In a United Kingdom that in recent years has not ceased to go off script and surprise with its eccentricities —especially in daily political drama—, the 2023 Bafta Awards, awarded by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, have been a display of temperance, correctness in the message, restraint in the wardrobe —black and white dominated the night— and balance when it comes to rewarding talent. The big winner of the night was the German film No news at the front, which was made with seven of the famous statuettes in the shape of theater masks. The film’s anti-war message, based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque, chronicles the disillusionment and crumbling patriotism of a group of young men who enlist to fight in 1917 only to discover the death and horror of all war. . The Baftas wanted to recognize the universal message of the film, but they also turned to the beauty, sadness and intimacy of a story as well told as Banshees by Inisherin (The Banshees of Inisherinin its original title).
No news at the front won the most important statuette of the night, the award for best film. It also obtained the best non-English language film; the best director, for the German Edward Berger; and those for the best adapted script, photography, soundtrack and sound.
None of the protagonists of Banshees by Inisherin, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, although their presence was noted throughout the ceremony, and the BBC cameras followed each of their reactions. The unexpected decomposition of the friendship between two men, one a simpleton and a good person, the other gloomy and tormented, on an island in the west of Ireland at the beginning of the last century, has captivated the vast majority of film critics. The beauty of the landscape is the only thing to be expected, although equally captivating, in an intimate film that flees from Irish clichés —the civil war between the provisional government in favor of the treaty with the British Empire and the IRA republicans opposed to the treaty is only present in the cannon fire coming from the main island. Its director, the Anglo-Irish Martin McDonagh, already known for equally original films such as Hiding in Brugeseither Three advertisements on the outskirts, came accompanied by his partner, the screenwriter and actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Together they represent two of the most creative talents on the Anglo-Saxon scene.
Banshees by Inisherin It won Best British Film and Best Original Screenplay. The Baftas chose to reward their two secondary actors —actress and actor—, whose performances are fundamental in a film that has something of a choir. Kerry Condon, in the feature film the woman reader who dreams of fleeing the island, and Barry Keoghan, in the role of the young man who suffers daily beatings from his policeman’s father, won two of the most prestigious awards.
Best actress and actor
There was no surprise in the case of the best actress award, which went to Cate Blanchett as the fictional composer/conductor of classical music, Lydia Tár, in the German-American film of the same name, tar, directed by Todd Field. More surprising, not so much for his portrayal of the king of rock, which has generated enthusiasm in the film industry, but for the fact that he was not among the main bets of the night, was the best actor award for Austin Butler at the movie Elvis. The film, another of the great winners at the Royal Festive Hall of London’s Southbank Centre, has also won the statuettes for best casting, costumes and makeup.
The award for best animated film has been for the Mexican Guillermo del Toro for the film Pinocchio by Guillermo del Toro. the one of best documentary has gone to Navalnywhich recounts the personal battle against the Vladimir Putin regime of one of his fiercest opponents in recent years.
Finally, the Fellowship Award, in tribute to the work of a widely recognized industry professional, went to the British costume designer, Sandy Powell, who was praised by director Martin Scorsese through a video recorded in the distance. Powell’s first job for Scorsese was in the film Gangs of New York (New York Gangs).
The Rising Star Award, chosen by viewers, went to Franco-British Emma Mackey,
I remember the queen
The princes of Wales, William of England and Kate Middleton, sitting in the front row, have been able to listen to the tribute that Helen Mirren, starring in her day in the now classic The Queen (The Queen), on the way in which the British monarch reacted to the death in Paris of Lady Di, has paid tribute to Elizabeth II, who died last September. “Your Majesty, you were the leading star of the nation. On behalf of the Academy, we thank him for everything he did for the film and television industry,” Mirren said.
The ceremony has been presented by the actor and presenter Richard E. Grant and by the popular presenter Alison Hammond, with a politically correct script, at times certainly bland, but impeccable in respect of the times, and without allowing anyone to be offended.
All the culture that goes with you awaits you here.
subscribe
babelia
The literary novelties analyzed by our best critics in our weekly bulletin
RECEIVE IT
#Bafta #Awards #surrender #antiwar #speech #Quiet #Front