Even if Isabelle Huppert doesn't take home the Oscar on Sunday for her mesmerizing turn in "Elle", she knows that she's still quite loved back in her native France as the actress took the Best Actress prize for the second time at the 42nd Annual César Awards on February 24th. The controversial drama she stars in was also named Best Film. Another Oscar nominee, the moving, "Ma Vie De Courgette (My Life As a Zucchini)" also took two awards including Best Animated Film.
I was shocked that Xavier Dolan and his sluggish family drama,"It’s Only The End Of The World" seriously took three awards including Best Director. I usually really love his films but this is far from Mr. Dolan's best work. The exceptional British film, "I, Daniel Blake" took Best Foreign Film and George Clooney received a Honorary César with the actor giving an impassioned speech, which was translated by presenter, Oscar-winner, Jean Dujardin, that not-too-surprisingly criticizes the current U.S. President
Here is a complete list of winners from the 2017 César Awards:
BEST FILM: "Elle"
BEST DIRECTOR: Xavier Dolan, "It’s Only The End Of The World"
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Solveig Anspach and Jean-Luc Gaget, "L’Effet Aquatique"
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Céline Sciamma, "Ma Vie De Courgette (My Life As a Zucchini)"
BEST ACTOR: Gaspard Ulliel, "It’s Only The End Of The World"
BEST ACTRESS: Isabelle Huppert, "Elle"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: James Thierrée, "Chocolat"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Deborah Lukumuena, "Divines"
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Pascal Marti, "Frantz"
BEST EDITING: Xavier Dolan, "It’s Only The End Of The World"
BEST SET DESIGN: Jérémie D Lignol, "Chocolat"
BEST DOCUMENTARY: "Merci Patron! (Thanks Boss)"
BEST FOREIGN FILM: "I, Daniel Blake"
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: "Ma Vie De Courgette (My Life As a Zucchini)"
BEST ANIMATED SHORT: "Celui Qui A Deux Ames"
BEST SHORT FILM: (Tie) "Maman(s)" and Vers La Tendresse"
BEST COSTUMES: Anaïs Romand, "The Dancer"
BEST SCORE: Ibrahim Maalouf, "Dans Les Forêts De Sibérie"
BEST SOUND: Marc Engels, Fred Demolder, Sylvain Réty and Jean-Paul Hurier, "L’Odyssée"
BEST DEBUT FEATURE: "Divines"
BEST NEWCOMER (MALE): Niels Schneider, "Diamant Noir"
Although she may be an unfamiliar name to the average American film goer, Isabelle Huppert is hardly a novice to cinema. This French legend has been making films since 1971 and is said to have appeared in at least one hundred since then.
I remember first encountering Ms Huppert in one of her infrequent English-language ventures back in 1987 with an early Curtis Hanson film, "The Bedroom Window", a psychological crime thriller which she co-starred with the odd line-up of Steve Guttenberg and Elizabeth McGovern. While it was fairly standard but entertaining, I do remember being dazzled by this exotic actress, clearly the most interesting aspect of this film as she stood out with her unusually still and definitively European performance. I have been a fan ever since and saw whatever of her native-language films that made it to the U.S. Some of my favorites include Claude Chabrol's "Story of Women" and "Madame Bovary", "8 Women", the musical from Francois Ozon, "White Material" by Claire Denis and one of her more daring roles in the erotic thriller "The Piano Teacher".
There has been a lot of attention buzzing around this iconic actress this year due to her amazing performance in Paul Verhoeven's comeback feature "Elle", another sexually-charged yet disturbing drama as well as for her appearance in the latest from Mia Hansen-Love, "Things To Come (L'Avenir").
The New York Times has done a rare, in-depth profile of the private Huppert, covering her life and career while also providing a proper introduction to America as we will be seeing her quite frequently during this award season. Oh, and the correct pronunciation of her last name is hoo-pear. Click below to read the article:
Where & When: Arclight Cinemas, Hollywood, CA. November 14, 2016 7:00 PM
One thing you can say about Paul Verhoeven is that he is not subtle. The Dutch film maker has earned a reputation for creating cinema that is proudly audacious, extreme and provocative. And his films, particularly his Hollywood work, such as "Robocop", "Basic Instinct", and "Showgirls", are filled with a shocking amount of graphic violence and sexuality, particularly at their time of release, that were met with an equal amount of praise and revilement.
