Sweeping World War I odyssey \u201c1917\u201d won big at Sunday\u2019s Bafta awards, landing the best film prize and best director trophy for Sam Mendes, and putting it in line for potential Oscars glory next weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The movie, which follows two British soldiers on a perilous mission across no man\u2019s land, had already scooped the Golden Globe for best drama, and has 10 Academy Award nominations including for best picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hailed as a groundbreaking piece of cinema, it scooped seven of the nine prizes it was nominated for at Britain\u2019s top film awards, including in cinematography, production design, sound and special visual effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s moving for me to get this in my hometown for the first time,\u201d said Mendes, the first British winner of the best director Bafta since Danny Boyle prevailed in 2009 for \u201cSlumdog Millionaire\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThank you to all the people who have gone to see this in the cinemas,\u201d he told the star-studded ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Joining \u201c1917\u201d and Mendes were \u201cJoker\u201d (Todd Phillips); South Korean comedy thriller \u201cParasite\u201d (Bong Joon-ho); \u201cThe Irishman\u201d (Martin Scorsese), and \u201cOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood\u201d by Quentin Tarantino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The evening proved particularly anti-climatic for the latter two: Tarantino\u2019s comedy-drama won just one award \u2014 Brad Pitt, for best supporting actor \u2014 while Scorcese\u2019s crime flick finished empty-handed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the evening was perhaps equally disappointing for hit film \u201cJoker\u201d, which led the way with 11 nominations but ended up with just three prizes, including Joaquin Phoenix for best actor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He beat Hollywood heavyweight Leonardo DiCaprio (\u201cOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood\u201d) as well as Adam Driver (\u201cMarriage Story\u201d), Taron Egerton (\u201cRocketman\u201d) and Jonathan Pryce (\u201cThe Two Popes\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Very humbling\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Renee Zellweger claimed the best actress award for her portrayal of Judy Garland\u2019s late-life comeback tour in \u201cJudy\u201d, marking a stunning renaissance for her own wide-ranging career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She saw off stiff competition from a talented field boasting Jessie Buckley (\u201cWild Rose\u201d), Scarlett Johansson (\u201cMarriage Story\u201d), Saoirse Ronan (\u201cLittle Women\u201d) and Charlize Theron (\u201cBombshell\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is very humbling,\u201d she told the audience of Hollywood royalty. Meanwhile Laura Dern won the best supporting actress gong for Netflix\u2019s divorce tearjerker film \u201cMarriage Story\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She beat out her co-star Scarlett Johansson, for her role in \u201cJojo Rabbit\u201d, as well as Florence Pugh (\u201cLittle Women\u201d) and twice-nominated Margot Robbie (\u201cBombshell\u201d and \u201cOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diversity criticism This year\u2019s Baftas have faced some criticism for lacking ethnic diversity among the acting categories\u2019 nominees, all 18 of whom were white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phoenix took aim at \u201csystemic racism\u201d and \u201coppression\u201d within the industry in his acceptance speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think that we send a very clear message to people of colour that you\u2019re not welcome here,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The British academy said it would review its voting system in time for next year\u2019s awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The winners and nominees in most categories are voted for by the 6,500 members, who are industry professionals and creatives from around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In previous years, senior Bafta figures said the awards could only reflect the cinema industry\u2019s output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s infuriating. We can\u2019t make the industry do something; all we can do is encourage,\u201d said Bafta film committee chairman Marc Samuelson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kennedy, Serkis honoured The prince presented the Academy Fellowship, its highest accolade, to American producer Kathleen Kennedy, the boss of Lucasfilm, and behind some of the biggest-grossing movies ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They include the Star Wars sequels, \u201cJurassic Park\u201d, \u201cE. T. the Extra-Terrestrial\u201d and the \u201cBack to the Future\u201d trilogy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, British actor Andy Serkis received the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award for his pioneering motion-capture acting for computer-generated characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 55-year-old\u2019s roles include Gollum in \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d trilogy, Caesar in the \u201cPlanet of the Apes\u201d reboot, the titular gorilla in \u201cKing Kong\u201d and Supreme Leader Snoke in two \u201cStar Wars\u201d sequels. Sweeping World War I odyssey \u201c1917\u201d won big at Sunday\u2019s Bafta awards, landing the best film prize and best director trophy for Sam Mendes, and putting it in line for potential Oscars glory next weekend. The movie, which follows two British soldiers on a perilous mission across no man\u2019s land, had already scooped the Golden …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16943,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-entertainment","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16940"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16942,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16940\/revisions\/16942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uaebarq.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Disappointments
<\/strong> At this year\u2019s Baftas, the same five movies filled the best film and best director nominations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMiss Garland, London town, which you have always loved so much, still loves you back. This is for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts, in its 73rd annual movie awards, are often seen as indicative of which way the Oscars might go in Los Angeles, this year on February 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe ceremony was hosted by TV chat show presenter Graham Norton, with Prince William and his wife Kate adding some royal glamour in his 10th year as Bafta president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"