César Winners: Cate Blanchett, 'Annette', and 'Lost Illusions'
Saturday, February 26, 2022 at 11:56AM
NATHANIEL R in Annette, Benoît Magimel, Cate Blanchett, César Awards, France, Gaspard Ulliel, Isabelle Huppert, Leos Carax, Lost Illusions, The Father, Valerie Lemercier, Vincent Lacoste

by Nathaniel R

Cate Blanchett and Isabelle Huppert backstage at the Césars (that's Ronald Chammah, Isabelle's man, between them)

France's top awards, the Césars, were held last night. The historical costume drama Lost Illusions which had led the nominations took home the most prizes including Best Film. But all was not lost for its competition since all but one of them won at least one César. The thorny musical tragedy Annette was the runner up in terms of wins even repeating the Best Director win at Cannes for Leos Carax. And of course Cate Blanchett took the Honorary César and was introduced by Isabelle Huppert herself.

The winners and comments and a few videos from the show are after the jump. (If we've written about the film, it's linked up)...

Best Film

Annette  is available to stream on Amazon. Happening is in theaters on May 6th from IFC Films. The others have no US release dates as of yet. Bac Nord, a police drama, was the only Best Film nominee to go home without a single César.

Best Director 

Carax repeats his Cannes win and finally wins a César. This was his 7th nomination though only his 2nd in this category. His first nomination was Boy Meets Girl, way back in 1984, which was up for Best First Film.

Best Actress

Valérie Lemercier remporte le #César2022 de la meilleure actrice ✨
(on va quand même vérifier que le César ne se retrouve pas aux enchères, hein) pic.twitter.com/5QY0xyYpSv

— CANAL+ (@canalplus) February 25, 2022

 

LeMercier won her 3rd acting prize by directing herself in this loose biopic about Celine Dion.

Best Actor

 

"J'ai 47 ans, c'est la 47e Cérémonie, c'est peut-être un signe"

Benoît Magimel, César du Meilleur Acteur pour "De Son Vivant" #César2022 pic.twitter.com/mWh32eJeyS

— CANAL+ (@canalplus) February 25, 2022

 

 

Though in the rare cases when American actors are nominated for Césars they usually win (Adrien Brody, Kristen Stewart)  Adam Driver lost for his Annette nomination.  Magimel recently won the Lumière playing a man with a terminal illness and repeats that win here. 

Best Supporting Actress 

 

Aissatou Diallo Sagna remporte le #César2022 de la meilleure actrice dans un second rôle 👏 pic.twitter.com/vbleYc5Rhy

— CANAL+ (@canalplus) February 25, 2022

 

The Fracture won the Queer Palm at Cannes but sadly we have yet to hear about any US release.

 

Best Supporting Actor

 

C'est l'émotion du #César2022 du meilleur acteur dans un second rôle qui met Vincent Lacoste dans cet état ou... 😂 pic.twitter.com/hKlQtO5wrt

— CANAL+ (@canalplus) February 25, 2022

 

Lacoste finally wins on his fifth nomination.

Best First Film

 

Best Foreign Film

The Father continues its amazing awards run, beating newer sensations like Drive My Car and Worst Person...

Best Female Newcomer 

We've already shared with you how great Happening is (click for the review on the title). The abortion drama, which won the Golden Lion at Venice, is due in the US on May 6th from IFC Films. 

 

Best Male Newcomer

 

Benjamin Voisin reçoit le #Cesar2022 du Meilleur Espoir Masculin pour Illusions perdues ! ✨ #Cesar2022 pic.twitter.com/N3R0KMpvkX

— CANAL+ Cinéma (@CanalplusCinema) February 25, 2022

 

Apparently César doesn't have strict rules on eligibility for this category. Voisin was up for this "Newcomer" prize just last year (for Summer 85) and lost. This time he is still 'New' but won.

Best Original Screenplay

Best Adapted Screenplay

Best Animated Film

The Summit of Gods is currently streaming on Netflix. It's quite good. A contemplative mountain climbing drama.

Best Documentary 

The Velvet Queen, about snow leopards, which had a recent US release also won the Lumière and placed 13th on Glenn Dunks list of the 25 Best Documentaries of 2021.

 

Best Cinematography 

Best Original Score

 

Best Sound 

Best Editing

Best Costumes 

Best Set Design

Best Visuel Effects 

So basically Annette won the blockbuster-type awards (in Oscar context we mean, with visual effects and sound and editing) while Lost Illusion took all the Moulin Rouge style eye-candy awards.

In addition to the regular prizes there were also a tribute to Gaspard Ulliel (who recently passed away) by Xavier Dolan, and Cate Blanchett was honored with the Honorary César. 

 

Merci Xavier Dolan pour cet hommage à Gaspard Ulliel 🤍 #César2022 pic.twitter.com/XxsK3FFlaW

— CANAL+ (@canalplus) February 25, 2022

Ce duo...

Le vibrant hommage d'Isabelle Huppert à Cate Blanchett, César d'Honneur ce soir #César2022 pic.twitter.com/wCWCJ4u9ee

— CANAL+ (@canalplus) February 25, 2022

Quelle émotion 🥺

Les larmes de Cate Blanchett, très très émue sur la scène des #César2022 pic.twitter.com/rF6IFd5NXH

— CANAL+ (@canalplus) February 25, 2022

Isabelle Huppert saying she can't imagine anyone else to present the César to Cate Blanchett. Love their friendship! pic.twitter.com/LPbnPN4KWF

— ℳari (@cakeblanchett_) February 26, 2022

 

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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