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Article: Jack Foley
IT WAS billed as the battle between Chicago and Gangs of New
York, but Roman Polanski's The Pianist
surprised many by landing the best picture and best director
awards at this year's Baftas (announced on Sunday, February 23,
2003).
The film stars British actor, Adrien Brody, and tells the story
of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a World War Two era Polish pianist who
lived in the Warsaw ghettos, escaped from Nazi concentration camps
and, thanks to his skill and flair for music, survived to tell
about it.
It also won six awards at France's annual film ceremony, the
Cesars, the day before, to add to the Palme d'Or it took at Cannes
and those it took at the annual National Society of Film Critics
awards in America.
Polanski was not at the ceremony to accept the accolade, but
Brody did so on the director's behalf and spoke of the 'tremendous
honour' of working with him, adding: "He has given me so
much, and taught me so much. He is a remarkable human being and
filmmaker."
In what proved to be a good night for the Brits at London's Odeon
Leicester Square, Daniel Day-Lewis took the best actor award for
his performance as Bill the Butcher in Martin Scorsese's epic
Gangs of New York (the only
award it received), and Catherine Zeta-Jones was named best supporting
actress for her role as Velma Kelly in Rob Marshall's heavily-nominated
Chicago.
The pregnant star said she was 'thrilled' to have won, but confessed
to being 'hormonal', and asked the audience to forgive anything
odd she might say, or any tears she might shed!
The best actress accolade went to Oscar favourite Nicole Kidman
for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in Stephen Daldry's The
Hours, an award which she pledged to share between her co-stars,
Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep (who were also nominated).
The Hours also took the Anthony Asquith award for achievement
in film music, while Chicago won best sound.
Acclaimed Spanish director, Pedro Almodovar, won best foreign
film and best original screenplay for Talk
To Her, a movie the Spanish turned down as their Oscar entry,
and chose the occasion to read what he said was a passage from
a French newspaper, which criticised plans for a war against Iraq.
He concluded by saying that 'we have to stop this army of darkness'.
The best supporting actor was taken by Christopher Walken for
his marvellous portrayal as Leonardo Di Caprio's father in Steven
Spielberg's Catch Me If You
Can, while best British film was named as Asif Kapadia's Hindi-language,
The Warrior, beating off audience favourites, Dirty
Pretty Things and Bend
It Like Beckham. The London-based director also took the award
for special achievement in a first feature film.
The sequel to last year's big winner, The
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, took three awards, including
the coveted Orange award for best film, voted for by the public
and narrowly beating Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's
Eleven. It was also rewarded for special effects and costume
design.
Of the other major winners, the best adapted screenplay was named
as Adaptation, the critically-acclaimed
follow-up to Being
John Malkovich.
The glittering awards event, which took place a month before
the Oscars, proved another massive celebrity draw, with some of
the top names in the industry attending. Among those who turned
out early were award hopefuls Renee Zellweger, Sir Michael Caine,
Meryl Streep and Halle Berry.
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The winners in full:
Best Film - The Pianist
Nominees: Chicago
Gangs of New York
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Hours
The Alexander Korda Award for the outstanding British Film
of the Year - The Warrior
Nominees: Bend it Like Beckham
Dirty Pretty Things
The Hours
The Magdalene Sisters
The Carl Foreman Award for the most promising newcomer to
British Film - Asif Kapadia (director, The Warrior)
Nominees: Simon Bent (writer, Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry)
Lucy Darwin (producer, Lost in La Mancha)
Duncay Roy (writer/director, AKA)
The David Lean Award for achievement in Direction -
Roman Polanski (The Pianist)
Nominees: Stephen Daldry (The Hours)
Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)
Rob Marshall (Chicago)
Martin Scorsese (Gangs of New York)
Best Screenplay (Original) - Talk to Her
Nominees: Dirty Pretty Things
Gangs of New York
The Magdalene Sisters
Y Tu Mamá También
Best Screenplay (Adapted) - Adaptation
Nominees: About a Boy
Catch Me If You Can
The Hours
The Pianist
Performance by an actress in a leading role - Nicole
Kidman (The Hours)
Nominees: Halle Berry (Monster's Ball)
Salma Hayek (Frida)
Meryl Streep (The Hours)
Renée Zellweger (Chicago)
Performance by an actor in a leading role - Daniel
Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York)
Nominees: Adrien Brody (The Pianist)
Michael Caine (The Quiet American)
Nicolas Cage (Adaptation)
Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt)
Performance by an actress in a supporting role - Catherine
Zeta-Jones (Chicago)
Nominees: Toni Collette (About a Boy)
Queen Latifah (Chicago)
Julianne Moore (The Hours)
Meryl Streep (Adaptation)
Performance by an actor in a supporting role - Christopher
Walken (Catch Me If You Can)
Nominees: Chris Cooper (Adaptation)
Ed Harris (The Hours)
Alfred Molina (Frida)
Paul Newman (Road to Perdition)
The Anthony Asquith Award for achievement in Film Music
- The Hours
Nominees: Catch Me If You Can
Chicago
Gangs of New York
The Pianist
Film not in the English language - Talk to Her (Spain)
Nominees: City of God (Brazil)
Devdas (India)
The Warrior (UK)
Y Tu Mamá También (Mexico)
Cinematography - Road to Perdition
Nominees: Chicago
Gangs of New York
The Pianist
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Production design - Road to Perdition
Nominees: Chicago
Gangs of New York
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Costume design - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Nominees: Catch Me If You Can
Chicago
Frida
Gangs of New York
Editing - City of God
Nominees: Chicago
Gangs of New York
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Sound - Chicago
Nominees: Gangs of New York
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The Pianist
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Achievement in special visual effects - The Lord of
the Rings: The Two Towers
Nominees: Gangs of New York
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Minority Report
Spider-Man
Make up/hair - Frida
Nominees: Chicago
Gangs of New York
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Short film - My Wrongs 8245-8249 and 117
Nominees: Bouncer
Candy Bar Kid
Good Night
The Most Beautiful Man in the World
Rank
Short animation - Fish Never Sleep
Nominees: The Chub Chubs
The Dog Who Was a Cat Inside
Sap
Wedding Espresso
Orange Audience Award - Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
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