Streep stalls The Artist clean sweep at Bafta

[1]

The French silent film, The Artist, swept the British Academy film awards on Sunday night with seven wins, including the best film, best director, best actor and original screenplay prizes.
The Artist award bandwagon was briefly halted by American actress Meryl Streep, who depicted former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron lady, a biopic on Baroness Thatcher’s life. She won the best actress Bafta.

The tenuous Indian link to the Baftas was Indian-origin director Asif Kapadia’s documentary on Formula One driver Ayrton Senna. Directed by Kapadia and with a the screenplay by Manish Pandey, Senna won the best documentary award. It also took a second Bafta for the best editing.
In 2009, Slumdog Millionaire had swept the field with 11 nominations and had ended up winning seven Baftas, including those for music by music composer A.R. Rahman and for sound by Resul Pookutty. No Indian or Indian film was nominated for Baftas this year or last year.
The Artist, the black and white tribute to silent films of 1920s, which had 12 Bafta nominations, managed to get seven wins, but Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, based on spy thriller writer John le Carre’s book of the same name, which had been nominated in 11 Bafta categories, just managed two.
Director Michel Hazanavicius won best director and original screenplay Baftas for The Artist, actor Jean Dujardin won the Bafta for leading actor and the film took Baftas for original music, cinematography and costume design.
Hazanavicius, who praised Hollywood star Brad Pitt for pronouncing his name perfectly while presenting the best director Bafta, also praised the British people for choosing The Artist for the original screenplay Bafta.
“I am very surprised because so many people thought there was no script because there was no dialogue, so English people are very clever,” he said. French actor Jean Dujardin, in his speech, thanked Britain for the Bafta. “To receive this award from the country of Laurence Oliver, William Webb Ellis and Benny Hill is an honour,” the 39-year-old French filmstar said.
The most dramatic moment of the ceremony was provided by Streep, who lost her shoe on the way to the podium to accept the best actress Bafta. Her Mamma Mia co-star British heartthrob Colin Firth won over the hearts of women in the audience all over again by leaping to the rescue and helping Streep get her shoe back. American film on racial segregation, The Help’s Octavia Spencer won the supporting actress Bafta and Christopher Plummer won supporting actor Bafta for Beginners. Spanish director Pedro Almoldovar’s The Skin I Live in won the foreign film Bafta.