Good article and the what the BAFTA win will mean for BBM.
February 20, 2006
MCN's Award Headline Explains Brokeback's Wins
Movie City News only has headlines to work with, much like Drudge, so it must use scant few words to describe what it means - and clearly, Brokeback fans have been at Mr. Poland. So here is how they play out Brokeback's sweeping the BAFTAs, wherein it became quite clear just how powerful Brokeback STILL is and how beloved and admired Ang Lee and crew really are. MCN's headline:
The BAFTAs Love Brokeback Mountain .. Winning Four, (Film, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Supp Actor) While Losing Five... Crash Surprises With Supp Actress & Original Screenplay...Memoirs Of A Geisha Wins 3, Walk The Line 2, And Constant Gardener Surprises By Winning Only For Editing (Ed Note The Reason For Mentioning BBM's Losses Is To Avoid Suggesting A True Sweep, Though It Did Win The Top Two Awards, As It Is Expected To As The Oscars.)
Losing five doesn't mean as much as winning four. It swept the top categories - winning picture, director, screenplay and an acting award. A clean sweep is when the film wins in every category it is nominated in. You wouldn't call it a sweep unless it won the majors. BBM did what no film in BAFTA history since the date change has done. It used to be the BAFTAs were held after the Oscars. But they changed that in 2001.
Other films have won more BAFTAS but not all of the top categories. Even when Return of the King took pic and screenplay it didn't win Director.
BAFTA top wins
2005 - Brokeback/Director/Screenplay/S. Actor
2004 - Aviator/Blanchett
2003 - ROTK/Screenplay
2002 - Pianist/Director
2001 - FOTR/Director
2000 - Gladiator
So, like the Golden Globes, one has to look deep within BAFTAs short history to see just how rare this win is.
Brokeback, so far, is already proving itself a rarity in so many instances it is truly astonishing:
Both LA Film Critics and NY Film critics
Winning the top three categories at the Golden Globes
Winning four top BAFTA Awards
Taking the DGA, the PGA and the WGA (missing only SAG ensemble)
Movie City News sees the Crash potential upset as enough to knock out Brokeback. It's hard to imagine that AMPAS would be THAT off the charts to be the only award establishment NOT to award Brokeback Mountain for its top prize. Yes, they are splitting the awards when it comes to categories like editing and art direction but the core categories, the beating heart - the writing and directing is always going Brokeback's way. Ebert and Poland and others may want to consider these facts.
oscarwatch.com