After taking a lengthy hiatus from making films, he had originally developed "Elle" as a Hollywood film and had approached several top American actresses for the lead role. But they had all turned him down due to the disturbing nature of the project. So Verhoeven changed the setting to France, took a crash course in French and brought Isabelle Huppert, a legendary performer known for being quite fearless, on board. This explosive duo manages to turn this story of a woman who is savagely violated, physically and emotionally, and enacts revenge in ways that are perplexing and unpredictable in to one of the most unsettling thrillers of the year.
The film opens with the horrific aftermath of a sexual assault by a masked assailant, with him leaving his victim, Michèle Leblanc (Huppert) badly bruised and bleeding on the floor. But what is most shocking is her reaction after this traumatizing event. She calmly picks herself up, cleans up the broken dishes, takes a long bath and orders a pizza, barely acknowledging to herself what has just happened nor making any attempt to notify the police. The next day she carries on, displaying no sign that something terrible occurred, as the head of a successful video game company. As a tough, no-nonsense female in a male dominated industry, Michèle receives either bitter resentment or lustful infatuation from her mostly male employees.
Michèle has had a long history of troubled relationships with men beginning with her father. He's serving a life prison sentence for a horrific crime, a scandal of which she was dragged in to as a young teen, leaving her ostracized and distrustful of the police. While having a somewhat civil relationship with her ex-husband (Charles Berling), she's having difficulties with their overwrought son (Jonas Bloquet) largely due to his gold-digging, pregnant girlfriend (Alice Isaaz). Michèle also has been engaged in an affair with the husband (Christian Berkel) of her close friend and business colleague, Anna (Anne Consigny). But she now wants this liaison to end because she has become infatuated with Patrick (Laurent Lafitte), her married, next-door neighbor.
After receiving an e-mail taunting her about the attack and promising a return visit, Michèle decides to begin her own investigation and engage in self-defense. She purchases pepper-spray, learns to fire a gun and has the computers of all of her employees searched. Despite her best efforts, Michèle is assaulted again but this time she's ready to fight back. She wounds her attacker, unmasking him and discovering she knows the man. Yet her response is not at all what would be expected. Michèle calmly continues her communication with this man, engaging in behavior that makes her appear oddly charmed and intrigued.
If the intention with "Elle" was to provoke, offend, confuse and titillate, then Verhoeven has succeeded like a champion. But the director is also a master at presenting social satire and sexual politics in a way that's cogitative, stylish and with a wicked sense of humor. With an effective script by David Birke, which is based on the Philippe Djian novel, "No. . .", the film takes us on a outlandishly perverse journey of a woman who finally finds a way to liberate herself from being a victim and takes back control of her life.
Not well-known here stateside, Ms Huppert is one of the most honored and acclaimed actresses in the world. Similarly to Meryl Streep, she is the most nominated actress for the César Award, the French equivalent of the Oscar, with 15 nominations. And while our Ms Streep is respected for her chameleon-like abilities as a performer, Ms Huppert is lauded for her willingness to explore dark, emotionally complex characters and her work in "Elle" certainly fits that bill. Her character is hardly likable. Michèle can be brutally blunt, dismissive and unnecessarily cruel to friends and family alike. But the actress is quietly hypnotic, keeping you fascinated by her every move. Ms Huppert's powerful presence holds the film in place, making every seemingly crazy and preposterous reaction somehow plausible.
It's clear that some will see "Elle" as an authoritative female empowerment account while others will look at this as no more than an overheated male fantasy. Regardless, this admirably difficult film remains thoroughly fascinating, filled with heightened emotions, twisted sexual games, black comedy and features one of the most spectacularly brave, astonishing and demented performances this year by Ms Huppert.
The summer of 2016 may best be remembered for a glut of uninspired and unnecessary sequels, remakes and high-concept films that nobody wanted to see. The studios continue to shovel endless mediocrity in to theaters then seem shocked when audiences don't bite. While a few made some money, the vast majority of them received critical and box-office failure. With that now behind us, it's time to move on to the season of fall, where we will be offered fare that is much more creatively inspired and thoughtfully challenging. There are quite a few coming soon that look quite promising but I have narrowed down to the films that have particularly piqued my interest.
All release dates are subject to change:
"AMERICAN HONEY"
Release date: September 30, 2016
British writer/director, Andrea Arnold won the Jury Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival for the third timewith her latest drama, "American Honey". With an explosive performance by newcomer, Sasha Lane, the actress stars as a teenage girl who gets swept up with a group of young misfits traveling across the Midwest selling magazine subscriptions to make quick cash. This also gets her involved with some heavy drug use, tender romance and violent crime. Riley Keough, Shia LaBeouf and several real-life street kids co-star.
"MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN"
Release date: September 30, 2016
The title "Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children" pretty much says it all. The film is based on the best-selling YA book about an orphaned teenage boy (Asa Butterfield) who ends up going to live at a home made up of strange children with some peculiar talents, run by a caring headmistress, Miss Peregrine (Eva Green). But there is a band of evil creatures called the "Wights" that are seeking out these children to destroy them, lead by the treacherous Mr. Barron (Samuel L. Jackson). And who better to bring this dark fantasy to life than Tim Burton, the man who has enchanted and unsettled audiences for years with his own peculiar brand of gloomy film making.
"THE BIRTH OF A NATION"
Release date: October 7, 2016
Actor Nate Parker and his debut project as a writer and director "The Birth of a Nation" has been all over the news of late but it's not been directly about the movie. Despite all of the unsettling circumstances surrounding Parker, I plan to see his film for two reasons; I have no problem separating the art from the artist and I don't believe in continuing to condemn someone who has been acquitted of a crime. As for the film, Parker also stars as Nat Turner, a slave who was taught to read so he could preach from the Bible to his fellow slaves to keep them obedient. However, Turner soon becomes aware of what he's doing and begins to encourage his people to violently rise up against their oppressors.
"MOONLIGHT"
Release date: October 21, 2016
Inspired by the play "In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue" by Tarell McCraney, "Moonlight" follows Chiron, an African-American man through three key stages of his life; childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Beginning with life on the tough streets of Miami with his crack-addicted mother (Naomie Harris) as a nine year old to struggling to suppress his true sexual desires as a teenager to trying to find acceptance for who he is as a young man. Three different actors play Chiron at each period with Trevante Rhodes, a former Track and Field athlete turned actor, playing him as an adult. This is the long-awaited second film from writer/director Barry Jenkins who made one of my favorite films in 2009, "Medicine For Melancholy".
"AMERICAN PASTORAL"
Release date: October 21, 2016
Another actor making his directorial feature debut is Ewan McGregor and he's tackling the work of a major American novelist. "American Pastoral" is based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book by Philip Roth and features one of his best known characters. Seymour "Swede" Levov (McGregor) is a very successful businessman with a former beauty queen wife (Jennifer Connelly) and lovely teenage daughter (Dakota Fanning). His seemingly perfect life begins to unravel when his daughter becomes involved in an act of political terrorism. Following the sublime "Indignation" from James Schamus, this will be the second film of Roth's distinctive work this year.
"DOCTOR STRANGE"
Release date : November 4, 2016
One of my favorite Marvel comic books as a kid was "Doctor Strange" so I'm quite thrilled that a movie about him has finally been made. Benedict Cumberbatch is perfectly cast as Stephen Strange, a top neurosurgeon whose career comes to an end due to a tragic accident. In search of healing and enlightenment, Strange travels to Asia where he encounters the Ancient One (the one and only, Tilda Swinton) who guides him on a course of the mystic arts. With Rachel McAdams, Mads Mikkelsen, Benjamin Bratt and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
"LOVING"
Release date: November 4, 2016
Following the amazing sci-fi, supernatural thriller, "Midnight Special" released earlier this year, writer and director, Jeff Nichols is back with a completely different type of film, "Loving" tells the true story of Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton), a white man and his wife, Ruth (Ruth Negga), an African-American woman who dared to marry while living in the deeply segregated South. They were arrested and sent to prison in Virginia in 1958 for violating the state's anti-miscegenation laws. The Lovings fought the charges and took their case all the way to the Supreme Court.
"ELLE"
Release date: November 16, 2016
I don't know how well "Elle", the latest film from the controversial director of "Basic Instinct" and "Showgirls", Paul Verhoeven, will be received here in Puritanical America but I, for one, can't wait to see this. One reason is for the appearance of Isabelle Huppert, one of cinema's greatest actors. The other is how Verhoeven, known for his fascination with sex and violence, will handle this disturbing story of a business executive (Huppert) who is attacked and sexually violated. She manages to track down the perpetrator of the horrific crime with a plan to enact revenge. Or does she have something else in mind?
