Ang Lee’s ‘Life of Pi’, about a shipwrecked Indian boy, registered early wins at the 85th Academy awards by taking home the trophies for the best cinematography and visual effects.
Claudio Miranda won the best cinematography trophy for his stunning camera work in the 3D movie.
A nervous Miranda said the film, which was largely shot in a huge water tank, was “quite a piece” to make.
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“Wow, this movie was quite a piece to make. We did it....
I can’t even speak,” said a nervous Miranda before ending his speech by thanking director Lee, his wife and daughter.
The film also won in the visual effects category with Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R Christopher White taking home the golden statuette.
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The team paid tribute to the Rhythm & Hues, the company behind the VFX, which has filed for bankruptcy.
The awards were presented by ‘The Avengers’ team Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L Jackson.
Best foreign film for Amour
Austrian Amour (Love), a poignant drama about a retired music teacher’s desire to die as she struggles with old age, won the best foreign film trophy at the 85th Academy Awards.
The Michael Haneke directed movie, also nominated for the best picture and director, was a strong favourite to win the foreign film Oscar.
The story revolves around a retired music teacher and her husband of 60 years as they struggle with the debilitating effects of two strokes on both her health and her quality of life.
As Georges cares for the increasingly unhappy Anne, the pair finds the nature of their life together irrevocably changed.
Amour saw off competition from Norway’s Kon-Tiki, Chile’s ‘No’, Denmark’s A Royal Affair and War Witch from Canada.
The film has had an extraordinary run this award season.
It was first screened at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Palme d’Or. Emmanuelle Riva, the lead actress of the movie, became the oldest person to win a BAFTA at the age of 85.
The French actress, who is nominated in the best actress category, turned 86 today.
AP adds:
Searching for Sugar Manwins Oscar for best documentary
“Searching for Sugar Man,” the heartwarming chronicle of a forgotten musician’s rediscovery, has won the Academy Award for best documentary.
Directed by the Swedish filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul, “Searching for Sugar Man” tells the story of the Detroit singer-songwriter Rodriguez who disappeared from public after releasing an album in the early ‘70s, but developed an unlikely cult following in South Africa.
The other nominees Sunday night were “5 Broken Cameras,” “The Gatekeepers,” “How to Survive a Plague” and “The Invisible War.”
The voting process for the documentary category underwent an overhaul this year intended to limit the nomination of obscure films, and ensure that a larger group of documentary filmmakers winnowed the nominees.