Cesar Winners: "Les Misérables" is tops... but now we're curious about "La Belle Epoque"

Yes yes, we were supposed to be taking the weekend off. But we forgot about the Césars held yeseterday in France. So...

Cast & Crew of "Les Miserables" at the Cesars

While Roman Polanski's "J'Accuse!" led the César nominations in the end it lost "Best Film" to France's Oscar nominated Les Misérables. Both films won multiple prizes. Curiously considering two prizes for Polanski himself, two films which center on the sexual abuse of kids (By the Grace of God and "M") also won Césars. The dramedy La Belle Epoque, starring longtime gallic icons Daniel Auteuil and Fanny Ardant, also made a strong showing with 3 wins. A complete list of winners, some stats, and the trailer to La Belle Epoque are after the jump...

Best Film

• “La Belle Epoque,” Nicolas Bedos
• “By The Grace of God,” François Ozon
• “The Specials,” Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache
• “An Officer And A Spy,” Roman Polanski
• “Les Miserables,” Ladj Ly ★
• “Portrait Of A Lady On Fire,” Céline Sciamma
• “Oh Mercy,” Arnaud Desplechin 

Best Director

• François Ozon, “By The Grace of God” (5th nom in this category)
• Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache, “The Specials” (3rd nom together in this category)
• Roman Polanski, “An Officer And A Spy” ★ (5th nom AND 5th win in this category)
• Ladj Ly, “Les Miserables” (1st nom, debut film)
• Céline Sciamma, “Portrait Of A Lady On Fire” (2nd nom in this category)
• Arnaud Desplechin, “Oh Mercy” (5th nom in this category, 1 previous win)

Yes, Polanski has won every time he's been nominated as a director at the Césars, starting with Tess (1979) which also nabbed him an Oscar nomination for direction.

Best Actress

Emmanuelle Devos with César winner Anaîs Demoustier at the Cesars

• Anais Demoustier, “Alice and The Mayor” ★ (4th nom, 1st win)
• Eva Green, “Proxima” (1st nomination)
• Adele Haenel, “Portrait Of A Lady On Fire” (7th nom, 1 previous win)
• Chiara Mastroianni, “Chambre 212” (2nd nom)
• Noemie Merlant, “Portrait Of A Lady On Fire” (2nd nom)
• Doria Tillier, “La belle époque” (2nd nom)
• Karin Viard, “The Perfect Nanny” (13th nom, 3 previous wins)

Best Actor

Roschdy Zem takes Best Actor at the 45th Césars

• Daniel Auteuil, “La belle époque” (14th nom, 2 previous wins)
• Damien Bonnard, “Les Miserables” (3rd nom)
• Vincent Cassel, “The Specials” (7th nom, 1 previous win)
• Jean Dujardin, “An Officer and a Spy” (3rd nom)
• Reda Kateb, “The Specials” (3rd nom, 1 previous win)
• Melvil Poupaud, “By The Grace of God” (4th nom) 
• Roschdy Zem, “Oh Mercy” ★ (6th nom... though not all were for acting) 

Best Foreign Film 

• “Pain and Glory,” 
• “The Young Ahmed,” Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
• “Joker,” Todd Phillips
• “Lola vers la mer,” Laurent Micheli
• “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Quentin Tarantino
• “Parasite,” Bong Joon-Ho ★
• “The Traitor,” Marco Bellocchio

Parasite dominated this particular award in just about every country. But it's worth noting that this was Pedro Almodóvar's fourth time up for Best Foreign Film at the Césars. Volver, All About My Mother, and Tie Me Up Tie Me Down were also nominated in their years with All About... winning as it did at the Oscars. 

Best Documentary

"M"

• “68, mon père et les clous,” Samuel Bigiaoui
• “The Cordillera of Dreams,” Patricio Guzman
• “Lourdes,” Thierry Demaizière, Alain Teurlai
• “M,” Yolande Zauberman ★
• “Wonder Boy Olivier Rousteing, ne sous X,” Anissa Bonnefont

While "M"'s poster features the smiling image above, it's actually a documentary about sexual abuse. It follows the actor Menahem Lang (Promised Land, Jellyfish) returning to the town of his childhood east of Tel Aviv where he was repeatedly raped and the closed utra Orthodox community that makes discussing such things difficult. 

Best First Film

• “Atlantics,” Mati Diop
• “In the Name of the Land, Edouard Bergeon
• “Wolf’s Call,” Antonin Baudry
• “Les Miserables,” Ladj Ly
• “Papicha,” Mounia Meddour ★

We haven't yet seen Papicha (Algeria's most recent Oscar submission) but we're a bit sad that Atlantics couldn't take any Césars. Have you watched it on Netflix yet? 

