Kadr z filmu "Wenus w futrze", fot. Monolith
"To be honest, I did not expect that to happen" – said Roman Polański taking the statuette. This is the fourth Cesar Award in Polanski’s collection of prizes. Venus in Fur is an adaptation of a David Ives play, which is itself an adaption of the nineteenth-century novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch.
The play, full of perverse dialogues on the struggle between the two sexes, is proof of the directorial craftsmanship of the Carnage director.
This story of an intellectual director and the alluring actress who tries to get a role in his play is set in the confined space of a small Parisian theater. There are no other characters or scenery. And although it might seem more theatre than cinema, Polański shows that he can breathe life into even such an intimate and modest story.
The Franco-Belgian production Les Garçons et Guillaume a table received an award for best film. A humorous autobiographical film from Guillaume Gallienne, it was nominated in ten categories and won five statuettes in total, including those for best actor and best adaptation.
Sandrine Kimberlain, who plays the lead role in the comedy 9 mois ferme, was chosen as best actress. The Cesar for best foreign language film was given to In the Circle of Love (Alabama Monroe)- a film by the Belgian director Felix Van Groeningen. American actress Scarlett Johansson received an honorary awarded for her work.
What caused a stir on the red carpet was an appearance by actress Julie Gayet, the new partner of French President Francois Hollande. Gayet hadn’t appeared in public since the French press revealed her relationship with the President. The actress attended the gala as she was nominated for an award for her performance in the film Quai d'Orsay.
The prestigious French film prizes, awarded by the French Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques (Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinema) since 1975, owe their name to Cesar Baldaccini, a French sculptor, whose figure is the model of the statue. The award ceremony is held annually in Paris at the Théatre du Châtelet.
Roman Polański had previously been awarded with 3 Cesars: in 1980 for Tess, in 2003 for The Pianist and in 2011 for The Ghost Writer.
Source: PAP.pl, ed. MD, translated: Katarzyna Maksimiuk, 4.03.2014