Ben Affleck won for his direction of Argo, which in turn was named best film, gaining it more yardage in its sprint toward Oscar success. Lincoln has been reclining in an armchair on the edge of the finish line for months, and may very way topple over it, with a yawn, by Oscar night. This is very difficult to call, but Argo’s thighs are certainly pumping after a resplendent Sunday in London. Quentin Tarantino’s original screenplay for Django Unchained was honoured. This makes coy amends for Tarantino’s inexplicable exclusion from the director category.

 

The acting categories went according to expectations – for the most part. As inevitable as Stephen Fry getting a gag about lubricant into his script, Anne Hathaway was awarded best supporting actress for her role as Fantine in Les Miserables, and the sun shone on the nothing new as Daniel Day-Lewis was named best actor. One is in mild emotional limbo as his performance in Lincoln wins another award (and continues its course toward an Oscar); not because it is undeserving, but because Joaquin Phoenix must remain un-lauded, left clawing at his beard at the back of the hall, having delivered such a performance in The Master, so twitching and boggled and brilliant. Christoph Waltz was awarded best supporting actor for Django Unchained, and in his studied and choppy English delivered a charming speech in which he praised Quentin Tarantino – "You silver-penned devil!" – against impending tears. This builds on his victory at the Golden Globes, though it would remain a surprise if he defeats Tommy Lee Jones, Alan Arkin and Philip Seymour Hoffman at the Oscars considering he took the statue for a comparable performance in Inglorious Basterds.

 

The British Academy’s compliance ceased at the best actress category, however, as they chose Emmanuelle Riva over Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain. Although one’s money is still safest behind Lawrence for the Oscar, the pluck it took to choose a 85 year old, whose heyday was the French New Wave, might re-conjure the dissident poltergeist which spooked the American Academy into voting for The Artist, and open minds to the possibility of making Riva their unlikely recipient. 

 

A number of the technical categories this year can be treated with more interest than the shoulder-shrugging they usually receive. Les Miserables was given the award for best sound in recognition of its recording technique, wherein actors perform their pieces live, dictating the tempo of their numbers rather than miming to a pre-recording (reservedly labeled ‘revolutionary’ in the making of musicals). In addition, Life of Pi was given the special visual effects award for a project that included the lavish creation of Richard Parker, the digital tiger, work which has been credited with making a significant contribution to the union of technology and art. 

 

Below is a complete list of the winners.

 

BEST FILM: Argo- Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney 

 

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM: Skyfall - Sam Mendes, Michael G.Wilson, Barbara Broccoli, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, John Logan 

 

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER: Bart Layton (Director), Dimitri Doganis (Producer) – The Imposter

 

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: Amour- Michael Haneke, Margaret Ménégoz 

 

DOCUMENTARY: Searching for Sugar Man- Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn 

 

ANIMATED FILM: Brave - Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman 

 

DIRECTOR: Argo – Ben Affleck

 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino 

 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: - David O. Russell 

 

LEADING ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln

 

LEADING ACTRESS: Emmanuelle Riva - Amour 

 

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained 

 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables

 

ORIGINAL MUSIC: Skyfall - Thomas Newman 

 

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Life of Pi – Claudio Miranda 

 

EDITING: Argo - William Goldenberg 

 

PRODUCTION DESIGN: Les Miserables - Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson 

 

COSTUME DESIGN: Anna Karenina - Jacqueline Durran 

 

MAKE UP & HAIR: Les Miserables - Lisa Westcott 

 

SOUND: Les Miserables - Simon Hayes, Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Jonathan Allen, Lee Walpole, John Warhurst 

 

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS: Life of Pi - Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer 

 

SHORT ANIMATION: The Making of Longbird - Will Anderson, Ainslie Henderson 

 

SHORT FILM: Swimmer - Lynne Ramsay, Peter Carlton, Diarmid Scrimshaw 

 

THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public): Juno Temple 

 

OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA: Tessa Ross 

 

THE BAFTA FELLOWSHIP: Alan Parker