The 2009 César ceremony, held this evening at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, offered a few surprises. (In the US and probably elsewhere, TV5 will be showing the César ceremony this evening.)
One of the evening's favorites, Laurent Cantet's Palme d'Or winner The Class, taken from François Begaudeau's book about a teacher trying to cope with unruly students in one of Paris' toughest neighborhoods, won a single award: best adapted screenplay.
On the other hand, Martin Provost's Séraphine, the story of early 20th-century French painter (and cleaning lady) Séraphine de Senlis, took home no less than 7 Césars, including best film, best original screenplay, and best actress for Yolande Moreau in the title role.
Moreau, who had already won the French Film Critics' Étoile d'Or for best actress earlier this year, declared that Séraphine was "a César role. … I knew it from the start. Up to the last minute we keep saying that awards aren't important, but they're always something that makes you feel good." Moreau also thanked filmmaker Agnès Varda, who received the evening's award for best documentary for Les Plages d’Agnès to enthusiastic applause.
Best actor Vincent Cassel, for Mesrine, dedicated his award to his father, veteran actor Jean-Pierre Cassel, who died in 2007. Mesrine, the two-part (Death Instinct and Public Enemy #1) story of 1970s French public enemy #1 Jacques Mesrine, also won two other awards, for best sound and for director Jean-François Richet.
Dany Boon's megahit Welcome to the Sticks, which was snubbed in most of the top categories, failed to win a single award. Boon, however, despite stories to the contrary did show up at the ceremony.
César host Antoine de Caunes did a Hugh Jackman parody that received quite a few online jeers. On the positive side, he did suggest that the Césars should honor animation films.
Also, Emma Thompson presented Dustin Hoffman with the César d'Honneur, while Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir — which surprisingly lost the Oscar to the Japanese drama Departures — was the expected best foreign film winner.
And finally…
Best supporting actress winner Elsa Zylberstein, for I've Loved You So Long (above, with Kristin Scott Thomas), announced that next she'll play Arletty in a biopic about the enigmatic French star of classics such as Les Visiteurs du soir and Les Enfants du Paradis. Considering that Arletty went through some rough times — she was arrested as a collaborator for having had an affair with a Nazi officer — perhaps that's a César role (and an Oscar role?) for 2010 or 2011.
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Seraphine is very touching story about a woman with talent and difficulties having that talent recongized.
BRAVO YOLANDE!!!!!