Another stop on the awards season expressway brings audiences to the BAFTAs where The Revenant came out as the big winner for the night.
The BAFTAs, British Academy of Film and Television, were held Sunday in London’s Royal Opera House and declared The Revenant a smashing success. Although not a full sweep, the action packed movie took home five awards at the end of the night, three of which are the highest praises. Alejandro G. Iñárritu won for Best Director, Leonardo DiCaprio won for Best Actor, and the film won the award for Best Film beating out competition like Spotlight, and The Big Short.
This is the actor’s first BAFTA win after three previous nominations for his roles in The Aviator, The Departed, and The Wolf of Wall Street. DiCaprio was surprised and honored by the first time win and went on to thank his many role models including Tom Courtenay, Gary Oldman, Peter O’Toole and Daniel Day Lewis. But his biggest thanks went to his mother, receiving a majority of the actor’s acceptance speech. The actor then continued to also use the moment to wish his mother a happy birthday, who was also his date for the night. The night continued for the Revenant team as Iñárritu picked up his award and was stunned by the reception his film was receiving. The BAFTAs are usually presented a few weeks before the Oscars and many say even provide a closer look at the potential winners. If the previous award shows indicate the same, then DiCaprio is on the way to picking up his first Academy Award as well.
Following on the Revenant’s heels was Mad Max: Fury Road, which took home four awards for the night. Other winners include Brie Larson who won for her role as the mother in Room, based on Emma Donoghue’s novel. Kate Winslet won for her role as Steve Job’s assistant in Steve Jobs. Fan favorite John Boyega picked up the award for Rising Star, which is the only award that is given based on fan voting. Although the actor deemed the win a fluke he dedicated it to all the dreamers of the world. The event was hosted by Stephen Fry and carried a serious tone with the usual banter, despite the host’s controversial comment on winning costume designer Jenny Beavan, The comment was later explained as friendly jesting but Fry later deleted his entire Twitter account.
If the BAFTAs have any influence, or are accurate indicators for the Oscars as history states then the winners are pretty clear. But this doesn’t shift away from the diversity discussion that has hit Hollywood since the Oscar nominations were revealed. As a demonstration was happening during the event to touch upon representation, the topic was slightly joked at by actress Rebel Wilson. Whether or not the time for DiCaprio to pick up his Oscar has come is still up in the air until February 28th, but it’s understood the diversity topic will most likely be brought up during the awards show.
