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As expected, Colin Firth and Natalie Portman capture Hollywood's highest honor
Penelope Poulou | Washington, D.C. February 28, 2011
Academy Award winners for best supporting actor Christian Bale, best actress Natalie Portman, best supporting actress Melissa Leo and best actor Colin Firth (L-R) pose backstage at the 83rd Academy Awards in Hollywood, California on Feb. 27, 2011.
Photo: REUTERS
Academy Award winners for best supporting actor Christian Bale, best actress Natalie Portman, best supporting actress Melissa Leo and best actor Colin Firth (L-R) pose backstage at the 83rd Academy Awards in Hollywood, California on Feb. 27, 2011.
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It was no surprise in Hollywood last night when British actor Colin Firth and Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman took home Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress. It was the first win for both actors.
As the stammering King George Vl, Firth towered over the other Oscar-nominated actors. In "The King's Speech," we see the king painstakingly build his self-confidence. Firth's performance is seamless - from his struggle to punctuate his words to his fits of rage and then when he talks up a storm with perfect elocution.
The actor triumphs in unforgiving close ups intended to magnify his labor with words. It's hard to watch, almost embarrassing. We feel his pain.
"Anybody who would have to speak publicly would completely identify with this moment," says Firth. "It would be the anxiety dream they would have the night before. And I think people do have a problem with intimacy. There is a level on which we are all alone no matter how intimate we are with our family."
Firth first gained recognition for his role as Mr. Darcy in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Jane Austin's "Pride and Prejudice." Then, in 2003, he appeared in the period drama "The Girl with the Pearl Earring." Firth also landed an out-of-character role in the 2008 musical comedy "Mamma Mia."
Last year, Firth was nominated for an Oscar for his leading role in Tom Ford's drama "A Single Man," about a gay man whose partner dies. But it is his performance as King George that is the apex of his career, so far.
In the Best Actress category, some critics favored Annette Benning for her performance in “The Kid’s are All Right,” in which she plays a lesbian mother who discovers her partner is cheating on her.
But her performance cannot overshadow Portman’s transformation into a dark prima ballerina in “Black Swan.” For more than two hours, Portman’s face reflects the emotional torment of her character, Nina.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has traditionally favored actors who transform themselves into their character - not only emotionally but also physically, as Portman does in this film.
"It's so vicious on the body. And yet you never see it," says Portman. "It's like you see this beautiful image and underneath it is some really, really grotesque detail."
Portman, 29, has had numerous film roles, including a leading part in the "Star Wars" prequels. In 2005, she received an Oscar nomination for her role in the drama “Closer.” She also starred opposite Scarlet Johansson in the 2008 period drama “The Other Boleyn Girl.”
But it is her stunning turn in "Black Swan" that has catapulted her into the elite ranks of Oscar winners - in a film not universally admired but also not easily forgotten.
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Comments (4)
28-02-2011 Linda Healey (USA)
What a non surprise event. We guessed every major award. Anne H. & Franco were terrible...boring, boring, boring. There was no thread, no excitement, nothing funny, the crowd was cold, the sound editing was terrible...no drama at all.The flattest Oscars in my 50 years...ugh. So many beautiful, non controversial dresses...the funniest person there was Sandra Bullock...
01-03-2011 nur kandel (nepal)
very nice peacture that get oscars awards,thanks all actors who got awards from this flims.
01-03-2011 nur kandel (nepal)
congratulation all actors who got award Oscars.thanks
01-03-2011
It was nice that the Oscars were move evenly distributed this time around. Many good films competed and came away with an Oscar or two. I didn't find the event boring. Yes Hathaway and Franco were flat almost embarrassing. I don't get why they did not invite back Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin as hosts. But as far as the awards go I liked it better that there was an even distribution versus the one film gets all kind of deal.
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