"NOCTURNAL ANIMALS"
Release date: November 18, 2016
Fashion designer, Tom Ford surprised everyone with his assured debut as a film director with his 2009 feature, "A Single Man". He finally has found some time away from his busy day job to make a follow-up film. Based on the novel, "Tony and Susan", "Nocturnal Animals" is about Susan (Amy Adams), an art gallery owner, who is given a manuscript from her ex-husband (Armie Hammer), asking for her opinion. The book tells the violent story of a family vacation that turns deadly (which is visualized in the film) and triggers in Susan memories of some dark events that occurred during their marriage. An impressive cast includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Michael Shannon, Isla Fisher and Laura Linney.
"ALLIED"
Release date : November 23, 2016
"Allied", the new film from Oscar-winning director, Robert Zemeckis, is in the spirit of those World War II romantic thrillers from the '40's. Two of Hollywood's current glamourous movie stars, Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard play an assassin and French spy who fall in love during an assignment to kill a German official in Casablanca. Yes, the film is a little too obvious but it still looks great.
"FENCES"
Release date: December 16, 2016
For his third film as a director, Denzel Washington brings to the big screen "Fences", the first feature of the work by the acclaimed playwright, the late August Wilson. Washington and his co-star, Viola Davis recreate the roles they each won a Tony for during the 2010 Broadway revival of this Pulitzer Prize winning drama. Based on the screenplay draft by Wilson (with a light polish by fellow playwright, Tony Kushner), it tells the story of a former Negro league baseball player, who now works as a trash collector, as he struggles to provide for his family while trying to accept what has become of his life.
"JULIETA"
Release date: December 21, 2016
I remember clearly the first film I ever saw by Pedro Almodóvar. It was "Law of Desire" way back in 1987 during a trip to Toronto. I was a young man from the Midwest, completely shocked and mesmerized by the high drama, droll humor and uninhibited sexuality featured on the screen. And I became a hardcore fan ever since. That was actually the Spanish director's fifth feature at the time and with, "Julieta", this will be his twentieth production. This new melodrama, which uses several short stories by Alice Munro, is about a middle-aged Julieta (Emma Suarez) who desperately wants to make contact with her long-estranged daughter that she hasn't seen or heard from in over ten years. So the mother decides to write a letter to her child, revealing all the painful, dark secrets that she has kept hidden from her.
It's once again time for that celebration of world cinema in the South of France. The 69th Cannes Film Festival begins today and runs through May 22nd. This year's poster was created using a breath-taking image from Jean-Luc Godard's 1963 film "Contempt".
The latest film from Woody Allen, "Café Society", has been selected to kick-off the fest. This is the third time the director has opened the event out of competition following "Hollywood Ending" in 2002 and "Midnight in Paris" in 2011. Allen has teamed up with Amazon Studios to distribute his forty-seventh feature which stars Jesse Eisenberg as a young man who ventures to California in the 1930's to try his luck in Hollywood. He manages to find love, thrills and danger in this strange town. Kristen Stewart, Blake Lively, Parker Posey, Jeannie Berlin and Steve Carell also star. This year, there will be no Closing Night film. Rather, the winner of the Palme d’Or will be screened.
Fresh off the acclaim for his comeback world-wide smash, "Mad Max: Fury Road" (which had a very successful out of competition screening at last year's fest), Aussie director George Miller will head the jury to select the feature films that will earn prizes. Also serving on the International jury will be French film maker, Arnaud Desplechin, American actors, Kirsten Dunst and Donald Sutherland, Danish actor, Mads Mikkelsen, Hungarian director, László Nemes (who won the Grand Prix last year for "Son of Saul"), Iranian film producer, Katayoon Shahabi, Italian actress/director, Valeria Golino and French performer, Vanessa Paradis.
The movies competing for awards is largely new work from popular film makers who have appeared at previous Cannes festivals like Pedro Almodóvar ("Julieta"), Jim Jarmusch ("Paterson"), Olivier Assayas ("Personal Shopper"), Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne ("The Unknown Girl"), Andrea Arnold ("American Honey"), Nicolas Winding Refn ("The Neon Demon"), Sean Penn ("The Last Face"), Paul Verhoeven ("Elle"), Jeff Nichols ("Loving") and Xavier Dolan ("It’s Only The End Of The World").
William Friedkin, the director of such classics as "The Exorcist" and "The French Connection", will deliver the cinema masterclass this year and a tribute to the late musician and filmmaker, Prince will also be presented. There will be additional high-profile Hollywood films screened out of competition including Jodie Foster's "Money Monster", Steven Spielberg's "The BFG" and Shane Black's "The Nice Guys".
