One of the few downsides of being at Sundance this year is that I missed the awards ceremony of my own critics’ group, the London Film Critics’ Circle. They’ve just been handed out at a classy gathering at London’s Mayfair Hotel, and I’m pleased to see that a good half-dozen of the nominees I voted for took home awards — not that I’m inclined to complain about any of the winners on this well-balanced list.
“Amour” was the night’s top winner, taking Best Film, Screenplay and Actress for Emmanuelle Riva, but no one film was allowed to dominate too heavily. In something of a surprise, Ang Lee took the Best Director award for “Life of Pi,” which took an additional technical achievement award for its visual effects.
“The Master” was also a double winner, taking acting awards for Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Meanwhile, runaway precursor favorite Daniel Day-Lewis got a night off, losing not only Best Actor to Phoenix, but Best British Actor to Toby Jones for “Berberian Sound Studio” — which, I’m thrilled to report, also won Best British Film. (In case you’ve forgotten, it was #4 in my top 10 of 2012.) Nice job, fellow Londoners.
Full list of winners below. You can remind yourself of the nominees at The Circuit.
Film of the Year: “Amour”
British Film of the Year: “Berberian Sound Studio”
Foreign Language Film of the Year: “Rust and Bone”
Documentary of the Year: “The Imposter”
Director of the Year: Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”
Actor of the Year: Joaquin Phoenix, “The Master”
Actress of the Year: Emmanuelle Riva, “Amour”
British Actor of the Year: Toby Jones, “Berberian Sound Studio”
British Actress of the Year: Andrea Riseborough, “Shadow Dancer”
Supporting Actor of the Year: Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Master”
Supporting Actress of the Year: Anne Hathaway, “Les Miserables”
Screenwriter of the Year: Michael Haneke, “Amour”
Young British Performer of the Year: Tom Holland, “The Impossible”
Breakthrough British Filmmaker of the Year: Steve Oram and Alice Lowe, “Sightseers”
Technical Achievement of the Year: Bill Westenhofer (visual effects), “Life of Pi”