Argo (2012)Based on the true story of the rescue of US diplomats from revolutionary Iran, Ben Affleck’s political thriller Argo was crowned Best Picture at the 85th Academy Awards in Los Angeles last night.
As tipped, British actor Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor for his impersonation of Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s presidential drama Lincoln. He is the first person in Oscar history to win three Best Actor awards (following My Left Foot, 1989 and There Will Be Blood, 2007), bringing him within spitting distance of equalling Katharine Hepburn’s four nods for Best Actress.
While the Best Picture and Best Director awards are rarely split between films, no nomination for Ben Affleck in the director category meant the way was clearer for Ang Lee to take the prize for Life of Pi. This 3D adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning novel was the evening’s biggest overall winner, also scooping awards for Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects and Best Original Score.
The Best Actress category was notable for featuring both its youngest and oldest ever nominees, nine-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild and 85-year-old Emmanuelle Riva for Amour. But the Academy opted instead for Jennifer Lawrence for her portrayal of a recovering sex addict in David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook.
With no one film sweeping the board, the Academy also recognised Django Unchained (with Quentin Tarantino winning Best Original Screenplay, and Christoph Waltz winning his second Best Supporting Actor gong for a role in a Tarantino film) and Les Misérables (taking Best Supporting Actress for Anne Hathaway alongside nods for Makeup/Hairstyling and Best Sound Editing).
Daniel Day-Lewis’s win topped a strong year for British talent, with producer Simon Chinn scooping Best Documentary for Searching for Sugar Man, Jaqueline Durran recognised for her costumes for Anna Karenina, and Adele taking Best Song for the James Bond film Skyfall.
Amanda Nevill, BFI CEO comments:
British film and filmmaking talent was sprinkled like gold-dust over another spectacular Academy Awards ceremony last night. British born Daniel Day-Lewis’s third Best Actor Oscar for his eponymous role in Spielberg’s Lincoln will go down in the history books and it’s wonderful to see an actor of his calibre be properly celebrated at the top of his game.”
British producer Simon Chinn’s Searching for Sugar Man was an inspiration and deserved Best Documentary winner. Congratulations also to the hugely talented Adele for the Best Song ‘Skyfall’, an extraordinary achievement for her and Bond as we celebrate 50 years of one of Britain’s most enduring and successful film franchises.”
A testament to the world class skills and creative excellence coming from these shores. It was fantastic to see the British talent behind the camera – those you don’t see on the red carpet – be so richly rewarded: Jaqueline Durran for her exquisite costume design for Anna Karenina and Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell for their incredible makeup and hairstyling for Les Misérables, giving Tom Hooper's musical its third Oscar of the night alongside Anne Hathaway’s Best Supporting Actress and Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes’ awards for Best Sound Mixing.”
A huge and heartfelt congratulations to all the winners and nominees.”
Best Picture
Argo – Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, producers
Actress in a Leading Role
Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
Actor in a Leading Role
Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
Actor in a Supporting Role
Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained
Actress in a Supporting Role
Anne Hathaway – Les Misérables
Directing
Life of Pi – Ang Lee
Adapted Screenplay
Argo – Written by Chris Terrio
Original Screenplay
Django Unchained – Written by Quentin Tarantino
Cinematography
Life of Pi – Claudio Miranda
Visual Effects
Life of Pi – Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
Film Editing
Argo – William Goldenberg
Production Design
Lincoln – Rick Carter (Production Design); Jim Erickson (Set Decoration)
Costume Design
Anna Karenina – Jacqueline Durran
Makeup and Hairstyling
Les Misérables – Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell
Original Score
Life of Pi – Mychael Danna
Original Song
‘Skyfall’ from Skyfall – Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
Sound Editing
Skyfall – Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
Zero Dark Thirty – Paul N.J. Ottosson
Sound Mixing
Les Misérables – Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
Foreign Language Film
Amour – Austria
Documentary Feature
Searching for Sugar Man – Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn
Documentary Short
Inocente – Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
Animated feature film
Brave – Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
Short Animated Film
Paperman – John Kahrs
Short Live Action Film
Curfew – Shawn Christensen
