Best Actress nomination three of the past five Oscar ceremonies (the third being Marion Cotillard for the Dardennes’ Two Days, One Night)."
Hmm...are you counting 45 Years as foreign language?
I don't know why but I agree with /3rtful in everything mentioned in the message.
Team Huppert here, I wish the best actress nominations will look like this:
Sonia Braga, Aquarius
Rebecca Hall, Christine
Sally Hawkins, Maudie
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Ruth Negga, Loving
But I'll be somehow happy if it's like this:
Viola Davis, Fences
Isabelle Huppert, Things To Come
Tilda Swinton, A Bigger Splash
Alicia Vikander, The Light Between Oceans
Kate Winslet, The Dressmaker
I do think she may be a critics darling.
Squasher88 - oops, thanks for catching me there. 3/5 European films, 2/5 foreign language.
Isn't she also technically eligible for L'Avenir, since it's opening stateside in December?
Fingers crossed for my beloved Isabelle... how nice would it be to read "Academy Award nominee Isabelle Huppert"?
I'm so hoping to hear the words the Oscar-nominated or.... the Oscar-award winning actress Isabelle Huppert. She is overdue for that.
After having seen the movie I'm not so sure anymore. I used to be totally convinced she would get the prestigious/European/French fifth slot.
Don't get me wrong, I love the character, the performance and the movie, but it's SO not the type they tend to reward. It's too sexual... and she never cries!
She's the one I'll be rooting for! Not Emma or Viola or Natalie. In my mind, that what's overdue is all about.
Elle has become my most anticipated film of the year. I can't wait!
Huppert's in my predictions.