Jean Dujardin can’t win ’em all. For his (in my humble opinion brilliant) performance as a fading silent film star in Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist, he was voted Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival, the British Academy Awards, the SAG Awards, the Golden Globes, and the Australian Film Institute Awards (as Best International Actor). He was also chosen as the Best Actor of 2011 by both the London Film Critics Circle and the Academy of French Film Journalists. (See further below the full list of César winners and nominees.)
Earlier this evening, however, Dujardin lost the Best Actor César du Cinéma. The 2012 French equivalent of the Oscars went instead to comedian Omar Sy, who co-stars with François Cluzet in the feel-good box office blockbuster The Intouchables / The Intouchables. Perhaps enough members of the French Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Crafts were envious of Dujardin’s international success and/or felt he had already won too many awards. Or perhaps they decided it was time to give a Best Actor César to a black man – Sy is the first to win in that category. Or it could even be that enough French Academy members felt Sy, who interrupted his acceptance speech to offer a quick onstage dance (?) performance, was more deserving.
In any case, Sy’s victory was the only one for The Intouchables. The Artist, on the other hand, won a total of six Césars: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress (Bérénice Bejo as ascending dawn-of-the-sound era star Peppy Miller), Best Cinematography (Guillaume Schiffman), Best Art Direction (Laurence Bennett), and Best Music (Ludovic Bource).
Among this year’s other César winners were veteran Michel Blanc for The Minister, which also won awards for Best Sound and Best Original Screenplay for writer-director Pierre Schöller (defeating The Artist‘s Hazanavicius); former Pedro Almodóvar muse Carmen Maura for Philippe Le Guay’s comedy The Women on the 6th Floor; and Christian Rouaud and Clémence Latour’s documentary Tous au Larzac / Leader-Sheep, about how a group of farmers took on the French government in the ’70s.
For co-writing with playwright Yasmina Reza the movie adaptation of Gods of Carnage, more concisely retitled as Carnage, Roman Polanski won his sixth César – his first in the writing categories. Polanski had previously won as Best Director for Tess (1979), The Pianist (2002), and The Ghost Writer (2010), besides taking home Best Picture Césars for the aforementioned first two films. One of Carnage‘s stars, Kate Winslet, was this year’s Honorary César recipient.
And finally, out of its 13 nods – seven of which in the acting categories – Maïwenn’s Polisse won a single César: Best Film Editing for Laure Gardette and Yann Dedet.
Jean Dujardin/Bérénice Bejo/The Artist pic: The Weinstein Company.
Best Film
La guerre est déclarée / Declaration of War produced by Edouard Weil, directed by Valérie Donzelli
Le Havre produced by Fabienne Vonier, directed by Aki Kaurismäki
* The Artist produced by Thomas Langmann, directed by Michel Hazanavicius
The Intouchables / The Intouchables produced by Denis Freyd, directed by Éric Toledano, Olivier Nakache
L’exercice de l’État / The Minister produced by Nicolas Duval Adassovsky, Yann Zenou, Laurent Zeitoun, directed by Pierre Schöller
Pater produced by Michel Seydoux, directed by Alain Cavalier
Polisse produced by Alain Attal, directed by Maïwenn
Best Foreign Film
Drive (United States) directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Black Swan (United States) directed by Darren Aronofsky
Incendies (Canada) directed by Denis Villeneuve
Melancholia (Denmark / Sweden / France / Germany) directed by Lars von Trier
* A Separation (Iran) directed by Asghar Farhadi
The King’s Speech (United Kingdom) directed by Tom Hooper
Le gamin au vélo / The Kid with a Bike (Belgium) directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Best Debut
My Little Princess directed by Eva Ionesco
* Le cochon de Gaza / When Pigs Have Wings directed by Sylvain Estibal
17 filles / 17 Girls directed by Delphine Coulin, Muriel Coulin
Angèle et Tony / Angèle and Tony directed by Alix Delaporte
La Délicatesse / Delicacy directed by David Foenkinos, Stéphane Foenkinos
Best Director
Alain Cavalier, Pater
Valérie Donzelli, La guerre est déclarée / Declaration of War
* Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Aki Kaurismäki, Le Havre
Maïwenn, Polisse
Pierre Schöller, L’exercice de l’État / The Minister
Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, The Intouchables / The Intouchables
Best Cinematography
Pierre Aïm, Polisse
Josée Deshaies, L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close / House of Tolerance
Julien Hirsch, L’exercice de l’État / The Minister
* Guillaume Schiffman, The Artist
Mathieu Vadepied, The Intouchables / The Intouchables
Best Editing
Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Laurence Briaud, L’exercice de l’État / The Minister
Pauline Gaillard, La guerre est déclarée / Declaration of War
* Laure Gardette, Yann Dedet, Polisse
Dorian Rigal Ansous, The Intouchables / The Intouchables
Best Original Score
Alex Beaupain, Les bien-aimés
Bertand Bonello, L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close / House of Tolerance
Matthieu Chedid a.k.a. -M-, Patrice Renson, Monstre à Paris / A Monster in Paris
* Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Philippe Schoeller, L’exercice de l’État / The Minister
