La Vie En Rose's Cotillard takes top honours at French Cesars
Story by Jack Foley
FRENCH actress and surprise Bafta winner Marion Cotillard has claimed the top acting prize in her home country for her performance in Edith Piaf biopic La Vie En Rose.
The Oscar nominated actress claimed the Best Actress Cesar for her acclaimed portrayal of the tragic singer Piaf at a glittering Friday night awards ceremony (February 22, 2008).
If she follows up her triple success at the Golden Globes, Baftas and Cesars by landing the Academy Award for best actress, she will become the first French recipient of the best actress prize since Simone Signoret won in 1960.
Other Cesar winners
Another French actor, Mathieu Amalric, was named Best Actor for his performance as a stroke victim in Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell & The Butterfly.
The film follows the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the high-flying editor of Elle magazine in France until, in 1997, he suffered a massive stroke that left him with a condition known as ‘locked-in syndrome’.
Fully conscious but paralysed everywhere except his left eye, Bauby could only communicate by blinking but nevertheless succeeded in creating a memoir of his experience that was eventually published to huge acclaim just days before his death.
Amalric could not collect his trophy in person as he is currently on location playing the latest James Bond villain on location in Panama, for Quantum of Solace.
La Graine Et Le Mulet, a story of an elderly shipyard worker who dreams of opening a restaurant, was named best film – one of three prizes that included trophies for Abdellatif Kechiche (best director) and Hafsia Herzi (best young actress).