Even the British are in love with a previously classified chapter in American history, the rescue of six Americans during the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979.
Yes, Ben Affleck and his “Argo” have just added more trophies to their treasure chest of awards, picking up the BAFTAs for best director and best picture at ceremonies Sunday night in London.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is just the latest of a long line of industry orgs to recognize Affleck’s efforts after he was infamously snubbed by the directors branch of AMPAS when Oscar nominations came out. January 10.
The “Argo” and Affleck hit parade started just hours later at the Critics Choice Awards and continued with hardware awarded at the Golden Globes, the Producers Guild Awards and just last weekend, at the Directors Guild Awards.
Another huge awards season favorite was, unsurprisingly, the recipient of the BAFTA best actor statuette for portraying America’s 16th president. Daniel Day-Lewis lauded “Lincoln” director Steven Spielberg as the captain of the ship for the historical drama that has reaped scores of nominations, yet seems to be not winning the top prize at the awards ballot box– with the exception of acting royalty DDL.
Supporting actress princess Anne Hathaway also added to her hardware cache for her role in “Les Miserables,” which took three other BAFTAs, while Emmanuelle Riva took the lead actress prize for her role in the acclaimed “Amour.”
The trip across the pond was also fruitful for Quentin Tarantino, the director and screenwriter of “Django Unchained,” for which he took the original screenplay honor. Cast member Christoph Waltz took the trophy a supporting actor, a repeat of his victory three years ago in another Tarantino film, “Inglorious Basterds.”
“We were just really lucky to find each other,” said Tarantino of Waltz, “who says my dialogue like nobody’s business.
Here is a rundown of what went down in London, with the winners in bold:
FELLOWSHIP – ALAN PARKER
OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA – TESSA ROSS
BEST FILM
ARGO Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney
LES MISÉRABLES Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh
LIFE OF PI Gil Netter, Ang Lee, David Womark
LINCOLN Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy
ZERO DARK THIRTY Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
ANNA KARENINA Joe Wright, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Paul Webster, Tom Stoppard
THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL John Madden, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Ol Parker
LES MISÉRABLES Tom Hooper, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh, William Nicholson, Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer
SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin
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
DAVID MORRIS (Director), JACQUI MORRIS (Director/Producer) McCullin
DEXTER FLETCHER (Director/Writer), DANNY KING (Writer) Wild Bill
JAMES BOBIN (Director) The Muppets
TINA GHARAVI (Director/Writer) I Am Nasrine
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
AMOUR Michael Haneke, Margaret Ménégoz
HEADHUNTERS Morten Tyldum, Marianne Gray, Asle Vatn
THE HUNT Thomas Vinterberg, Sisse Graum Jørgensen, Morten Kaufmann
RUST AND BONE Jacques Audiard, Pascal Caucheteux
UNTOUCHABLE Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache, Nicolas Duval Adassovsky, Yann Zenou, Laurent Zeitoun
DOCUMENTARY
THE IMPOSTER Bart Layton, Dimitri Doganis
MARLEY Kevin Macdonald, Steve Bing, Charles Steel
McCULLIN David Morris, Jacqui Morris
SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn
WEST OF MEMPHIS Amy Berg
ANIMATED FILM
BRAVE Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman
FRANKENWEENIE Tim Burton
PARANORMAN Sam Fell, Chris Butler
DIRECTOR
AMOUR Michael Haneke
ARGO Ben Affleck
DJANGO UNCHAINED Quentin Tarantino