Best Production Design
* Laurence Bennett, The Artist
Alain Guffroy, L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close / House of Tolerance
Pierre-François Limbosch, Les femmes du 6ème étage / The Women on the 6th Floor
Jean-Marc Tran Tan Ba, L’exercice de l’État / The Minister
Wouter Zoon, Le Havre
Best Costume Design
Catherine Baba, My Little Princess
Mark Bridges, The Artist
Christian Gasc, Les femmes du 6ème étage / The Women on the 6th Floor
Viorica Petrovici, La Source des femmes / The Source
* Anaïs Romand, L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close / House of Tolerance
Best Sound
Pascal Armant, Jean Goudier, Jean-Paul Hurier, The Intouchables / The Intouchables
Jean-Pierre Duret, Nicolas Moreau, Jean-Pierre Laforce, L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close / House of Tolerance
* Olivier Hespel, Julie Brenta, Jean-Pierre Laforce, L’exercice de l’État / The Minister
Nicolas Provost, Rym Debbarh-Mounir, Emmanuel Croset, Polisse
André Rigaut, Sébastien Savine, Laurent Gabiot, La guerre est déclarée / Declaration of War
Jean Dujardin/Missi Pyle/The Artist photo: The Weinstein Company
Best Actor
Sami Bouajila, Omar m’a tuer / Omar Killed Me
François Cluzet, The Intouchables / The Intouchables
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Olivier Gourmet, L’exercice de l’État / The Minister
Denis Podalydes, La conquête / The Conquest
* Omar Sy, The Intouchables / The Intouchables
Philippe Torreton, Présumé coupable / Guilty
Best Actress
Ariane Asquaride, Les neiges du Kilimanjaro / The Snows of Kilimanjaro
* Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Leila Bekhti, La Source des femmes / The Source
Valérie Donzelli, La guerre est déclarée / Declaration of War
Marina Foïs, Polisse
Marie Gilain, Toutes nos envies / All Our Desires
Karin Viard, Polisse
Best Supporting Actor
* Michel Blanc, L’exercice de l’État / The Minister
Nicolas Duvauchelle, Polisse
Joey Starr, Polisse
Bernard Lecoq, La conquête / The Conquest
Frédéric Pierrot, Polisse
Best Supporting Actress
Zabou Breitman, L’exercice de l’État / The Minister
Anne Le Ny, The Intouchables / The Intouchables
Noémie Lvovsky, L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close / House of Tolerance
* Carmen Maura, Les femmes du 6e étage / The Women on the 6th Floor
Karole Rocher, Polisse
Most Promising Actor
Nicolas Bridet, Tu seras mon fils / You Will Be My Son
* Grégory Gadebois, Angèle et Tony / Angèle and Tony
Guillaume Bouix, Jimmy Rivière
Pierre Minet, J’aime regarder les filles / I Love Watching Girls
Dimitri Storoge, Les Lyonnais
Most Promising Actress (tie)
* Naidra Ayadi, Polisse
Adele Haenel, L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close / House of Tolerance
Céline Salette, L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close / House of Tolerance
* Clotilde Hesme, Angèle et Tony / Angèle and Tony
Christa Theret, La brindille / Twiggy
Best Original Screenplay
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Valérie Donzelli, Jérémie Elkaïm, La guerre est déclarée / Declaration of War
Éric Toledano, Olivier Nakache, The Intouchables / The Intouchables
Maïwenn, Emmanuelle Bercot, Polisse
* Pierre Schöller, L’exercice de l’État / The Minister
Best Adapted Screenplay
David Foenkinos, La Délicatesse / Delicacy
Vincent Garenq, Présumé coupable / Guilty
Olivier Gorce, Roschdy Zem, Rachid Bouchareb, Olivier Lorelle, Omar m’a tuer / Omar Killed Me
Mathieu Kassovitz, Pierre Geller, Benoît Jaubert, L’ordre et la morale / Rebellion
* Yasmina Reza, Roman Polanski, Carnage
Best Documentary
Le Bal des menteurs / The Liars’ Ball directed by Daniel Leconte
Crazy Horse directed by Frederick Wiseman
Ici on noie les algériens / Here We Drown Algerians directed by Yasmina Adi
* Tous au Larzac / Leader-Sheep directed by Christian Rouaud, Clémence Latour
Michel Petrucciani directed by Michael Radford
Best Short Film
* L’accordeur / The Piano Tuner directed by Olivier Treiner
La France qui se lève tôt / Early Rising France directed by Hugo Chesnard
J’aurais pu être une pute / I Could’ve Been a Whore directed by Baya Kasmi
Je pourrais être votre grand-mère / I Could Be Your Grandmother directed by Bernard Tanguy
Un monde sans femmes / A World Without Women directed by Guillaume Brac
Best Animated Feature
Le Tableau / The Painting directed by Jean-François Laguionie
Le Cirque / The Circus directed by Nicolas Brault
* Le Chat du rabbin / The Rabbi’s Cat directed by Joann Sfar, Antoine Delesvaux
Monstre à Paris / A Monster in Paris directed by Bibo Bergeron
La Queue de la souris / A Mouse’s Tale directed by Benjamin Renner
Honorary César
Kate Winslet
Acclaimed Iranian Drama & Gay Romance Actor: International Cinephile Society Awards
Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation, Margaret‘s Anna Paquin (photo), Weekend‘s Tom Cullen, and The Tree of Life‘s Terrence Malick and Brad Pitt were some of the winners of the 2012 International Cinephile Society Awards. The honors are announced by “an online group made up of approximately 80 accredited journalists, film scholars, historians and other industry professionals who cover film festivals and events on five continents.” And cinephiles they clearly are; some of their choices would put the U.S.-based National Society of Film Critics to shame. (See further below the full list of International Cinephile Society winners and runners-ups.)
