The British Academy of Film and Television followed the pattern established by the industry around the world and announced The Artist as their best film of the year, fending off The Descendants and the home grown favourite, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
The French black and white feature collected six other awards in addition to best film, including best director, lead actor and original script. The adaptation of the John le Carre spy novel had to make do with just two awards, whilst the Alexander Payne-helmed film left the ceremony empty-handed.
Three other films – Hugo, Senna and The Iron Lady – took home two awards each.
The momentum is with The Artist
Whilst important in their own right, the BAFTAs, along with the Golden Globes, various film critics lists and a whole host of other awards presented at this time of the year are essentially seen as the bellwether for Oscar glory.
The presentation of the BAFTAs has done little to change the expected results except possibly shorten the odds of the Oscar favourites – the momentum of The Artist for best film, director and original music by Ludovic Bource looks unstoppable, whilst Jean Dujardin in picking up best actor in London has nosed in front of George Clooney and The Descendants.
There will undoubtedly be something of a head to head between The Artist and the Martin Scorsese feature Hugo at the Oscars when it comes to production design and costumes. The Brits gave the film one each – production design to Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo for their work on Hugo, whilst Mark Bridges picked up the gong for his costumes for The Artist.
Acting awards spread evenly
All four of the acting awards were presented to different films. With the Oscar snub for Tilda Swinton and We Need to Talk About Kevin, the British actress was seen as a possible dark horse for the award presented by the British academy. But the anticipated result came through and, as presenter Steven Fry called her on the night, Baroness Meryl Thatcher took home the gong for her performance in The Iron Lady.
The announcement of Christopher Plummer as best supporting actor in Beginners proved to be an extremely popular decision, whilst Octavia Spencer is cleaning up as supporting actress in The Help – no bets are being taken against her come Oscar night.
Best of British
In spite of 11 nominations, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy had something of a disappointing evening, collecting just two consolation prizes – best British Film of the Year (admittedly fending off tough competition which included Shame, We Need to Talk About Kevin, My Week with Marilyn and Senna) and best adapted screenplay.
The hugely successful Senna picked up not only the (expected) best documentary, but also the less anticipated editing award, whilst a further British film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, collected best special visual effects.
It’s been a good year for the British film industry, highlighted by the number of films receiving nominations across all categories. A total of 10 features received 34 nominations in categories not presented exclusively to British films.
Full list of winners:
- Best Film: The Artist
- Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
- Best Actor: Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
- Best Actress: Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
- Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
- Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Hill (The Help)
- Best Original Script: The Artist
- Best Adapted Script: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
- Best Editing: Senna
- Best Sound: Hugo
- Best Production Design: Hugo
- Best Costume Design: The Artist
- Best Make Up: The Iron Lady
- Best Score: The Artist
- Best Cinematography: The Artist
- Best British Film: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
- Best Foreign Language Film: The Skin I’m In (Pedro Almodavar)
- Best Documentary: Senna
Keith Lawrence - Published writer of articles in magazines, newspapers and websites, predominantly on culture, alongside ghostwriter/editor/copywriter.
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