In what is basically the British, slightly less showbizzy version of the Oscars, La La Land predictably dominated the competition, winning the most awards with five.
The fabulous ode to musicals, Hollywood and chimeric dreams took home statues for Best Film, Best Director for Damien Chazelle, Best Actress for Emma Stone, Best Cinematography (Linus Sandgren) and Best Original Music (Justin Hurwitz), clearly emerging as the frontrunner for every major Oscar category if it wasn’t already.
The only major category Chazelle’s film didn’t come out on top in was Best Actor, which was won by Casey Affleck for his solemn role in Manchester By The Sea, which also managed to take home the prize for Best Original Screenplay.
Lion was perhaps the surprise of the night, with Dev Patel clinching Best Supporting Actor in what was possibly the hardest to call of all categories with no clear frontrunner, and the film also picked up a statue for Best Adapted Screenplay for Luke Davies‘ script. Viola Davis was the sole recipient of an award for Fences, picking up Best Supporting Actress.
Ken Loach‘s I, Daniel Blake won Outstanding British Film, while Ava DuVernay‘s fantastic documentary, 13th, took home the Best Documentary prize despite competition from Weiner. Son Of Saul received the prize for Best Film Not In The English Language, while Kubo And The Two Strings walked home with the statue for Best Animated Film.
It’s not got the glamour of the Oscars, nor the cut-it-loose attitude of the Golden Globes, but the BAFTAs, as usual, excels at rewarding truly the best films and mostly managing to avoid the perennial award-grabbing films (BAFTA Bait?). If this and every other major ceremony is any indication, everyone involved in La La Land is going to need to purchase extra mantelpieces very soon.
#Peace.Love.BAFTAs
