All Quiet On The Western Front, a movie in German, took home the most honors at the EE Bafta film awards, taking home a total of seven.
Adapted from Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 novel of the same name, the Netflix anti-war epic, directed by German filmmaker Edward Berger, won top honors, including best film and best director.
It surpassed the Italian coming-of-age drama Cinema Paradiso, which won five Baftas in 1988, for the most Baftas awarded to a foreign language film.
At the conclusion of the screening at London’s Royal Festival Hall, cinematographer James Friend stated that the movie demonstrated how a generation of young German men were “poisoned by right-wing nationalistic propaganda,” emphasizing that this was a serious issue.
In addition to paying tribute to those engaged in the conflict in Ukraine, Berger informed the audience that his daughter Matilda, who had urged him to film the book she was studying at school, had helped him overcome his “doubt.”
The Banshees Of Inisherin, who received 10 nominations but only four wins, had a terrible night.
Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon, the movie’s Irish actors, won best supporting actor and supporting actress, respectively.
The biography Elvis by Baz Luhrmann also took home four awards, with its lead Austin Butler surprising many by winning the best actor prize over Colin Farrell.
Throughout his 25-year career, Farrell, who took the lead in the dark comedy Banshees, was up for his first leading actor Bafta.
Butler expressed his gratitude to the Presley family for their support of the movie when accepting the award on stage, saying, “I cannot thank you enough for your love… this means the world to me.”
With only one Bafta out of ten nominations, for best editing, Everything Everywhere All At Once had an even worse night.
Behind the scenes, it was also a gloomy evening for British veterans.
With Empire Of Light, Sir Roger Deakins missed out on winning best cinematography, and for Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, Jenny Beavan lost out on winning best costume design.
Source: Bloomberg