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| Emmanuelle Riva accepts her César award for Amour |
Once a film is on an awards rollercoaster there is very little that can derail its progress. For Michael Haneke's Amour it started way back at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, where it received the Palme d'Or, and has continued through Baftas and the Golden Globes and last night it made a clean sweep of the French Oscars, the Césars at a ceremony in Paris on February 22.
The painful story of the relationship between an elderly couple in decline which has struck chords with audiences around the world, was named Best Picture, Austrian Haneke was awarded Best Director and actors Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant received Best Acting accolades. It also received Best Original Screenplay.
Haneke was absent, as he is in Los Angeles for tomorrow's Oscar ceremony, where he will be joined by Emmanuelle Riva, on the eve of her 86th birthday, which makes her one year older than Oscar himself. Riva made a point of stressing the collaborative nature of filmmaking and accepted the César on behalf of the whole crew and suggested the film's success was due to the way it explored a subject that concerns us all.
She said: “I worked on this film with great passion and I am very lucky at this hour or my life to come across such a wonder of a subject. This is the first time I have received a César and I thank everyone.”
When Riva tried to pick up her César and walk offstage, she had to hand the trophy to one of the presenters, towering rapper and star of Untouchable Omar Sy, “It’s heavier than I am!” she said.
Trintignant who was on a theatre engagement in Brussels, had his César picked up by his son Vincent who called his father in Brussels. From the speaker phone on his son’s mobile, Trintignant said, “Thank you everyone who voted for me and those who didn’t vote for me because the others are good too. I’m a bit emotional, kisses to everyone.”
Producer Margaret Menegoz accepted some of the awards on Haneke's behalf with the words: "Michael is enchanted and flattered that this Academy that represents the most emotive of cinemas, has finally recognised him as one of their own."
The ceremony compered by Antoine de Caunes ran for more than three hours and included sketches, politically incorrect jibes and a weird montage showing a Russian troupe singing France's National Anthem as a dig at exile Gérard Depardieu. In comparison the Baftas seem a model of restraint and decorum.
Kevin Costner who received an Honorary César, became rather tired emotional (he appeared to drop off for a snooze at one point in the rambling proceedings) but expressed his gratitude for the recognition with the line: "Pas de mystère, I’m an American and pas de mystère, j’ai fait des films de cowboy." His next film Three Days to Kill will be made in France.
Elsewhere Jacques Audiard’s Rust & Bone won four prizes including Adapted Screenplay. Noémie Lvovsky’s Camille Rewinds (Camille Redouble) which was the most-nominated film by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, came away empty-handed. Ben Affleck’s Argo was named Best Foreign Film.
The César awards in full:
Best Picture
Amour
Director
Michael Haneke, Amour
Actress
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Actor
Jean-Louis Trintignant, Amour
Original Screenplay
Michael Haneke, Amour
Adapted Screenplay
Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Rust & Bone
Supporting Actress
Valérie Benguigui, What’s In A Name
Supporting Actor
Guillaume de Tonquedec, What’s In A Name
Newcomer (Female)
Izia Higelin, Bad Girl (Mauvaise Fille)
Newcomer (Male)
Matthias Schoenaerts, Rust & Bone
Original Score
Alexandre Desplat, Rust & Bone
Sound
Antoine Deflandre, Germaine Boulay, Eric Tisserand, Cloclo
Cinematography
Romain Winding, Farewell, My Queen (Les adieux à la Reine)
Editing
Juliette Welfling, Rust & Bone
Costumes
Christian Gasc, Farewell, My Queen (Les adieux à la Reine)
Art Direction
Katia Wyszkop, Farewell, My Queen (Les adieux à la Reine)
First Film
Louise Wimmer, Cyril Mennegun
Foreign Film
Argo
Animated Film
Ernest And Celestine (Ernest et Célestine), Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar, Stéphane Aubier
Documentary
Les Invisibles, Sébastien Lifshitz
Short Film
The Cry Of The Lobster (Le Cri Du Homard), Nicolas Guiot
