London (AFP)
"Joker", the disturbing film by American director Todd Phillips, has won eleven nominations for the next Bafta ceremony in February, the British film organization announced on Tuesday, its management even criticizing a selection lacking in its eyes of diversity. .
"Joker" narrowly precedes "The Irishman", political-mafia thriller by Martin Scorsese, and "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood", the last film by Quentin Tarantino, a true ode to Hollywood in the 1960s, which have ten nominations each.
The controversial "Joker" tells the story of the failed comic Arthur Fleck into an evil character who will become Batman's sworn enemy. Strongly embodied by an emaciated Joaquin Phoenix, awarded Sunday with a Golden Globe for best actor, this character suffers from being marginalized and never taken seriously.
For the ceremony of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) on February 2, the film was notably nominated in the categories of best film, best director and best actor in a leading role.
He will compete for the title of best film in "The Irishman", "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood", "1917", historic drama by Sam Mendes or "Parasite", by South Korean Bong Joon-ho, palm at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019.
These same films are in competition in the category of best director.
Leonardo Di Caprio ("Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood"), Adam Driver ("Marriage Story"), Taron Egerton ("Rocketman) and Jonathan Pryce (" The Two Popes ") are also shortlisted for the price of best actor.
Among the actresses are also favorites for the Oscars: Renée Zellweger, already crowned best drama actress in the Golden Gobes for her role as Judy Garland in the biopic "Judy", Scarlett Johansson ("Marriage Story"), Saoirse Ronan ("Little Women "), Charlize Theron (" Bombshell ") and Jessie Buckley (" Wild Rose ").
These appointments, decided in most categories by some 6,500 Bafta members, including professionals in the film industry, were criticized for their lack of diversity by the very management of the organization: all the actors named are white and none woman only competes in the category of best director.
"To be completely honest, we are disappointed and that does not take anything away from the people who have been appointed," said Bafta director Amanda Berry, interviewed by the British press agency Press Association. "It's annoying," said Marc Samuelson, who chairs the Bafta film commission.
In the foreign language film category are named in particular "Parasite", "Farewell", a family chronicle on the clash of cultures of the Chinese-American director Lulu Wang, and "Pain and glory" by the Spanish Pedro Almodovar, story semi-autobiographical around an aging director who reviews his memories of youth.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall, London, a week before the US Academy Awards.
© 2020 AFP