Elsa Zylberstein is not on the list of nominees tonight and she expressed her sadness. But she’s not the only one disappointed.
By Jean-Luc WachthausenFabrice Dupreuilh
© BERTRAND GUAY / AFP
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EShe is disappointed, made it known and even published on her Instagram account a letter written by a young woman who shows her all her support. No, tonight, you won’t see Elsa Zylberstein go up on stage at the Olympia to pick up a Caesar. The headliner of the film simone, Olivier Dahan’s biopic, was not nominated in the category of best actress. The film (nearly 2.5 million spectators in theaters) had to settle for two categories – best sets and best costumes.
Many celebrities have come forward to support the actress. Among them, Roselyne Bachelot, who, on Instagram, wanted to pay tribute to her: “Your millions of spectators have done you justice, and that is the most important thing. Cheer. I cried too,” she wrote. Carla Bruni or even Alex Lutz also expressed themselves in commentary on the letter published by the actress on the social network.
In the César game, there are obviously the lucky winners, the one-night losers forced to look good and the others. Those who did not have the chance to be selected after the first votes of the 4,705 members of the Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques. Elsa Zylberstein isn’t the only one on this list. Among the other great absentees, forgotten or failed, we will also note Nicolas Bedos and his black comedy Masquerade, not even retained for the quality of its cast composed of Pierre Niney, Isabelle Adjani, Marine Vacth, Emmanuelle Devos, François Cluzet, Laura Morante. Nicolas Bedos had also poured out on his Instagram account before the post (which ended with his words “We raise our heads and we move forward!”) disappeared.
Depardieu out of competition
Ditto Gérard Depardieu, indicted for rapes which he denies, did not have the honor of being selected. Yet in 2022, he was starring in remarkable and very different films, such as Maigret by Patrice Leconte and Green Shuttersby Jean Becker, without forgetting, at the end of 2021, Robust, by the young director Constance Meyer.
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Apart from these omissions which are often the lot of Caesars – let us remember Kaamelott forgotten last year – the 2022 selection reflects the tastes of the spectators quite well, with successes like In Bodyby Cédric Klapisch (1.3 million admissions) on the reconstruction of a classical dancer injured in the ankle (played by the first dancer of the Paris Opera Marion Barbeau), November, by Cédric Jimenez on the lightning investigation by the anti-terrorist police after the attacks of November 13 (nearly 2.4 million spectators). Only exception: Pacificationthe nebulous and paranoid thriller by Albert Serra, with Benoît Magimel, weakly received (53,155 admissions) but awarded the Louis-Delluc 2022 prize, has been selected nine times.