Marion Cotillard chatting away.

Just when we were sick and tired of cinema screenings and movie premiere parties (Hello nomination-baiting season!), The Cinema Society alongside Dior and Vanity Fair hosted one of its best shindigs yet, at the legendary Indochine restaurant following a showing of the Rust and Bone, Jacques Audiard’s 2012 French-Belgian film, which stars Marion Cotillard and dizzyingly sexy Matthias Schoenaerts.

“I’m gonna need eight glasses of Champagne to lift myself up from that one!” one power publicist bellowed to The Observer over the roaring crowd.

“But Marion Cotillard was just amazing!”

This writer unfortunately missed the screening in order to support wounded U.S. servicemen and women uptown for Stand Up For Heroes event, which featured performances by John Mayer, Roger Waters and Bruce Springsteen.

We were hoping for a sighting and perhaps to bavarder with the Oscar-winner.

"Marion had to immediately catch an international flight," one social stalwart dutifully informed us. Of course she had plenty of time to pose for the cameras in her Dior couture, flashing her wondrous baby-bump.

Those that did turn out for the Indochine post-bash made the night memorable. Mischievous attendees included Harley Vieira Newton, Jean-Marc Houmard, Katie Lee, Nan Bush and Bruce Weber, Stefano Tonchi, the mouthy Amy Sacco, Isiah Whitlock and Donna D'Cruz, who off-duty on the DJ gig for the evening.

“I think it’s the food!’ suggested a male model, whose name escaped us.

“These mushroom things and the filet mignon!” he raved between bites.

We schmoozed with model Johannes Huebl and admired Ellen von Unwerth dancing skills. An attempt to question Emma Watson about the premise of the film resulted in a chic pout; her smart phone was of more interest.

The film, which takes place in Antibes, we were told, follows a young man who develops a bond with a whale trainer and traces how their relationship intensifies after a tragic accident. It won critical acclaim at Cannes and the BFI Film Festival. So we shall see how it plays with American audiences. It is en Français.

We got a few words with the Belgian star, Matthias Schoenaerts, but most of it was in Flemish… “I am very excited about the film,” was about all our infantile Nederland skills could reward us.

Nonetheless, the night was about celebration and good vibes. Signature Belvedere cocktails like the Rust and Bone mojitos kept conversation lively and bodies loose until well after midnight.

We told the host of evening and The Cinema Society founder, Andrew Saffir that this was our favorite fête of his thus far. He was unfazed and just smiled politely. With that, we were off to Norwood to continue our foolish, but fabulous escapades.

Upstairs, designer Narciso Rodriguez, taking refuge in an air bubble near the front of the room, said he couldn’t remember when he’d first visited the place, long popular with the fashion crowd. “I don’t know, it was a haze,” he said. “I was talking to somebody and I said, ‘You know, everything that was fun that happened in New York happened at Indochine at one point or another.’”

Recently, Mr. Rodriguez hosted another party, for the book Indochine: Stories, Shaken and Stirred (Rizzoli) at Bergdorf Goodman. The city has changed, but Indochine has not, he said. “We just grew up.”

Jean-Marc Houmard, the most visible of the restaurant’s three owners, bought and reopened Indochine immediately after Brian McNally—restaurateur and brother-of-Keith who escaped the city for a simpler life in Saigon—closed it in 1992. Mr. Houmard had been the maitre’d. He said he first visited the restaurant as a customer at age 25, after graduating from law school in Geneva and taking a law firm job in New York. “I saw Bianca, I saw Halston, I saw Jerry Hall; it was like being in a movie,” he said.

In his tenure as owner, neither the food nor the faded-wicker décor has been updated. So what’s different? “People don’t go out quite as late now,” said Mr. Houmard, who has negotiated another 15 years on Indochine’s lease, which is not yet up. “I remember we were still seating at 12:30 or 1 early on, but now after 11 or 11:30, it’s kind of the end of seating. The after-hours culture is not what it used to be.”

Slender and reserved, Mr. Houmard claims not to follow fashion. He attributes Indochine’s enduring popularity with models to its non-greasy food and flatteringly low lighting.

Onetime regulars like Calvin Klein weren’t at the party, but actors Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber, Willem Dafoe—who is currently in a production across the street at the Public Theater—stylist Pat Field, and socialites Yvonne Force Villareal and Genevieve Jones made appearances. Designer Anna Sui commandeered a booth with model Carolyn Murphy. Model Julia Restoin-Roitfeld stood behind the hostess’ station. “I come here all the time, so I feel like I should be on the other side,” she said. “I’ve had my three last birthdays here, my brothers’ three last birthdays, all the big events … It’s quite a magical place, you know?”