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Birdman Flies High
Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman took home the award for the best film, beating Richard Linklater’s Boyhood. The quirky, yet riveting Birdman won four awards including the one for Best Director.
Birdman, which narrates the story of an ageing cine star’s desperate efforts to revive his career and personal life, won the award for the Best Original Screenplay, too.
The award for the Best Cinematography went to Emmanuel Lubezki for the ‘crazy’, ingenious camera work he did for Birdman.
One for Boyhood
Linklater’s time-lapse drama Boyhood, which had won the US critic’s prize, could win just one at the Oscars – the Best Supporting Actress award for Patricia Arquette for her portrayal of a single mother in the film. Slightly disappointing – as the coming-of-age film was the favourite of many people including the US President, Barack Obama.
Big Win for Redmayne and Moore
British actor Eddie Redmayne won the award for the Best Actor for his performance as Professor Stephen Hawking in the film The Theory of Everything. The 33-year-old Redmayne beat Birdman’s Michael Keaton, a very strong contender, to win the award.
Recommended
Julianne Moore won the Best Actress award for her powerful portrayal of an Alzheimer’s sufferer in Still Alice. Moore had been unsuccessfully nominated for Oscars four times before – for Boogie Nights, The End of the Affair, Far From Heaven and The Hours. This time, she faced a stiff challenge from Reese Witherspoon (Wild) and Marion Cottilard (Two Days, One Night).
Four Technical Awards for The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson’s very witty, visually-splendid The Grand Budapest Hotel won awards for the following categories: Best Original score, Production Design, Make-Up and Hair-styling and Costume Design.
Polish film Ida, which was a top favourite at all awards this year, took home the Best Foreign Language film award. The film, which tells the tale of a young nun who discovers that she is Jewish just before she is to take holy orders, is the first film from Poland to win an Oscar.