LIFE OF PI Ang Lee
ZERO DARK THIRTY Kathryn Bigelow
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
AMOUR Michael Haneke
DJANGO UNCHAINED Quentin Tarantino
THE MASTER Paul Thomas Anderson
MOONRISE KINGDOM Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
ZERO DARK THIRTY Mark Boal
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
ARGO Chris Terrio
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin
LIFE OF PI David Magee
LINCOLN Tony Kushner
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK David O. Russell
LEADING ACTOR
BEN AFFLECK Argo
BRADLEY COOPER Silver Linings Playbook
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS Lincoln
HUGH JACKMAN Les Misérables
JOAQUIN PHOENIX The Master
LEADING ACTRESS
EMMANUELLE RIVA Amour
HELEN MIRREN Hitchcock
JENNIFER LAWRENCE Silver Linings Playbook
JESSICA CHASTAIN Zero Dark Thirty
MARION COTILLARD Rust and Bone
SUPPORTING ACTOR
ALAN ARKIN Argo
CHRISTOPH WALTZ Django Unchained
JAVIER BARDEM Skyfall
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN The Master
TOMMY LEE JONES Lincoln
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
AMY ADAMS The Master
ANNE HATHAWAY Les Misérables
HELEN HUNT The Sessions
JUDI DENCH Skyfall
SALLY FIELD Lincoln
ORIGINAL MUSIC
ANNA KARENINA Dario Marianelli
ARGO Alexandre Desplat
LIFE OF PI Mychael Danna
LINCOLN John Williams
SKYFALL Thomas Newman
CINEMATOGRAPHY
ANNA KARENINA Seamus McGarvey
LES MISÉRABLES Danny Cohen
LIFE OF PI Claudio Miranda
LINCOLN Janusz Kaminski
SKYFALL Roger Deakins
EDITING
ARGO William Goldenberg
DJANGO UNCHAINED Fred Raskin
LIFE OF PI Tim Squyres
SKYFALL Stuart Baird
ZERO DARK THIRTY Dylan Tichenor, William Goldenberg
PRODUCTION DESIGN
ANNA KARENINA Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
LES MISÉRABLES Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson
LIFE OF PI David Gropman, Anna Pinnock
LINCOLN Rick Carter, Jim Erickson
SKYFALL Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock
COSTUME DESIGN
ANNA KARENINA Jacqueline Durran
GREAT EXPECTATIONS Beatrix Aruna Pasztor
LES MISÉRABLES Paco Delgado
LINCOLN Joanna Johnston
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN Colleen Atwood
MAKE UP & HAIR
ANNA KARENINA Ivana Primorac
HITCHCOCK Julie Hewett, Martin Samuel, Howard Berger
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY Peter Swords King, Richard Taylor, Rick Findlater
LES MISÉRABLES Lisa Westcott
LINCOLN Lois Burwell, Kay Georgiou
SOUND
DJANGO UNCHAINED Mark Ulano, Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti, Wylie Stateman
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY Tony Johnson, Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick, Brent Burge, Chris Ward
LES MISÉRABLES Simon Hayes, Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Jonathan Allen, Lee Walpole, John Warhurst
LIFE OF PI Drew Kunin, Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton, Ron Bartlett, D. M. Hemphill
SKYFALL Stuart Wilson, Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, Per Hallberg, Karen Baker Landers
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Peter Bebb, Andrew Lockley
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White
LIFE OF PI Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer, Donald R Elliot
MARVEL AVENGERS ASSEMBLE Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick
PROMETHEUS Richard Stammers, Charley Henley, Trevor Wood, Paul Butterworth
SHORT ANIMATION
HERE TO FALL Kris Kelly, Evelyn McGrath
I’M FINE THANKS Eamonn O’Neill
THE MAKING OF LONGBIRD Will Anderson, Ainslie Henderson
SHORT FILM
THE CURSE Fyzal Boulifa, Gavin Humphries
GOOD NIGHT Muriel d’Ansembourg, Eva Sigurdardottir
SWIMMER Lynne Ramsay, Peter Carlton, Diarmid Scrimshaw
TUMULT Johnny Barrington, Rhianna Andrews
THE VOORMAN PROBLEM Mark Gill, Baldwin Li
THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
ELIZABETH OLSEN
ANDREA RISEBOROUGH
SURAJ SHARMA
JUNO TEMPLE
ALICIA VIKANDER
