Césars and Oscars Shock and Delight, with Parisian Huppert in the Mix

Last month, the César’s in Paris and the Oscars in Hollywood dominated the attentions of the global film community. As the awards rolled in, there were surprises, expected wins, and of course, the hard-to-believe grand finale of the mistaken Best Picture award going to La La Land, when in fact, Moonlight won. A.O. Scott said in the New York Times of the snafu: “Wow, that “Bonnie and Clyde” sequel was totally nuts.” Similar reactions of disbelief rolled in from all ends of media: Twitter, late night talk shows, magazines, radio, and Steve Harvey, whose title for “biggest awards show flub” has usurped by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. (Harvey infamously crowned the wrong Miss Universe in 2016.) Despite all the hullabaloo, it’s worth giving a look back at the winners of the César’s and Oscars, from a distanced vantage point, now that the dust has settled. Isabelle Huppert took home a well-deserved César award for her work in Elle. She won the Best Actress prize, and Elle also won the Best Picture prize. It received 11 nominations. Other notable wins included Xavier Dolan for Best Director and Editing for It’s Only the End of the World. Gaspard Ulliel won Best Actor for his work in the film. Divines won for Best First Film, Best New Actress, and Best Supporting Actress. It’s the first picture from director Houda Benyamina. George Clooney took home an honorary César, and gave an acceptance speech which lambasted the U.S. president. Jean Dujardin presented the award to Clooney. Huppert previously won the awarded for her performance in La Ceremonie in 1996. This year provided her with a second win, and her sixteenth César nomination. Huppert is regarded by Americans as “The Meryl Streep of France.” And speaking of Streep, she was honored at the Oscars this year for having received her twentieth Oscar nomination – continuing to break records and win the accolades of most, sans the White House. (A running gag during the telecast was host Jimmy Kimmel calling Meryl “mediocre” and “overrated,” a jab at POTUS’ tweets about the living legend.) Huppert was up for an Oscar in the category of Best Actress, but lost to Emma Stone (La La Land). Also in the Oscars mix was French film Ma Vie de Courgette in the category of Best Animated Feature, which lost to critical and commercial darling Zootopia. In the category of Best Short Film (Live Action), France was represented with La Femme et le TGV, and Ennemis Intérieurs.