Iran hostage crisis drama Argo won the best film prize at Britain’s Bafta awards on Sunday in a further boost for US actor-director Ben Affleck’s movie ahead of the Oscars later this month. At a rainy but celebrity-packed ceremony at the Royal Opera House in London, Affleck also won the best director award, highlighting the fact that he has been snubbed in the same category at the Academy Awards. Daniel Day-Lewis boosted his status as Oscar favourite as he was named best actor for his presidential turn in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, while 85-year-old French screen legend Emmanuelle Riva won best actress for Amour.
Anne Hathaway won best supporting actress for her performance in the musical Les Miserables while Christoph Waltz won best supporting actor for his role in Quentin Tarantino’s blood-soaked western Django Unchained. Dozens of stars defied the sleet and wind of a typical British winter evening to sashay down the red carpet for the awards, which are widely viewed as a bellwether for the Oscars on February 24.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards, or Baftas, have picked the same best film as the Oscars for the last four years in a row, and for five of the last 10 years in total. Veteran British actress Helen Mirren stole the show with freshly dyed pink hair, while US star Jennifer Lawrence blew a kiss to television audiences during the ceremony, just as Brad Pitt did last year. Les Miserables won the most awards with four, including Hathaway’s gong, plus prizes for production design, sound and hair and makeup, followed by Argo with three, also including editing.
But it is Argo that now has the wind in its sails for the Oscars. The movie, about a CIA mission to rescue diplomats in Tehran in 1979, also won the top Golden Globe awards last month against all the odds, beating Lincoln. Affleck took the best director award from the Directors Guild of America a week ago as well. Glossing over his own Oscar snub, Affleck said the Bafta best director award was a second chance for him after a career that took off when he starred in the 1997 picture Good Will Hunting with Matt Damon. — AFP