Less than a month before the Oscars, Christopher Nolan's biopic on the father of the atomic bomb "Oppenheimer" came away big winner of the Baftas on Sunday February 18 with seven awards, without preventing "Anatomy of a Fall" from continuing its beautiful international career.
The British film awards ceremony started strong for the film by French director Justine Triet, who has been racking up awards since winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes, starting with the prize for best original screenplay. He finally settled for this title, far from the hopes aroused by his seven nominations but sufficient to maintain expectations of supreme recognition in Los Angeles on March 10, where the film will be in the running in five categories.
Starting from a position of strength with 13 nominations, like the other international awards, "Oppenheimer", which brought in nearly a billion dollars, crushed its competitors, starting with its great rival on the screens this summer, “Barbie”, left empty-handed.
It won in the most prestigious categories such as best film and best director, a first for Christopher Nolan who received a standing ovation, after a long wait and numerous commercial successes ("Inception", "The Dark Knight") which had never allowed him to be crowned in his country of origin.
The portrait of J. Robert Oppenheimer, tortured physicist and scientific director of the Manhattan Project during the Second World War, won against "Anatomy of a Fall" by Justine Triet, "Winter Break" by Alexander Payne, " Killers of the Flower Moon” by Martin Scorcese and “Poor Creatures” by Yorgos Lanthimos, an auspicious result before the Oscars, for which he was nominated 13 times.
He was also distinguished in the categories of best actor for Irishman Cillian Murphy and best actor in a supporting role for Robert Downey Jr, who received his second Bafta 31 years after his role in “Chaplin”.
Emma Stone sacred
The other main winners of the evening organized at the Royal Festival Hall in London, in the presence of many stars, were “Poor Creatures” by Yorgos Lanthimos, with five Baftas, and “The Zone of Interest” by Jonathan Glazer (three).
“Poor Creatures”, “Frankestein in the Feminine”, notably allowed the actress Emma Stone to be crowned best actress for her interpretation full of madness of Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life with the spirit of a child by a mad scientist. The film was also rewarded in several technical categories such as special effects, costumes and makeup.
“The Zone of Interest”, a chilling film by British filmmaker Jonathan Glazer in German about the daily life of the family of the commander of the Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz and winner of the Cannes Grand Prix, leaves with three prizes, achieving the feat to receive both the Bafta for best British film and best foreign language film.
Da'Vine Joy Randolph was crowned best supporting actress for "Winter Break", a heartwarming Christmas tale set in an American university.
The prize for best documentary went to “20 Days in Mariupol” which recounts the arrival of war in a Ukrainian city that became the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Russian invasion.
“The Boy and the Heron”, new film by Hayao Miyazaki, received the prize for best animated film, a first for the director of “Princess Mononoke” or “Spirited Away”.
A regular at the event, Prince William, who has only spoken publicly once since the announcement of the cancer of his father, King Charles III, is also present and will meet several of the winners in his capacity as president Baftas. His wife Kate remains recovering from her abdominal surgery in January.
With AFP
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