First of all my apologies for all the downtime you are currently experiencing with the site. It is all because of the massive increase of visitors since Marion’s historical moment at the 80th Academy Awards. I hope the site’ll soon work a lot better again. I myself am still trying to get some much needed sleep here and there and am feeling totally out of my usual rhythm. But thinking of Marion Cotillard’s win at the Oscars is still making me smile so much! She was only the second French actress ever to receive the coveted statuette as Best Actress and also only the second actress – after Sophia Loren for an Italian film – to receive an Oscar in the Best Actress category for a performance that isn’t in English. Oh, and of course she is also the first and so far only winner of an Academy Award for a performance in the French language.

Wasn’t her speech adorable? While her BAFTA acceptance speech was dominated by genuine surprise and shock I felt she seemed almost fragile and definitely overcome by emotions when accepting the César in her home country. But at the Oscars she was simply full of joy! And I loved her ‘poetic’ reference to the angels.

Oh — thank you so much. Olivier, what you did to me, Maestro Olivier Dahan, you rocked my life. You truly rocked my life. Thank you so much to Picturehouse for your passion, members of the Academy, thank you so, so much. And — wow. Well, I’m speechless now. I — I — well, I — thank you life, thank you love, and it is true, there is some angels in this city. Thank you so, so much.
Special online thanks Hylda, Bryna, Mara, Laurent, Bastien, I love you!
source: Oscar.com

Canada.com named this the best acceptance speech of the evening – giving it a grade A-.

Length: 47 seconds
Quote: “Thank you life, thank you love, and it is true, there is some angels in this city.”
Wins marks for: Her display of pure joy. Witness her thanks to La Vie En Rose writer/director Olivier Dahan: “Olivier, you rocked my life. You truly rocked my life!”
Loses marks for: Saying she was “speechless” in the middle of her, um, speech and then continuing to go on. Aaah well, English ain’t her first language.

In addition to the already added clip of the Thank You Cam – where Marion quickly says a few thank yous in French – I’ve now also added the full video of the Pressroom interview. She answers questions about her performance and about the now finished awards season. She says that she’s totally overwhelmed with joy and sparkles and fireworks and everything that goes like ‘boom boom boom’, names Peter Sellers, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett and Toni Colette among others as her favourite actors and concludes by choosing the song ‘Padam’ by Edith Piaf as the one that best describes her feelings at the moment. And she sings a few notes of the song. Be sure to download the video – it is a must-see!

President of France Nicolas Sarkozy congratulates Marion Cotillard in an official statement (Full statement on AmbaFrance):

I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to Marion Cotillard, who has just received the Oscar for Best Actress for her masterful interpretation of Edith Piaf in “La Vie en Rose”, directed by Olivier Dahan.

Half a century after Simone Signoret, a French artist has received the Best Actress award at the Oscars. It was a good omen that Catherine Allegret, Simone Signoret’s daughter, herself had a role in “La Vie en Rose”.

Marion Cotillard embodies an Edith Piaf who is unsettling in her realism, emotion and passion. Her interpretation brings to life the story of a woman who gave French song its acclaim and authenticity; a singer, too, who closely united France and America.

I have almost 300 additional pictures from the Oscars saved to my computer. I will soon upload them to the site – so stay tuned!

February 26, 2008

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Posted by Mia • Filed In Awards, Video updates