Feature
by Carol Allen
The regularity with which Helen
Mirren is picking up awards for her brilliant performance as The
Queen would make it no great surprise were she to walk
away with another best actress award at this year's Orange
British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs). However, she is up
against stiff competition – Meryl
Streep for The
Devil Wears Prada, Kate Winslet (Little
Children),
Penelope Cruz (Volver) and Judi
Dench's touchingly monstrous
and obsessional schoolmistress in Notes
on a Scandal, which
is an equally award deserving performance to Mirren's. The
battle of the Dames begins here.
As far as best actor is concerned, this is the first time
a James Bond (Daniel Craig) has been nominated for a BAFTA.
Now Craig may be good and towering though Forest
Whitaker is inThe Last King
of Scotland and enjoyable both Richard
Griffiths in The
History Boys and Leonardo DiCaprio are The
Departed, the smart money is on Peter
O'Toole for his masterly,
comic and touching performance as the elderly, still lecherously
romantic actor Maurice in Venus.
In the supporting actor category Alan
Arkin is worth a bet in Little
Miss Sunshine (though a
soft spot for lecherous OAPs might be talking). Worth a
mention though is Michael Sheen who did do a wicked Tony
Blair in The Queen, but is that really a supporting role
or more of a co–lead.
As far as supporting actress is concerned, Emily
Blunt for
Sunshine does steal the juvenile lead honours from Anne
Hathaway in Prada and Frances
de la Tour is deliciously dry in The
History Boys. But newcomer Jennifer
Hudson's amazing singing
voice and feisty first–time performance in Dreamgirls blows the audience away and BAFTA might be tempted to give
it to her. She might, of course, also pick up an Oscar, as
could several of the other BAFTA nominees.
There are two specifically British
awards. The Carl Foreman Award is for Special Achievement
by a first–time writer,
director or producer and the tip here would be Paul
Andrew Williams, the director who is the darling of the critics
for London to Brighton, even though due to its limited release
comparatively few members of the public have had the opportunity
to see it. And when it comes to the Alexander Korda Award
for Outstanding British Film, an award to Casino
Royale might
be a popular choice, as indeed would be The Queen, which
also is up for best film overall alongside Last King of Scotland.
Notes on a Scandal seems a bit of an outsider for this one,
so it might be worth taking a chance and saying that Greengrass's
drama United 93 about the heroes of 9/11 will win, but it's
not a dead cert. For the David Lean award for direction,
and as enjoybable as Martin Scorsese (The Departed) and Alejandro
González Iñàrritu (Babel) are, this
one is probably a straight fight between Stephen
Frears (The
Queen) and Paul Greengrass (United 93). As for the best film
overall, although it would be nice to see a British win,
it's likely to go to Scorsese's The Departed with Babel a
serious contender.
When it comes to original screenplays Peter
Morgan for The
Queen is a strong possibility, though Little Miss Sunshine
is a delightful piece of writing and Pan's
Labyrinth is a
masterly work of imagination. Adapted screenplay should go
to either The Departed or The Last King of Scotland but it
could even be Casino Royale though that is less likely. Prada,
though glossy and funny, is not an award winning piece of
screenwriting.
Although Casino's chances are not
rated in the high–profile
awards, it could be expected to pick up one or more of the
technical awards in Cinematography, Editing, Production Design,
Sound and Achievement in Special Visual Effects, as should
Pan's Labyrinth and other nominees Marie
Antoinette, Children
of Men and possibly Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's
Chest.
For best film not in the English language, while both Pan's
Labyrinth and Volver are strong, at least one vote goes to
Paul Verhoeven's Black
Book, where he brings the action thriller
skills he has honed in Hollywood to the service of an engrossing
drama about the Dutch resistance. It's both art and good
entertainment.
The full list of nominees is below.
FILM
BABEL - Alejandro González Iñárritu/Jon Kilik/Steve Golin
THE DEPARTED - Brad Pitt/Brad Grey/Graham King
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - Andrea Calderwood/Lisa Bryer/Charles Steel
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE*
THE QUEEN - Tracey Seaward/Christine Langan/Andy Harries
THE ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD for the
Outstanding British Film of the Year
CASINO ROYALE - Michael G Wilson/Barbara Broccoli/Martin Campbell/Neal Purvis/Robert
Wade/Paul Haggis
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - Andrea Calderwood/Lisa Bryer/Charles Steel/Kevin
Macdonald/Peter Morgan/Jeremy Brock
NOTES ON A SCANDAL - Scott Rudin/Robert Fox/Richard Eyre/Patrick Marber
THE QUEEN - Tracey Seaward/Christine Langan/Andy Harries/Stephen Frears/Peter
Morgan
UNITED 93 - Tim Bevan/Lloyd Levin/Paul Greengrass
THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for Special
Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in
their First Feature Film
ANDREA ARNOLD (Director) - Red Road
