Last night (Sunday the 13th Feb) saw the 64th annual British Academy Film Awards (better known as the BAFTAs); the British equivalent of the Oscars; announcing its winners, and honouring the best national and foreign films of the past twelve months; with one clear winner, The King’s Speech.
Originally nominated for an impressive 14 awards The King’s Speech (which focusses on the efforts of King George VI to overcome a crippling stammer, and was reviewed by us here) came away with seven awards in total; more than any other film this year; including the prestigious awards for Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Original Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress, as well as the award for Best Original Music.
The Social Network (a film about the founding of Facebook, and the lawsuits that embroiled the people behind it) came in second place; grabbing a total of three awards, which included the prestigious Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing; whilst Inception (a movie focussing on a team of expert thieves entering dreams to steal and implant secrets for corporate bosses) also took home three, slightly less prestigious awards awards; those for Best Sound, Production Design, and Special Visual Effects.
Aside from Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton’s new telling of the classic children’s tale about a girl entering a fantasy land); which won two awards for Costume Design, and Make Up & Hair; no other film walked award with more than a singular award, and there were no real surprises in any category; with Natalie Portman winning Best Actress for her part in Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky’s tale of one ballet dancer’s obsession for her craft), True Grit (a remake of the classic John Wayne western) claiming the Cinematography award, Toy Story 3 (the final film in the trilogy of movies about toys that come to life when no-one is looking) being crowned Best Animated Film, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (the first in the Swedish Stieg Larsson trilogy) being named Best Foreign Film.
A full breakdown of this year’s winners can be seen below.
Best Film:
The King’s Speech
Outstanding British Film:
The King’s Speech
Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer:
Chris Morris (Director/Writer: Four Lions)
Director:
David Fincher (The Social Network)
Original Screenplay:
David Seidler (The King’s Speech)
Adapted Screenplay:
Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)
Film Not in the English Language:
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (from Sweeden)
Animated Film:
Toy Story 3
Leading Actor:
Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
Leading Actress:
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Supporting Actor:
Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech)
Supporting Actress:
Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech)
Original Music:
Alexandre Desplat (The King’s Speech)
Cinematography:
Roger Deakins (True Grit)
Editing:
Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter (The Social Network)
Production Design:
Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Doug Mowat (Inception)
Costume Design:
Colleen Atwood (Alice in Wonderland)
Sound:
Richard King, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A Rizzo, Ed Novick (Inception)
Special Visual Effects:
Chris Corbould, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Peter Bebb (Inception)
Make Up & Hair:
Valli O’Reilly, Paul Gooch (Alice in Wonderland)
Short Animation:
The Eagleman Stag
Short Film:
Until The River Runs Red
The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award:
Tom Hardy
Academy Fellowship:
Christopher Lee
Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema:
The Harry Potter Films
