The sequence was already announced as one of the most moving of this 47th edition. Friday morning, on France Inter, Xavier Dolan spoke of the tribute he would pay to Gaspard Ulliel, who died last January following a skiing accident, during the Cesar ceremony. The same evening, shortly before midnight, the director walked on stage at the Olympia to deliver a speech in the form of a letter addressed to the actor’s mother.
“Madam, I am sending you this letter without even knowing you, without knowing you well”, begins Xavier Dolan, explaining that he wrote this letter inside a room from which he observed the snow twirling in a wood. “Winter is calm after a sudden onset,” he says.
The day of his friend’s death, the director recounts having seen several of the films in which Gaspard Ulliel played, in particular A long engagement Sunday by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. But he says it himself, Xavier Dolan is not here to talk about the career of the actor. “I couldn’t help but think he would have hated that kind of praise. He would have perceived, I think, in this glorification, a lack of elegance. And he was very elegant, ”he says.
The man thanks to whom Gaspard Ulliel won a César
Xavier Dolan then talked about his beginnings as a screenwriter. At the end of his adolescence, the director confides that he wrote two luminous roles for his favorite actor. A few years later, he asked her to interpret the role of Louis in Just the end of the worlda role for which he won the César for Best Actor in 2017.
“Gaspard was often the one who listens or who does not speak. We talked about his discretion, his gentleness, the mystery that he did not cultivate, by his own admission, intentionally, ”continued Xavier Dolan before bursting into tears and apologizing to the assembly.
After wiping away a few tears, the director concluded his letter. “It seemed natural to me to write to you this evening. I immediately thought of you that morning because a mother’s love is stronger than anything. I believe him. Stronger than life. Stronger than art itself. And stronger, certainly, than death”, he expressed to the applause of the room.