The Brit brigade ruled in this year’s BAFTA nominations, but when it came to Sunday’s star-studded…
…award ceremony in London it was American indie flick Boyhood that bagged the night’s biggest awards. The coming of age film, shot over a 12-year period and following the day-to-day life of a young boy and his family, won two awards for director Richard Linklater in the Best Director and Best Film categories, as well as a Best Supporting Actress gong for one of its stars, Patricia Arquette.
The Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything provided one of the most popular wins of the evening with its leading man Eddie Redmayne picking up the Best Actor BAFTA, beating his fellow Brit actor Benedict Cumberbach who was nominated for his role in The Imitation Game. Redmayne made an impassioned acceptance speech, thanking his family, fellow actors, as well as Professor Hawking and his ex-wife Jane, on whom the film was based. The film also won awards for Best British Film and Best Adapted Screenplay, although Redmayne’s co-star Felicity Jones lost out in the Best Supporting Actress category.
In a rather unfortunate diary clash two of the night’s big winners weren’t in town to collect their awards. Boyhood’s Richard Linklater was in Los Angeles for The Directors Guild Awards, along with director Wes Anderson who won a BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay for Grand Budapest Hotel. Ironically, both lost out at the US awards.
The quirky Grand Budapest Hotel won 5 awards in total, making it the biggest winner on the night. The EE Rising Star Award, voted for by the public, went to a very confident Jack O’Connell, star of the Angelina Jolie film Unbroken. Other winners included Julianne Moore, Best Actress for Still Alice, and J K Simmons, Best Supporting Actor for Whiplash.
The BAFTAs are often seen as an indicator of how votes will go at the Oscars. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that Eddie can do it again.