The Artist wins all the BAFTAs ever

Another week, another awards ceremony overwhelmingly dominated by The Artist. Michel Hazanavicius’ silent film won seven prizes at last night’s BAFTA ceremony, including top gongs Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (Jean Dujardin) and Best Original Screenplay. “Some people”, said Hazanavicius, “thought there was no script because there was no dialogue so the English are very clever.”

Best Actress winner Meryl Streep took home her first BAFTA in thirty years for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, which also won Best Make-Up and Hair. Meanwhile, the Best Supporting Actor/Actress prizes went to Christopher Plummer (Beginners) and Octavia Spencer (The Help). Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy won Outstanding British Film and Best Adapted Screenplay, and cast member John Hurt received a lifetime achievement award for his outstanding contribution to British cinema (his second in a week).

Despite BAFTA’s inexplicable failure to nominate Olivia Colman for her performance in Tyrannosaur, Paddy Considine’s gritty debut won the award for Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer. Senna won Best Documentary and Best Editing, and Pedro Almodóvar’s visceral thriller The Skin I Live In was awarded Best Foreign Language Film.

Martin Scorsese’s Hugo won Best Production Design and Best Sound, and Scorsese himself was made a BAFTA Fellow.

The Artist also triumphed in the Best Original Score, Cinematography and Costume Design categories, and other awards went to Rango (Best Animated Feature Film) and Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Special Visual Effects). Pitch Black Heist and A Morning Stroll won Best Short Film and Best Short Animation respectively.

Finally, and perhaps most inexplicably of all, Adam Deacon (Anuvahood) beat Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Chris O’Dowd and Eddie Redmayne to the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award, which is voted for by the public. Poor show, The Public.

What did you make of this year’s BAFTA results? Let us know below!

About The Author