The outright winner at the London ceremony was “The Hurt Locker”, directed by Cameron’s ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow. It won six awards including best film, director, original screenplay, editing, cinematography and sound. British success came in the acting awards with Carey Mulligan named best actress for “An Education” and Colin Firth best actor for “A Single Man”.
“The Hurt Locker”, a grittily realistic depiction of US army bomb disposal men in post-invasion Iraq, has been around a long time, gathering pace and acclaim on the film festival circuit. It first premiered in competition at Venice 18 months ago and has been seen by only a small fraction of those who have seen “Avatar”: it took $17.6 million at the box office, compared with “Avatar’s” $2 billion.
Bigelow said: “The secret to directing is collaborating and I was so, so lucky to have an incredible cast and crew. This is amazing and humbling.”
It was a miserable night for Cameron and “Avatar”, a film dismissed as hyped and derivative nonsense by its detractors, or the glorious future of cinema by its fans. It did, though, win best special visual effects and best production design. Firth won his first Bafta for his portrayal of a gay college professor breaking down after his partner dies in a car accident.
Andrea Arnold’s working class Essex drama Fish Tank took the award for outstanding British film. Mulligan’s victory had been widely predicted. The film, based on a schoolday memoir by journalist Lynn Barber, tells how, in 1962, she was seduced by an older Bristol-driving charmer.
Christoph Waltz had been odds-on to win best supporting actor for his role as the unhinged Nazi “Jew hunter” in Inglourious Basterds.
Similarly, Mo’Nique had been favourite in the best supporting actress category for her portrayal of a monstrous mother in Lee Daniels’s Precious. It will be astonishing if she now fails to win the Oscar.
Prince William is Bafta president
Prince William has been unveiled as Bafta’s new president, 50 years after his grandfather Prince Philip had the same role. William succeeds legendary director Lord Richard Attenborough in the coveted position, and it is the first time the future king has taken part in such a high-profile awards ceremony. “Becoming president of Bafta is a great honour. There is almost nothing better than going to see a really good film so this is a great personal thrill for me too,” the “Daily Star” quoted him as saying.
