THE AVIATOR, Martin Scorsese’s Hollywood blockbuster, and Vera Drake, the gritty drama from Mike Leigh, the doyen of British cinema, shared the spoils at the 2005 Bafta film awards.
Scorsese, who missed out on a Bafta for Gangs of New York two years ago, picked up the award for best film, a fortnight before his clearest shot at winning the Oscar that has eluded him for 30 years.
However, Leigh, who made his first film in 1971, pipped him for the best director award. The audience whooped in delight as Leigh’s name was announced. “We always say it was a surprise and sometimes I’ve said it and not meant it. On this occasion, given the other names, it’s a real surprise and an extraordinary honour,” said Leigh. “It’s an immense privilege to have been allowed the freedom to make as uncompromising a film as I think Vera Drake is.”
Its star, Imelda Staunton, who describes her role as an illegal abortionist as “the job of my life”, won the award for best actress. “I’m thrilled the success of Vera Drake has boosted the sales of hairnets and pinnies,” she joked. She also thanked the film’s producer Simon Channing-Williams for shoring up the film’s budget at the last minute with his own money.
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Jamie Foxx won the best actor “mask” trophy for his portrayal of Ray Charles in Ray; Clive Owen, the British actor, collected the best supporting actor award for Closer from Goldie Hawn, one of a bevy of Hollywood stars drawn to the awards.
Owen used the ceremony to quell speculation that he was likely to be the next James Bond. “I have never been approached,” he said.
Scorsese’s film, which cost £60m to make and lasts almost three hours, picked up three other Baftas: for best supporting actress, production design and make-up and hair. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, who also appeared in Gangs of New York, as Howard Hughes, the eccentric billionaire.
It is a movie makers’ film, telling the story of Hughes’s battle to make Hell’s Angels, his 1930 film about first world war pilots. Hughes spent £2m of his own money, at the time the biggest budget spent on a movie, and then reshot it for sound after deciding that the silent era was finished.
Those seen on Hughes’s arm during the movie include Cate Blanchett, who won the best supporting actress award for her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn, Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow and Britain’s Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner.
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Blanchett said: “The last time I won a Bafta was for Elizabeth and Bafta changed my life.” She thanked Katharine Hepburn in her acceptance speech, remarking: “I am sure you’re pleased you weren’t alive to see this.”
Thousands of movie fans thronged to Leicester Square in London last night for a glimpse of the stars arriving. The first in the crowd had been in position for the best view since 6am.
Scorsese said: “I am a great admirer of British cinema. They give me a new energy and there’s always a whole new cycle of stuff. For the country that makes the kind of cinema as Britain does then it’s an honour.”
The veteran director, who won three Baftas for Goodfellas in 1991, added: “I really like the Baftas because they were the first people ever to nominate me for anything with Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore in 1974. So Baftas were first, before I got any Oscar nomination.”
Scorsese, 62, has been nominated for the best director Oscar five times but has never won, despite his critical and popular acclaim.
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Leigh has previously won two Baftas for his 1996 film Secrets & Lies and a Michael Balcon award for his contribution to the cinema. Besides best director and best actress, it also won a third award for best costume design.
My Summer of Love won the Alexander Korda award for best British film. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban won the Orange film of the year, the only award voted for by members of the public.