‘Pacifiction’, the exotic thriller by Spanish director Albert Serra shot in French Polynesia, was awarded two of the nine César awards to which it aspired this Friday, at a gala in which the great winner was ‘La Nuit du 12’ and in the one that ‘As bestas’, by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, won for Best Foreign Film.
The keys that explain the defeat of ‘Alcarràs’ against ‘As bestas’ at the Goya
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The 48th edition of the most important awards of the French film industry, which did not forget to pay a small tribute to Jean-Luc Godard and which even had a surprise appearance by Brad Pitt to present the Honorary César to director David Fincher, they elevated the police drama ‘La Nuit du 12’ as the Best Film of the year and its director, Dominik Moll, as Best Director.
This tape, based on the unsolved death of a young woman, added a total of six statuettes among its ten nominations, surpassing other favourites, such as the comedy ‘L’Innocent’, by Louis Garrel, or ‘Pacifiction’ itself.
Serra’s film wins went to Benoît Magimel for Best Actor and for Cinematography by Artur Tort. Both, upon receiving their awards, praised the freedom that Serra gives them in his work, very open to improvisation at the time.
“I never thought it was possible to be so free,” Magimel said emotionally from the stage of the Olympia Theater in Paris.
For his part, Tort, Serra’s regular collaborator, thanked him for everything they have done together and for everything they still have to do.
“It was what was planned, what we thought could happen and it has happened. We could have had something more for me, but hey, it was very difficult”, Serra assessed in statements to the press after the ceremony. For the Catalan director, “it is clear that people” in France have been able to appreciate the “originality” of the film. That, however, had not happened to him in Spain, where this co-production went unnoticed for the Goya awards.
“They have awarded two of the most powerful elements in the image, which are photography and the actor, the most hypnotic of the film, which combines this originality, that it is clearly seen that people have understood it,” he remarked.
Other standout awards of the night went to Virginie Efira as Best Actress and to Louis Garrel for the original screenplay of ‘L’Innocent’.
The icing on the cake for the list of winners of ‘As bestas’
The César for Best Foreign Film was in Spanish hands and it went to Rodrigo Sorogoyen with “As bestas”, which competed with the Belgian “Close” (Lukas Dhont), the Swedish ‘Boy from Heaven’ (Tarik Saleh), the Polish ‘EO ‘ (Jerzy Skolimowski) and the also Swedish ‘Triangle of Sadness’ (Ruben Östlund).
“Thank you for letting us be a small part of French cinema,” said the Madrid-born director from the stage.
Later, in statements to the press, he stated that it was already a “dream” to have been nominated for such good films. He affirmed, in fact, that he almost “felt a little bad” about competing, because, after the success of the last Goyas, it seemed too “ambitious” to win in France as well.
“Now that we’ve achieved it, it’s like a perfect icing on the cake, there couldn’t be a better ending, a better climax than winning the César, incredible,” said Sorogoyen, who attended the gala together with the screenwriter Isabel Peña.
This 48th César ceremony was preceded by a message by Juliette Binoche (nominated, but without an award), who in a solemn tone to commemorate the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, announced that the gala would be dedicated to the Ukrainian people.
After the first awards had passed, the show at the Olympia was briefly interrupted by a spontaneous who took the stage wearing a T-shirt that read “We have 761 days left”. The act was later claimed on social networks by the environmental group Dernière Rénovation (Last renewal).
This edition had been criticized for the low presence of women in the major categories, the best film and best direction. When picking up the award for novel production for ‘Saint Omer’, Alice Diop vindicated the new generation of French directors and warned that they are not passing through nor are they a “fashion”.
“This Caesar is dedicated to all female composers,” said Irène Dresel, who made history tonight as the first woman to win the French statuette for best film music.