The 5th Magritte du Cinéma, which took place on Saturday evening, attempted to better acquaint the public with Belgian comedy actors, and several French ones. After a retrospective look at his links to Belgium, the French actor Pierre Richard said he was surprised and touched by the crowd of friends who came to greet him on stage. Among them was the French actor Thierry Lhermitte. Pierre Richard received the Magritte d’honneur for his career.
“With Pierre Richard as the Magritte d’honneur, François Damien as President and me as MC (Maître de cérémonie), the stage was set”, said Charlie Dupont. “I wanted to do as well as in my category as Fabrizio Rongione did in his”.
After the appearance of comic duo Eric and Ramzy and Belgian caricatures Pierre Kroll and Philippe Geluck, the impertinent interactions with the public got attention. Actress Julie Gayet was mentioned as the political-media storm around President Hollande was referred to. “The public’s reactions gave me new ideas”, says Charlie Dupont.
“I almost kissed Prince Laurent on the mouth. When Nicolas Bedos came to give me a summary of the ceremony, I had to play with him…. But humour isn’t just saying stupid or controversial things, I hope we said certain things and it came across as funny. We can’t judge Joëlle Milquet yet as she has just started, but the attack wasn’t personal, and I have nothing against Fadila Laanan – the policy deserved to be caricatured”.
Luc Dardenne took it upon himself to refer to the “Charlie hebdo” cartoonists. “Cinema was sometimes used as a propaganda tool in the past, so it was a vehicle for hate…. But the greatest films are always love stories, stories of peace.”
(Source: Belga)
