The Césars awarded their prizes this Friday, February 24, live on Canal +. But a joke by Jamel Debbouze was not to Juliette Binoche’s taste.
This year again, the Césars are making a lot of noise. Largely overlooked in the nominations, women filmmakers were celebrated in the speeches of the winners. Virginie Efira, accompanied by her companion on the red carpet, was (finally) awarded the César for best actress. She delivered a wonderful acceptance speech. For this new edition, the Césars have bet on a co-presentation with several masters of ceremonies. If the numbers were rather unequal, the opening speech of the ceremony by Jamel Debbouze caused a lot of reaction. And in particular a certain Juliette Binoche who has hardly tasted a spade from the comedian.
Referring to cinema attendance, Jamel Debbouze quipped: “What’s working at the moment in the cinema? Avatar, Asterix, Top Gun. Stunts and special effects. I watched our auteur films… Not a stunt, not a special effect. That’s normal. No but seriously, do you want to make entries? We need to boost our scenarios, be more creative”. Jamel Debbouze then proposed to add ninja in certain films, including With love and determination by Claire Denis with Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon. The actress then stood up to show her opposition: “I do not agree. We also make entries !” and Jamel Debbouze to answer, assuming the second degree: “You add ninjas Juliette, on the life of my mother we make a misfortune”. Juliette Binoche then retorted: “Ta haven’t seen the movie…” and the public, totally lost, did not know if the exchange was a sketch or not.
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But Juliette Binoche quickly spoke on Instagram to discuss this exchange and Jamel Debbouze’s joke again. “I couldn’t help but get up when Jamel was starting to sneer at auteur films, even with all the liberties that stand-up comics can take, auteur films are fragile, difficult to make, we are lucky to be able to have a tremendous diversity of films in France thanks to the various financial aids that the world envies us. All diversity must be expressed.”
“No ! Sorry Jamel with all the respect and love I have for you, and you know it, I do not agree to let you denigrate this cinema, nor those who take the risk of doing it, it’s too easy. Arthouse cinema brings a unique, sometimes new look, different tangents, which sometimes has difficulty finding its audience, which has fewer admissions than Asterix, but which also finds it” explains the actress, who wishes to recall “that we can’t say anything”. She ends with an allusion to Will Smith’s slap at the Oscars last year: “You’re lucky I’m not Will Smith’s sister“.