When the nominations for the César Awards — known in glib terms as the French Oscars — were announced last month, I wrote that I anticipated a tight race between Roman Polanski’s widely acclaimed Euro thriller “The Ghost Writer” and Xavier Beauvois’s lofty Cannes prizewinner “Of Gods and Men,” with the latter just winning out. […]
Césars for Polanski, ‘Gods,’ ‘Illusionist’… and Fincher
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:35 pm · February 25th, 2011
Filed in: Daily
‘Of Gods and Men,’ ‘Ghost Writer’ lead César nominations
Posted by Guy Lodge · 2:34 pm · January 21st, 2011
The film may be smarting from its widely (if not, ahem, entirely) unexpected omission from the Oscar foreign-language shortlist earlier this week, but Xavier Beauvois’s sombre religious drama “Of Gods and Men” found more love in its home country, where it scooped a leading 11 nominations for the César Awards. The so-called “French Oscars” also […]
Filed in: Daily
‘A Prophet’ takes nine César Awards
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:50 pm · February 27th, 2010
I know, I know … quelle surprise. One week after taking the BAFTA, Jacques Audiard’s “A Prophet” obliterated the competition at its home awards ceremony, the Césars. The foreign-language Oscar nominee took a massive nine awards, including honors for Best Film, Director, Screenplay, Actor and Supporting Actor. Tahar Rahim was a double winner, in fact, […]
Filed in: Daily
WEEKLY WRAP: Guild awards, pre-nomination jitters
Posted by Guy Lodge · 7:17 am · January 30th, 2010
• In the biggest upset of the season so far, “The Hurt Locker” came up trumps at the PGA Awards. • “Inglourious Basterds” took the top prize at the SAG Awards, which also gave another boost to Sandra Bullock. • With Oscar nominations out next week, we listed some of the greatest nominee fields in […]
Filed in: Daily
‘A Prophet’ tops César nominations
Posted by Guy Lodge · 7:02 am · January 23rd, 2010
What a shocker, right? In the nominations for France’s premier film awards, Jacques Audiard’s Oscar contender leads the field with a massive 13 bids. (Look out for my interview with Audiard, coming soon.) It’s nice to finally see some love for Niels Arestrup’s astonishing work in the film, but when a contemporary prison drama can […]
Filed in: Daily
EDINBURGH: “35 Shots of Rum,” “Séraphine,” “The Maid”
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:57 am · June 24th, 2009
Tuesday was a day of mellower pleasures at the Edinburgh Film Festival, from an idle sun-soaked writing break in the park, to a chance conversation with Paddy Considine and Shane Meadows (both as smart and affably bloke-ish as you’d expect) outside the theater, to, most importantly, a trio of quietly impressive, character-oriented foreign-language titles. Two […]
Filed in: Daily
Better late…
Posted by Guy Lodge · 2:22 am · March 9th, 2009
Last week’s server switch-induced hiatus prevented me from commenting on the César Awards — perhaps the ceremony I was eyeing most keenly this year given the prominence of my personal favourites in their rich pool of nominees. (I’ll say it again: France ruled 2008. End of story.) You’ve probably read the winners elsewhere by now. […]
Filed in: Daily