Writer-director Farhadi’s Iranian family drama A Separation, which is up for the Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay Academy Awards, won as Best Picture of 2011, in addition to Best Film Not in the English Language, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Ensemble (including Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress runners-up Peyman Moaadi and Shahab Hosseini). Farhadi was also the runner-up for Best Director.
Paquin was the Best Actress winner for her performance in Kenneth Lonergan’s much-praised but little-seen psychological drama Margaret, while Tom Cullen was voted Best Actor for his enamored gay man in Andrew Haigh’s Weekend.
Terrence Malick was the Best Director for the cosmic family drama The Tree of Life, which also earned citations for Best Supporting Actor Brad Pitt, Best Cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki), and Best Film Editing (Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber, Mark Yoshikawa). The Best Supporting Actress was Margaret‘s J. Smith-Cameron.
Among the other ICS winners were Mysteries of Lisbon‘s Carlos Saboga and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy‘s Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan, who tied for the Best Adapted Screenplay Award; Gore Verbinski’s animated feature Rango; and Andrei Ujica’s The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu.
Anna Paquin/Margaret photo: Myles Aronowitz / Fox Searchlight.
BEST PICTURE
01. A Separation
02. The Tree of Life
03. Mysteries of Lisbon
04. Certified Copy
05. Weekend
06. Margaret
07. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
08. Drive
09. Meek’s Cutoff
10. Hugo
11. Melancholia
BEST DIRECTOR
Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life
Runner-up: Asghar Farhadi – A Separation
BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
01. A Separation
02. Mysteries of Lisbon
03. Certified Copy
04. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
05. The Skin I Live In
06. Poetry
07. House of Pleasures
08. Le Havre
09. Le Quattro Volte
10. Of Gods and Men
BEST ACTOR
Tom Cullen – Weekend
Runner-up: Peyman Moaadi – A Separation
BEST ACTRESS
Anna Paquin – Margaret
Runner-up: Juliette Binoche – Certified Copy
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Brad Pitt – The Tree of Life
Runner-up: Shahab Hosseini – A Separation
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
J. Smith-Cameron – Margaret
Runner-up: Jessica Chastain – Take Shelter
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
A Separation – Asghar Farhadi
Runner-up: Weekend – Andrew Haigh
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY (tie)
Mysteries of Lisbon – Carlos Saboga, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan
Runner-up: The Skin I Live In – Agustín Almodóvar, Pedro Almodóvar
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Tree of Life – Emmanuel Lubezki
Runner-up: Mysteries of Lisbon – André Szankowski
BEST EDITING
The Tree of Life – Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber, Mark Yoshikawa
Runner-up: Drive – Matthew Newman
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Mill and the Cross – Marcel Slawinski, Katarzyna Sobanska-Strzalkowska
Runner-up: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Maria Djurkovic
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Drive – Cliff Martinez
Runners-up: Mysteries of Lisbon – Jorge Arriagada and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Alberto Iglesias
BEST ENSEMBLE
A Separation
Runner-up: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Rango by Gore Verbinski
Runner-up: Winnie the Pooh
BEST DOCUMENTARY
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu directed by Andrei Ujica
Runner-up: Nostalgia for the Light
BEST BEST PICTURE NOT RELEASED IN 2011
• Alps
• Century of Birthing
• Declaration of War
• The Deep Blue Sea
• Elena
• Faust
• The Kid with a Bike
• Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
• This Is Not a Film
• The Turin Horse
Chris New, Tom Cullen/Weekend photo: Glendale Picture Company / Sundance Selects.
Bérénice Bejo/The Artist photo: The Weinstein Company