Atonement leads the pack at Bafta nominations
Globe winner Daniel Day-Lewis appears the frontrunner in the race for best actor, thanks to his performance in There Will Be Blood. He is joined by George Clooney (Michael Clayton), James McAvoy (Atonement), Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises) and the late Ulrich Muhe (The Lives of Others). “In a year of such fine performances, it is a lovely thing to be included amongst them,” Day-Lewis said in a statement. “And in a year of exceptional films, that ours has been so fully recognised is the best news of all.”The best actress Bafta looks more open, with Globe winner Julie Christie (Away From Her) and Keira Knightley (Atonement) both installed as the early favourites. The other nominees are Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age), Marion Cottilard (La Vie en Rose) and 20-year-old Ellen Page (Juno).The race for the best director Bafta is between Joe Wright (Atonement), Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum), Florian von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others), Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country For Old Men) and Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood).Tipped as a possible winner at next month’s Academy Awards, Tim Burton’s acclaimed musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street came away with a scant two nominations (for costume design and make-up and hair). Bafta organisers reportedly did not send screeners of the film out to voters, claiming that it was not finished in time.Nominations for the Orange British Academy Film Awards were announced at Bafta’s London headquarters this morning by the actors Naomie Harris and Kelly Reilly. The awards ceremony follows on Sunday February 10.This year’s Baftas could well prove a high point for the awards. With the Golden Globes crippled by the ongoing US writers’ strike and the Oscars similarly threatened, the ceremony could find itself with a monopoly on A-list nominees, lavishing it with a profile and prestige beyond the organisers’ wildest dreams.
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