BAFTAS 2015: BOYHOOD Wins Big, Hawking Is A Hit

While the BAFTAs (British Academy of Film and Television Awards) are always somewhat overshadowed by their glitzier, Yankier cousins, they still remain the biggest night of the year for British cinema, for better or worse. Nearly 5 million viewers watched wins for Eddie Redmayne, Julianne Moore, Wes Anderson and others on Sunday’s televised ceremony, where Boyhood picked up the Best Film prize. Look here for a complete list of winners – we’ll take a look at the night’s biggest talking points.

Rock bands and awards shows don’t mix

I’m all for trying new things with the tired award show format, but more than a few eyebrows were raised when out of nowhere the ceremony opened with a performance from English band Kasabian. Regardless of your opinions of the Leicester lad rock outfit, it was a little bizarre to see them jumping around on stage (with sound mixing wholly inappropriate for a live music performance) while the likes of Michael Fassbender and Benedict Cumberbatch sat stone-faced in their suits wondering if they were supposed to nod their heads. The awkward applause at the end indicated this to be an experiment that I doubt the BAFTAS will repeat again. And twat of the evening award goes to guitarist Serge Pizzorno who wore a white t-shirt with “black tie” written on it in lieu of the traditional attire. Edgy.

Whiplash wowed voters…

It was no surprise that JK Simmons picked up the Best Supporting Actor award; he’s rightfully got every award going for his stunning portrayal of a terrifying jazz band leader in Whiplash. But the film also got awarded for its editing and sound too, bringing its haul to 3, the same as Boyhood and The Theory of Everything.

This is remarkable and arguably makes the film one of the success stories of the year – shot in two weeks on a tiny budget by an unknown director, picked up at Sundance, and now one of the most  films of the year. And it achieved this all on the back of simply being a fantastic, breathtakingly intense movie that nearly everyone who saw it loved. With all the campaigning, politics and Oscar-baiting that give many a cynical attitude towards the awards season, Whiplash’s success was a great reminder of the power of truly great cinema.

… but The Imitation Game missed out

Despite nine nominations Morten Tyldum’s The Imitation Game went home empty handed, a result few saw coming – in fact, some predicted it might sneak ahead of favourites Boyhood and Birdman to take the Best Film award. Why didn’t it win anything? Possibly down to a growing backlash against the film underplaying Alan Turing’s homosexuality, and falsely presenting him as a near-autistic social outcast to appeal more to the awards. That kind of manipulation made me feel a little uncomfortable watching it and may have sat the same with BAFTA.

More likely, though, is that Game was overshadowed by the similarly themed The Theory of Everything, which won Best Actor, British Film and Adapted Screenplay. Both films are period pieces about a British genius who changed society while facing huge personal struggles (gay persecution and motor neurone disase), meaning they inevitably ended up competing with each other. It looks as though Theory benefited from not being released until January, leaving it in fresh in voter’s minds – or maybe it just resonated more with audiences than The Imitation Game, which, despite better reviews, left some feeling as cold as Turing’s demeanour himself.

A disappointing lack of representation

For the first time in many years, all 20 acting nominees this year were white, and all were Brits or Americans performing English-language roles. Awards season, like the movie industry in general, has always been geared towards American white males. But this year is particularly bad and a reminder than even as films about civil rights and social issues (12 Years a Slave, Dallas Buyers Club, The Help, Selma) frequently get awards buzz, the awards themselves are pretty backwards.

Consider also that in the Director, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, and Editing categories just two women were nominated against 23 men. This is a symptom of a flawed Hollywood system, and you could argue that BAFTA and other awards bodies have no responsibility to represent everyone – but it certainly reinforces a movie system in which it’s very hard for non-white, non-male, non-English speaking talent to make a name for themselves.

Hero of the night: Stephen Hawking

Just after The Theory of Everything won the first award of the evening for Outstanding British Film (I would have gone for the incredible Under the Skin) the audience were stunned by the presenter of the next award, who was none other than the real Stephen Hawking himself accompanied by Felicity Jones. His words were brief – a quip about being better looking than Stephen Fry and “the nominees are” – but he was greeted by a massive standing ovation.

It must have been the first time the subject of a nominated film was involved in the ceremony itself, and it was a touching tribute to the real man behind the performance that ultimately won Best Actor. Incidentally, the award was for Visual Effects, and it went to Interstellar. I wonder if Mr Hawking has seen it, and what he thought of the depiction of black holes and time dilation – inevitably influenced by Hawking’s own discoveries.

Villain of the night: The DGA

The funniest speech came when Ralph Fiennes came up to accept Wes Anderson’s Best Original Screenplay award for The Grand Budapest Hotel and read a note from the writer/director explaining in dry fashion that he was “really angry and resentful not to be there and I’m furious”. The reason? “I blame the Director’s Guild of America for requiring my presence in Los Angeles”. It appears the DGA, who give out awards exclusively to directors, held their own ceremony the night before, meaning not only Anderson but nearly all the directors nominated couldn’t come.

Ralph Fiennes obviously played his speech for laughs, but it got awkward when Ethan Hawke collected Richard Linklater’s Best Director award and also blamed the DGAs, saying that Linklater would be “frankly pissed off” to not be there.  No one was seriously bothered, but it’s a shame that such big names couldn’t be there at the ceremony, especially considering the award circuit goes on for about 4 months. Is it that hard to coordinate these things so they don’t clash, guys?

The big winner: Boyhood

So much has been written about Richard Linklater‘s 12 year epic since it was released back in the summer that some people are already sick of it, with a backlash starting to grow. Birdman won the SAG, DGA and PGA awards in the last few weeks which seemed to suggest it was sneaking ahead as favourite for the Oscars – but Boyhood’s three awards put it right back in the lead. Just as it should be (although Birdman is great too) – it’s a wonderful film that pushes the boundaries of cinema while always remaining intimate, honest and engaging.

In fact, this is the first year ever since I’ve been following awards seasons that my favourite film of a year has won the BAFTA. Hats off to them for awarding such a brilliant movie and let’s hope the Oscars follow suit – although it will hardly be a crime if  Alejandro Iñárritu’s wildly unique black comedy wins either.

Did you watch the BAFTAs? What did you think? Let us know in the comments. 

(top image source: BAFTA)