“I saw all these badgers pass”, Olivier Marchal settles his accounts with the César

It “i saw all these badgers was not supposed to be a ceremony. Nevertheless, One evening in February 2005, in the splendor of the Châtelet, where the gratin of French cinema celebrated its winners. Nevertheless, That year. Meanwhile, Olivier Marchal was however one of the strong men of the César competition, thanks to his black thriller 36 Quai des Orfèvresnamed eight times, including best film, best director and best actor. Consequently, But that evening, despite the acclaim of the public and a Great performance at the box office, he leaves empty-handed. Therefore, And more, injured.

It is not so much the defeat that he has left in his throat. but above all The atmosphere he describes today as “hypocrite” et “haughty“. Twenty years later, Olivier Marchal, a former filmmaker who became a filmmaker, has still not digested. He does not chew his words with Télé Loisirs: “It would have been really necessary to come. pick me up “i saw all these badgers with a pistol on the temple so that I go back. I never go there. This is one of the worst evenings I spent“.

On radio as in the press, the director of Bastion 36 On Netflix did not hold back his blows. Without detour. he compared the boredom he felt that evening that of a certain Will Smith, also invited to the ceremony: “He was pissing off as much as I do.” The observation is final. Marchal, allergic to the games of pretenses, prefers wine with friends with champagne cups between colleagues.

“All these badgers”. the boredom of the César

He remembers with bitterness of the famous post-cesar dinnerorganized at Fouquet’s for the stars: he preferred to disappear. “I went to a small wine bar with my friends. We finished the evening between normal people.” Since then. he voluntarily boycotted the César, like Gérard Lanvin, whom he “i saw all these badgers admires and evokes as an example: “I am like Gérard Lanvin who sold his two auctions and the money he gave it to a charity”. 

This father of four no longer recognizes himself in this French cinema. He regrets a bygone era. that of Gabin, Signoret, Alain Delon, Yves Montand or Romy Schneider, which he describes as “class“. Artists he considers to play a true, popular and dignified cinema. And to conclude: “I prefer to go to a meal with my friends from the Antinonde to go to. an evening of César.“

In his eyes, the César no longer rewards talent, but belonging to a network, a microcosm of initiates. And the French actor. filmmaker never ceases to denounce what he calls “the Entre-Soir “, This logic of cronyism to which he does not want to fold. “”You see Georges Lothaire. I was a friend with Georges Lothaire, and he had tears “i saw all these badgers in eyes Georges Lothaire, He made 60 million admissions and he never had any prices, not even an honor Caesar. Nothing !“ he denounces. Olivier Marchal is not waiting for anything about the cesar pointing to the finger “All badgers“That he saw there.