Best Original Screenplay

• Nicolas Bedos, “La Belle Epoque” ★
• François Ozon, “By The Grace of God”
• Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache, “The Specials”
• Ladj Ly, Giordano Gederlini, Alexis Manenti, “Les Miserables”
• Céline Sciamma, “Portrait Of A Lady On Fire”

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Costa-Gavras, “Adults in the Room”
• Roman Polanski, Robert Harris, “An Officer and a Spy” ★
• Jeremy Clapin, Guillaume Laurent, “I Lost My Body”
• Arnaud Desplechin, Lea Mysius, “Oh Mercy”
• Dominik Moll, Gilles Marchand, “Seuls les bêtes”

Best Supporting Actress

Fanny Ardant with La Belle Epoque's writer/director Nicolas Bedos. They both won Césars.

• Fanny Ardant, “La Belle Époque” ★
• Josiane Balasko, “By The Grace of God”
• Laure Calamy, “Seules les Bêtes
”
• Sara Forestier, “Oh Mercy”
• Hélène Vincent, “The Specials”

Best Supporting Actor

Swann Arlaud

• Swann Arlaud, “By The Grace of God,”  ★ (3rd nom, 2nd win)
• Grégory Gadebois, “An Officer and a Spy” (3rd nom, 1 previous win)
• Louis Garrel, “An Officer and a Spy” (6th nom, 1 previous win)
• Benjamin Lavernhe, “Mon Inconnue” (2nd nom)
• Denis Ménochet, “By The Grace of God’ (2nd nom)

Best Female Newcomer

Lyna Khoudri, who starred in Algeria's Oscar submission Papicha won Best Female Newcomer

• Luàna Bajrami, “Portrait of a Young Lady on Fire”
• Céleste Brunnquell, “Les Éblouis”
• Lyna Khoudri, “Papicha” ★
• Nina Meurisse, “Camille”
• Mama Sané, “Atlantics,”

Best Male Newcomer

Alexis Menenti won Best Male Newcomer for "Les Miserables"

• Anthony Bajon, “In the Name of the Land ”
• Benjamin Lesieur, “The Specials”
• Alexis Manenti, “Les Miserables” ★
• Liam Pierron, “La Vie Scolaire”
• Djebril Zonga, “Les Miserables” 

Best Animated Feature 

• “La Fameuse Invasion des Ours en Sicile,” Lorenzo Mattotti
• “Swallows of Kabul” Zabou Breitman
• “I Lost My Body,” Jérémy Clapin ★

Best Editing

• Anny Danché, Florent Vassault, “La belle époque” (1st nom for each)
• Laure Gardette, “By The Grace of God” (3rd nom, 1 previous win)
• Dorian Rigal-Ansous, “The Specials” (3rd nom)
• Hervé de Luze, “An Officer and a Spy” (10th nomination, 3 previous wins)
• Flora Volpeliere, “Les Miserables” ★ (1st nom, 1st win)

Best Cinematography

 

• Nicolas Bolduc, “La Belle Epoque” (1st nom)
• Pawel Edelman, “An Officer and a Spy” (3rd nom, 1 previous win)
• Julien Poupard, “Les Miserables” (1st nom)
• Claire Mathon, ” Portrait of a Young Lady on Fire” ★ (2nd nom, 1st win)
• Irina Lubtchansky “Oh Mercy” (2nd nom)

A deserved win for Claire Mathon, who also exquisitely shot Atlantics this past year, but why was this the only prize that Portrait won? Why don't the French love it as much as we do?

Best Costumes

 Jean du Jardin in Chavanne costumes

• Emmanuelle Youchnoski, "La Belle Epoque" (1st nom)
• Thierry Delettre, "Cyrano My Love" (1st nom)
• Pascaline Chavanne, "An Officer and a Spy" ★ (9th nom, 2nd win)
• Alexandra Charles, "Jeanne" (2nd nom)
• Dorothee Guiraud, "Portrait of a Lady on Fire (1st nom)

Best Production Design

• Stephane Rozenbaum, "La Belle Epoque" ★ (2nd nom, 2nd win)
• Benoit Barouh, "The Wolf's Call" (2nd nom)
• Franck Schwarz, "Cyrano My Love" (1st nom)
• Jean Rabasse, "An Officer and a Spy" (6th nom, 2 previous wins)
• Thomas Grezaud, "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" (1st nom)

Best Original Score

• Fatima Al Qadiri, "Atlantics" (1st nom, debut film)
• Alexandre Desplate, "An Officer and a Spy" (10th nom, 3 previous wins)
• Dan Levy, "I Lost My Body" ★ (1st nom, 1st win)
• Marco Casanova & Kim Chapiron, "Les Miserables" (1st nom)
• Gregoire Hetzel, "Roubaix, Une Lumiere" (4th nom)

Best Sound

• "La Belle Epoque"
• "The Wolf's Call" ★
• "An Officer and a Spy"
• "Les Miserables"
• "Portrait of a Lady on Fire"

Other Prizes...

Audience Award

• Les Misérables ★ 

Animated Short

• La Nuit Des Sacs Plastiques ★

Here's the trailer to LA BELLE EPOQUE if you're curious... It's got a bit of a Westworld without all the violence vibe or Fantasy Island without all the Mr Roarke and Tattoo or The Truman Show without all the deception. We're officially curious.

