It’s official: The whole world loves stories about lecherous, unpleasant people! “American Beauty” Yes, “American Beauty” picked up where it left off at last month’s Oscars, taking a field-best six awards at the British equivalent of the Academy Awards (officially known as the British Academy Film Awards). Kevin Spacey repeated as best actor with leading lady Annette Bening avenging her Oscar loss with a best actress win. The film was also named best picture at Sunday’s ceremony.
The only major “Beauty” player to be denied another chance to issue really sincere thank-yous was Oscar-approved director Sam Mendes, who lost out to Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar for “All About My Mother.”
British stars Jude Law (“The Talented Mr. Ripley”) and Maggie Smith (“Tea with Mussolini”) were honored in the supporting-acting categories on account of, well, they’re British.
Here’s a complete look at Sunday’s winners:
Film: ”American Beauty” Actress: Annette Bening (”American Beauty”) Actor: Kevin Spacey (”American Beauty”) Supporting actress: Maggie Smith (”Tea with Mussolini”) Supporting actor: Jude Law (”The Talented Mr. Ripley”) Best newcomer: Lynne Ramsay (”Ratcatcher”) Director: Pedro Almodovar (”All About My Mother”) Original screenplay: Charlie Kaufman (”Being John Malkovich”) Adapted screenplay: Neil Jordan (”The End of the Affair”) Foreign-language film: ”All About My Mother” (Spain) Cinematography: Conrad L. Hall (”American Beauty”) Score: Thomas Newman (”American Beauty”) Production design: ”Sleepy Hollow” Costume design: ”Sleepy Hollow” Editing: ”American Beauty” Sound: “The Matrix” Special visual effects: ”The Matrix” Make-up/hair: ”Topsy-Turvy” Live-action short: ”Who’s My Favourite Girl?” Animated short: ”The Man With Beautiful Eyes” Audience award: ”Notting Hill” Best British film: “East Is East” Lifetime achievement awards: Michael Caine, Stanley Kubrick Michael Balcon Award for contribution to British cinema: Joyce Herlihy
