The assembly of Caesars held their breath, unable to swallow their tears.
Xavier Dolan has indeed paid a poignant tribute to his friend Gaspard Ulliel, this Friday, February 25, on the stage of the event.
The director of
Mommy
(2014) thus read to the public a letter written by him, addressed to the mother of the actor, who died on January 19 in a skiing accident.
"I had not written about Gaspard"
"Madam, I am addressing this letter to you without even knowing you, without knowing you well," he began.
Before adding: “I had already written for Gaspard before, I had written to Gaspard, but I had not written about Gaspard.
(…) Believe me, I had no intention of doing it.”
The filmmaker said he saw several of the actor's films on the day of his death.
"But I didn't come here surprisingly to talk about Gaspard Ulliel's career," he continued.
I could list brilliant exploits and feats of arms, starry passages among the stars of the Riviera, but what effect could these things have on the gaping wound of his departure?
I can't help but think he would have hated that kind of praise.
He would have perceived, I think, in his glorification, a lack of elegance, and he was very elegant.
“A mother's love is stronger than anything”
Xavier Dolan, however, stressed that no one could take away the talent of Gaspard Ulliel from the general public.
"It's a whole world who cried Gaspard, it's a whole world who still mourns him", he underlined.
In fact, his speech moved many of his peers.
Leïla Bekhti, Léa Seydoux, nominated in the best actress category, and Elsa Zylberstein thus shed a few tears during her speech.
The filmmaker then hailed, with a sob, the gentleness, discretion and mystery that emanated from Gaspard Ulliel.
“I chose to address this letter to you, Madam, because I did not know how to do otherwise than tell you how much I admired and loved him (…), he concluded.
Her family, it seemed natural to me to write to you this evening (...), because the love of a mother is stronger than anything, I believe, stronger than life, stronger than art itself and certainly stronger than death.”
A speech that triggered thunderous applause.
