A bare breast at the Cesars: The French are not impressed

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My chiropractor, who is French, assured me over the weekend that the French Oscars -- known as the César Awards -- were far more spontaneous and clever than our recent Academy Awards. My first reaction was to dismiss his opinion as yet another example of knee-jerk French superiority to all things American, since he also believes Jean Renoir’s ‘Rules of the Game’ is superior to ‘Animal House.’

But that was before I saw this marvelous clip from the show. In what seems to have been a spoof, judging from this dispatch by Lisa Nesselson (the former Paris-based critic for Variety), a young actress going by the name of Sandrine Moule turned up on stage in an flimsy, billowy outfit that practically shouted the phrase ‘wardrobe malfunction.’

One of her breasts was clearly exposed, from the nipple on up, which didn’t even prompt a mild gasp of horror from the jaded French crowd, who probably would’ve been more outraged if Mickey Rourke had showed up with a crew cut. The only person who is seen reacting is Emma Thompson, who is seated right up front in the audience, next to a slightly perplexed Sean Penn. The telecast keeps cutting from the seemingly clueless actress to Thompson, who looks on, agog, first radiating shock, then something close to maternal anguish, as if watching a child teetering on the edge of a three-story precipice. Finally, unable to contain herself any longer, Thompson leaps out of her seat and rushes up onto the stage to -- as Nesselson put it -- ‘help the young woman tuck herself in.’

It’s great television, exactly the kind of goofball moment that makes award shows worth watching. The stodgy academy could pick up a few tips from its Gallic brethren. One other Césars highlight came when the ruffian kids from ‘The Class’ (France’s entry in our best foreign language film category) all took the stage to present an award, with one boy addressing Penn as ‘Mr. President’ (Penn was the president of the Cannes jury that awarded the film the Palme d’Or), mischievously adding ‘Couldn’t you be our president for real? ‘Cause we sure are ready for change.’ (Big laughs all around.)

You can watch a clip of the zany actress in action here. And for your viewing pleasure, here is Emma Thompson at the Césars, showing off her flawless French as she woos her fans and the paparazzi before the event: