The Coen brothers Lumière Prize: a look back at a wild evening
Friday evening, in an overheating Palais des Congrès in Lyon, Ethan and Joel Coen received their Lumière Prize, this Nobel Prize for cinema which does not say its name.
The presentation of the 2026 Lumière Prize on the sidelines of the Lyon festival dedicated to heritage cinema, resurrects each year the spirit of Maritie and Gilbert Carpentier and therefore this somewhat outdated word “variety” to describe TV entertainment from the ORTF period. Full blast music and a photocall on a giant screen to welcome the stars to an overheating Lyon Convention Centre. The Coen brothers, heroes of the evening, not really known for their ability to spin towels above their heads, must have appreciated this French-style show. Two years ago, Isabelle Huppert danced on The midnight demons to the ovations of the public.
Brotherhood
We will not give you a list of the evening’s prestigious guests here, the dedicated sites will take care of that. We just want to tell you that Bénabar sang two Aznavour songs to please one of the two bros who, unlike the other, had sent Thierry Frémaux his list of favorite French songs. Bénabar sang, then the great Angélique Kidjo performed a beautiful cover of Don’t leave mea title that is nevertheless wrung out to the bone.
Frances McDormand, married to one of the two recipients since 1984 — the year of Blood Simple —, shone with his rock’n’roll presence.
“With regard to them, more than fraternity, it is better to speak of brotherhood, with its secret rites…”
Bowl cut and predatory smile
Javier Bardem traveled from Madrid to remember the heroic and gently traumatic filming of No Country for Old Men.
“I loved the Coens, I dreamed of filming with them, but when I read the script and saw the horrible character I had to play, I changed my mind. Why me? I’m Spanish, don’t speak English and don’t know how to drive? ”
It will obviously be him, with his bowl cut and his predatory smile.
If there is one thing that the Lumière team knows how to do well, it is to constantly re-enchant this simple pleasure of shared cinema. The evening is thus punctuated by fabulous montages where film extracts are coiled in an intelligent sequence. We thus made the journey again for this present edition of the Lyon Light Festivala high mass created 18 years ago (already!): from Ettore Scola to Tsui Hark, from the Coens to Norman Jewison… Speaking, silent, black and white, color, from here and there… It’s crazy. Also seeing the Coen film transmuted in this way is to reactivate in extra-large an entire US cinematographic mythology that the brothers will have celebrated as much as parodied.
Batman forever
Thierry Frémaux showed the latest films from the Lumière brothers being restored, including absolutely magnificent color views. We also saw a short film by Ettore Scola, 47′ 97′eight almost silent minutes around the escape of a kid during a large roundup of the Jewish population of an Italian town by the SS who finds refuge in a cinema. The room here becomes a shelter for all the oppressed. Moving.
Otherwise, in the shuttle that took us to City Hall for the gala meal, a retired press officer, who came there as a former French chaperone of all the great authors of American cinema during the 80s and 90s, gave us two pieces of information as we pass tips on for the next nag race.
“It’s Steven who will replace Matt Reeves for the direction of the next Batman. I’m happy for him, he’ll finally make a film that works!”
Steven, it’s Soderbergh, obviously.
“Ethan and Joel are going to make a movie together!”
The Coens, brothers again, then.
Even if this last piece of information already smells reheated, we can leave on that.
