Cesars VS. Oscars: Which Wins For Worst Awards Ceremony?
It might seem difficult to beat the Oscars for toe-curlingly awful acceptance speeches, but the Césars (held two nights before the Oscars, thereby allowing all the stars of The Artist just enough time to dash from Paris to Los Angeles to accept their five Oscars) did a pretty good job. Not only did presenter Antoine de Caunes seem out of sorts, but all the scripted “comic” exchanges between him and those presenting the awards fell flat, especially when one presenter accused him at great length of having bad breath, eliciting not even a smile, much less a laugh, from the audience. Worst of all was director Michel Gondry’s speech introducing Kate Winslett, who was awarded an honorary César; he referred repeatedly to her beautiful breasts without ever mentioning her acting talents. As expected, The Artist swept up most of the gongs (Best Film, Best Director for Michel Hazanavicius, Best Actress for Bérénice Bejo, as well as the awards for Music and Photography), but there was a surprise when the Best Actor prize went
to Omar Sy (the first black actor ever to receive a César) for Intouchables rather than to Jean Dujardin as expected. Michel Blanc, to my mind the only good part of the otherwise disappointing L’Exercice de l’État, won the prize for best supporting actor, while former Almodovar favorite Carmen Maura won the best supporting actress award for Les Femmes du 6e Etage. The evening’s big loser was Polisse, which, having received the most nominations, emerged only with two minor prizes (for editing and for best female newcomer).
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