AMOUR’S JEAN-LOUIS TRINTIGNANT HAILS FROM PROVENCE… AND OTHER AMOUR TIDBITS TO DROP AT TONIGHT’S OSCAR PARTY

Amour has captured the hearts of movie-buffs, critics, and those that bestow those coveted awards every year. The Austrian film—I know, you thought it was French!—swept France’s César Awards this past Friday evening: Best Film, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. It also received the Palme d’Or award at Cannes this past spring.

 

 

 

 

The French-language film is subtitled but the dialogue is not complicated. With just a little knowledge of French, the subtitles are not necessary.One does not need to be an astute reader to surmise that I am a big fan of this movie. I don’t expect it to win Best Picture and, based on history, I would not expect… a Best Director win, but wins in Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Foreign Language Film are very likely. I have seen all the movies in which the nominees for Best Actresses starred and I am definitely rooting for Ms. Riva for Best Actress in a Leading Role. As for Best Original Screen Play, Amour also seems to be a strong contender.

 

 

Until the envelopes are opened—you never know when you might be stumped for conversation while, say, waiting for drinks at an Oscars Party—I thought you might enjoy a few tidbits of information about Amour.

• Only three other movies have been nominated for both Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film in the same year: Z (1969), Life in Beautiful (1998), and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). None captured Best Picture but all won Best Foreign Language Film awards.

• Only nine foreign language movies have ever been nominated for Best Picture.

• The Artist, last year’s Best Picture winner, was produced in France but was a “silent” film except for one sentence which was in English. Another recent Best Picture winner, Slumdog Millionaire (2008), was just partly in Hindi (and the rest in English).

• No foreign-born director has ever captured the title of Best Director for a non-English film. (Many foreign-born directors have won Oscars for English-language films.)

• Seldom does the Academy bestow awards upon foreign actors or actresses. Notable exceptions include Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose (2007) and Roberto Benigni for Life is Beautiful (1998).

• Amour was written specifically for Mr. Trintignant, who had been absent from the screen for fourteen years.

• Mr. Trintignant was the “man” in the classic art film A Man and A Woman (1966), the first foreign film I remember seeing. (And, who can forget the music?)

• Mr. Trintignant was born in the small town of Piolenc, just outside Orange in the Vaucluse Department of Provence. (Piolenc’s other claim to fame is its garlic production.)

• Her newest film, Tu Honoreras Ta Mère et Ta Mère, a French film shot on location in Greece, opened in France last week.

• Ms. Riva is the oldest actress ever nominated to receive the Academy’s Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. (If she wins, she would replace Christopher Plummer as the oldest actress or actor to receive an Oscar.)

• Today—February 24th—is Ms. Riva’s 86th birthday. Bonne Anniversaire, Ms. Riva! I sure hope you have Oscar in hand while you blow out your candles!