Marion Cotillard

A second Oscar for Marion Cotillard?

By Marie Decreme
04/02/2015

On 15 January, the prestigious Academy revealed the names of the candidates for the Oscars. And in the race, alongside four great American actresses, there is Marion Cotillard. Seven years after La vie en rose, the French actress could well win another golden statuette for her performance in the Dardenne brothers’ latest film, Two Days, One Night.

She plays the role of Sandra, who is about to return to work after a long leave of absence. While she was away, the company’s owner has divided up her tasks between the other employees, and offered them a €1000 bonus to take on her work permanently. Effectively, Sandra would have no job to return to. Sandra, who is recovering from a depression, has only a weekend to convince her colleagues to forgo their bonus so that she can keep her job.

Two Days, One Night poster

Largely critically acclaimed in Cannes with nine nominations, the film – in French with subtitles – is now in the running for an Oscar. Marion Cotillard enters, in this way, the very narrow circle of French actresses nominated several times for an Oscar – only Simone Signoret, Leslie Caron and Claudette Colbert received more than one nomination. And never in the history of French cinema has a French actress won two Hollywood statuettes…

The competition promises to be tough. Marion Cotillard has, is up against some very stiff competition: Rosamund Pike, Felicity Jones, Reese Witherspoon and Julianne Moore (four nominations, zero award) are running against her. And it must be said that it was a surprise to see her in the Academy’s shortlist, this year. She herself was not expecting it: “that is the last thing I would have imagined”, she said. Well, we do believe in her! The results on 22 February.