JULIAN GILBEY (Director) - Rollin' with the Nines
CHRISTINE LANGAN (Producer) - Pierrepoint
GARY TARN (Director) - Black Sun
PAUL ANDREW WILLIAMS (Director) - London to Brighton
THE DAVID LEAN AWARD for Achievement
in Direction
BABEL - Alejandro González Iñárritu
THE DEPARTED - Martin Scorsese
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE - Jonathan Dayton/Valerie Faris
THE QUEEN - Stephen Frears
UNITED 93 - Paul Greengrass
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BABEL - Guillermo Arriaga
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE - Michael Arndt
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Guillermo del Toro
THE QUEEN - Peter Morgan
UNITED 93 - Paul Greengrass
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CASINO ROYALE - Neal Purvis/Robert Wade/Paul Haggis
THE DEPARTED - William Monahan
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA - Aline Brosh McKenna
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - Peter Morgan/Jeremy Brock
NOTES ON A SCANDAL - Patrick Marber
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
APOCALYPTO - Mel Gibson/Bruce Davey
BLACK BOOK (ZWARTBOEK) - Teun Hilte/San Fu Maltha/Jens Meurer/Paul Verhoeven
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Alfonso Cuarón/Bertha Navarro/Frida Torresblanco/Guillermo
del Toro
RANG DE BASANTI (PAINT IT YELLOW) - Ronnie Screwvala/Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
VOLVER - Agustín Almodóvar/Pedro Almodóvar
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
CARS - John Lasseter
FLUSHED AWAY - David Bowers/Sam Fell
HAPPY FEET - George Miller
ACTOR in a LEADING ROLE
DANIEL CRAIG - Casino Royale
LEONARDO DICAPRIO - The Departed
RICHARD GRIFFITHS - The History Boys
PETER O'TOOLE - Venus
FOREST WHITAKER - The Last King of Scotland
ACTRESS in a LEADING ROLE
PENELOPE CRUZ - Volver
JUDI DENCH - Notes on a Scandal
HELEN MIRREN - The Queen
MERYL STREEP - The Devil Wears Prada
KATE WINSLET - Little Children
ACTOR in a SUPPORTING ROLE
ALAN ARKIN - Little Miss Sunshine
JAMES MCAVOY - The Last King of Scotland
JACK NICHOLSON - The Departed
LESLIE PHILLIPS - Venus
MICHAEL SHEEN - The Queen
ACTRESS in a SUPPORTING ROLE
EMILY BLUNT - The Devil Wears Prada
ABIGAIL BRESLIN - Little Miss Sunshine
TONI COLETTE - Little Miss Sunshine
FRANCES DE LA TOUR - The History Boys
JENNIFER HUDSON – Dreamgirls
THE ANTHONY ASQUITH AWARD for Achievement
in Film Music
BABEL - Gustavo Santaolalla
CASINO ROYALE - David Arnold
DREAMGIRLS - Henry Krieger
HAPPY FEET - John Powell
THE QUEEN - Alexandre Desplat
CINEMATOGRAPHY
BABEL - Rodrigo Prieto
CASINO ROYALE - Phil Meheux
CHILDREN OF MEN - Emmanuel Lubezki
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Guillermo Navarro
UNITED 93 - Barry Ackroyd
EDITING
BABEL - Stephen Mirrione/Douglas Crise
CASINO ROYALE - Stuart Baird
THE DEPARTED - Thelma Schoonmaker
THE QUEEN - Lucia Zucchetti
UNITED 93 - Clare Douglas/Christopher Rouse/Richard Pearson
PRODUCTION DESIGN
CASINO ROYALE - Peter Lamont/Simon Wakefield
CHILDREN OF MEN - Geoffrey Kirkland/Jim Clay/Jennifer Williams
MARIE ANTOINETTE - K K Barrett/Véronique Melery
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Eugenio Caballero/Pilar Revuelta
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - Rick Heinrichs/Cheryl A Carasik
COSTUME DESIGN
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA - Patricia Field
MARIE ANTOINETTE - Milena Canonero
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Lala Huete
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - Penny Rose
THE QUEEN - Consolata Boyle
SOUND
BABEL - José García/Jon Taylor/Chris Minkler/Martín Hernández
CASINO ROYALE - Chris Munro/Eddy Joseph/Mike Prestwood Smith/Martin Cantwell/Mark
Taylor
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Martín Hernández/Jamie Bashkt
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - Christopher Boyes/George Watters
II/ Paul Massey/Lee Orloff
UNITED 93 - Chris Munro/Mike Prestwood Smith/Douglas Cooper/Oliver Tarney/Eddy
Joseph
ACHIEVEMENT IN SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
CASINO ROYALE - Steve Begg/Chris Corbould
CHILDREN OF MEN - Frazer Churchill/Tim Webber/Michael Eames/Paul Corbould
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Edward Irastorza/Everett Burrell
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - John Knoll/Hal Hickel/Charles
Gibson
SUPERMAN RETURNS - Mark Stetson
MAKE UP & HAIR
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA - Nicki Ledermann/Angel De Angelis
MARIE ANTOINETTE - Jean-Luc Russier/Desiree Corridoni
PAN'S LABYRINTH*
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - Ve Neill/Martin Samuel
THE QUEEN - Daniel Phillips
SHORT ANIMATION FILM
DREAMS AND DESIRES - FAMILY TIES - Les Mills/Joanna Quinn
GUY 101 - Ian Gouldstone
PETER AND THE WOLF - Hugh Welchman/Alan Dewhurst/Suzie Templeton
SHORT FILM
CARE - Rachel Bailey/Corinna Faith/Tracy Bass
CUBS - Lisa Williams/Tom Harper
DO NOT ERASE - Asitha Ameresekere
HIKIKOMORI - Karley Duffy/Paul Wright
KISSING, TICKLING AND BEING BORED - David Smith/Jim McRoberts
THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD (nominees
announced on 8 Jan 2007)
EMILY BLUNT
EVA GREEN
NAOMIE HARRIS
CILLIAN MURPHY
BEN WHISHAW |
