Cinema

The thirty-second prestigious César awards ceremony, which each year rewards the best in French film, has chosen by an overwhelming majority two films emblematic of the diversity of French production, both based on novels written in English: Lady Chatterley by Pascale Ferran, based on D. H. Lawrence’s book, and Ne le dis à personne [Tell No One], actor Guillaume Canet’s second feature film, adapted from the contemporary bestseller by Harlan Coben.

A respected figure in French art-house cinema, Pascale Ferran, (Petits Arrangements avec les morts [Little Arrangements with the Dead] and L’Âge des possibles [The Age of the Possibles]), has created a sensation with her very modern and inspired adaptation of Lady Chatterley’s Lover which won not only the much coveted César for best film, but also the awards for best cinematography, best costumes, best adaptation and, lastly, for best actress, the remarkable performance of Marina Hands, previously best known for her work in the theatre.

Pascale Ferran makes a sensitive and passionate reading of D. H. Lawrence’s subversive novel, which tells the story of an adulterous relationship between a landowner’s young wife and a gamekeeper in 1920s England, in which the blossoming of nature triggers desire and the encounter between two people from very different social classes who nevertheless succeed in finding each other through love.

This rare and audacious work, hailed by the critics and already awarded the Louis-Delluc prize [for best French film of the year], faced considerable obstacles before it could be made. In a production system dominated by television channels, pushing more and more for formulaic films, only the Franco-German channel Arte agreed to fund it. Indeed, Pascale Ferran reminded the audience at the ceremony, in a widely reported speech, of the serious threat posed to demanding films in France.

Already sold almost all over the world, and awarded the Lumière prize for best French film by the foreign press, Ne le dis à personne [Tell No One] has also been honoured within the industry. Guillaume Canet, crowned best director at thirty-three, has produced a heart-stopping thriller, inventively and effectively directed (he was also awarded a César for best adaptation). Eight years after the murder of his wife, Alex sees the demons of the past come back to haunt him and he finds himself caught up in a nightmare spiral. The frantic pace of this film, alternating breathless action scenes and moments of emotion, attracted a French cinema audience of almost three million.

A production well served by some brilliant casting: not only François Cluzet (César for best actor, for the first time in his career) who delivers a stunning performance, but also André Dussollier, Jean Rochefort, Nathalie Baye, Kristin Scott Thomas, Marie-Josée Croze and Marina Hands - again!

Stéphanie Secqueville
Journalist