While gangster movie 'Mesrine' has dominated the nominations with 10 nods, it is Gallic painter Seraphine de Senlis biopic, 'Seraphine', who walks away with the most kudos at the 34th Cesar Awards.
- Feb 28, 2009
AceShowbiz - On Friday, February 27, the winners of the 34th Cesar Awards have been unveiled in a gala ceremony held at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris and "Seraphine" took the top honor as well as the most nods on the night. The Martin Provost's biopic about Gallic painter Seraphine de Senlis, which had collected 9 nominations from the French top awards which is equivalent to the Oscars, won the Best Film and five other kudos.
For the Best Film title, "Seraphine" best over other nominees that include Laurent Cantet's "The Class", Philippe Claudel's "I've Loved You So Long" and Jean-Francois Richet's "Mesrine". Apart from nabbing the Best Film kudo, the biopic had also grabbed Best Actress for Yolande Moreau, Best Original Screenplay for Provost, Best Original Score for Michael Galasso, Best Cinematography for Laurent Brunet and Best Costume Design for Madeline Fontaine.
Meanwhile, "Mesrine", which had dominated the nominations with 10 counts, walked away with only two awards, Best Actor for Vincent Cassel and Best Director for Jean-Francois Richet. Other winners included Ari Folman's "Waltz With Bashir" which collected the Cesars in the foreign-film category, beating out among others Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood".
On the occasion, the Academie des Arts et Techniques du Cinema also honored Dustin Hoffman with the lifetime achievement award. Accepting the special award from Emma Thompson, his "Last Chance Harvey" co-star, he said, "One day, as I was in therapy and I said, 'Jesus, the only time I ever fell centered in my life is when I'm playing someone else'. There is a corpse inside of us all, and that corpse represents the person we're not; and acting allows me to know that person better."
Winners list of the 34th Cesar Awards:
- Best Film: "Seraphine", Martin Provost
- Best Actress: Yolande Moreau, "Seraphine"
- Best Actor: Vincent Cassel, "Mesrine"
- Best Director: Jean-Francois Richet, "Mesrine"
- Best Original Screenplay: Martin Provost, "Seraphine"
- Best Adapted Screenplay: Laurent Cantet, Francois Begaudeau, Robin Campillo, "The Class"
- Best First Film: "I've Loved You So Long", Philippe Claudel
- Best Supporting Actress: Elsa Zilberstein, "I've Loved You So Long"
- Best Supporting Actor: Jean-Paul Roussillon, "A Christmas Tale"
- Best Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Deborah Francois, "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life"
- Best Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Marc-Andre Grondin, "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life"
- Best Original Score: Michael Galasso, "Seraphine"
- Best Cinematography: Laurent Brunet, "Seraphine"
- Best Costume Design: Madeline Fontaine, "Seraphine"
- Best Editing: Sophie Reine, "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life"
- Best Foreign Film: "Waltz With Bashir", Ari Folman
- Best Documentary Feature: "The Beaches of Agnes", Agnes Varda