So the nom/win tally went like so

1. AN OFFICER AND A SPY - 12 nominations / 3 wins
2. LES MISERABLES -10 nominations / 4 wins
3. PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE  - 10 nominations / 1 win
4. LA BELLE EPOQUE - 9 nominations / 3 wins
5. BY THE GRACE OF GOD   - 8 nominations / 1 win
6. THE SPECIALS - 8 nominations / 0 wins
7. OH MERCY - 6 nominations
8. I LOST MY BODY - 3 nominations / 2 wins
9. ATLANTICS  - 3 nominations / 0 wins
10. PAPICHA - 2 nominations / 2 wins
11. THE WOLF'S CALL (LE CHANT DU LOUP) - 2 nominations / 1 win
12. CYRANO MY LOVE and SEULES LES BETES and IN THE NAME OF THE LAND- 2 nominations / 0 wins

Comments

[Someone]

I am a troll, forget about me and keep the positive conversations

[Barbette]

@James. When Dan mentioned that as an adult, Geimer asserted that her original testimony was coerced by an unscrupulous prosecution, you feigned dispassionate objectivity: “I don't presume to know which account is accurate.” You are arguing in such bad faith! Earlier, you posted an eight paragraph, seemingly-exhaustive summary of what supposedly happened, including this: “The victim testified that Polanski orally, vaginally and anally raped her despite her begging him to stop.” True enough, but you conveniently left out the fact that she recounted that testimony and only acknowledged that recantation it when Dan brought it up, suggesting her later testimony might be untruthful. Damn. While we’re at it, you might also want to account for assistant district attorney Roger Gunson’s comments (he lead the prosecution *against* Polanski) in Marina Zenovich’s documentary, who said he, too, probably would have fled the country (!) if he’d been treated the way Polanski was treated by the judge. Anyway, you’ve got your strategy: using what victims say when they further your agenda, and dismissing their comments as possibly untrue when they don’t. At any rate, I just wish people would work as hard to actually help victims heal and make sure more young people aren’t abused as they do trying to hunt down and punish people who have already done wrong.

[Bette Streep]

Adele is NOT a horrible human being for walking out of the awards when her film didn't win Best Director. And I do NOT condone sex with a minor at all. However I do agree that the 'crime' was committed over 40 years ago so why didn't the protesters protest the other times Polanski won an award at the Cesars? And from what I have read the woman that was 'raped' has forgiven Polanski so why don't we respect HER feelings. Furthermore didn't this 'rape' occur in Jack Nicholson's home? Why isn't he held partly responsible for what happened in his home? And why were there underage girls at this party in the first place? This sounds very much like what trump's very good friend, Jeffrey Epstein, was doing at his parties.

[thevoid99]

@Mattie Ross-Yeah, keep talking shit boy. Ronan Farrow is much worse than Harvey Weinstein. He rapes little boys.

[Someone]

"I am a troll, forget about me and keep the positive conversations" - this wasn't written by me :)

I am not a troll. I am a very intelligent human being who sees that #meToo is shit.

Trolls are only those who do not agree with me. :)

But hey - at least my oponents admitted that they are trolls, pretending that they are me. That's good. :)

[Me]

It's pretty sad how many of you behave. Yes, separate art from the artist, tho I understand if you don't want to give out awards, because awards are far from definitive.

But truth is most of you behave like all the people who work on Woody Allen movies, then when the heat gets turned up feel regret and make an empty vow.

And whether or not you should give him an actual award, don't pretend you care about victims. Reminds me of the Ray Rice incident. When people actually saw him hit his fiancée they couldn't handle it...besides already knowing what happened in the elevator, the hit was not nearly as horrible as him dragging her out the way he did.

Worst off, regardless of whether or not it was a mistake he once made or if he's a changed man (can only hope and maybe believe), all of these women's groups were ripping her in the media for going back to him, for the the negative example it sets for other abused women.

Other abused women, who in large numbers -as victims- go back to their abusers.

Yeah you all care.

[Anonyme]

Some of these comments are disgusting. Calling Haenel and Sciamma “stupid bitches” for walking out and ruining the pedophile rapist’s night, defending him as if he hasn’t been making mediocre films for the last 20 years, and saying that artistic talent absolves any crime. Nice to know that none of you give a shit about sexual assault victims.

This place really has gone downhill.

[Someone]

I do care about art.
And yeah, Polanski has done some mediocre movies in the last 20 years but also quite a few very good ones (like "The Pianist", "Ghost Writer" or "Venus in Fur") and "An Officer and a Spy" is one of those that are really good.

And Haenel deserves all critcism she gets for her immature and ridiculous behaviour (though I haven't written the words "stupid bitches").

Art is more important than anything and prizes for art should not consider private life of the people rewarded. Thank God, Cesar Awards understand that.

[Thefoxgoestothemovies]

La Belle Époque is amazing, with a perfect blend of romance and magic. It felt like a cross between The Truman Show and Midnight in Paris. I ranked it on my top 5 best films of 2019.