Critics Praise "Pianist"
The Pianist received a round of applause from film critics this weekend.
The National Society of Film Critics chose Roman Polanski's semi-autobiographical Holocaust movie as Best Picture of 2002.
The 69-year-old filmmaker, whose mother was killed at Auschwitz, and the film's emaciated star, Adrien Brody, also received nods for Best Director and Best Actor, respectively. The film also won Best Screenplay.
The awards were part of a global affair with two foreign-language flicks placing second and third. In the runner-up position was Alfonso Cuarón's coming-of-age road-trip drama Y Tu Mamá También. Pedro Almodóvar's Talk to Her (Habla Con Ella was the original Spanish title), about the friendship between two men both in love with comatose women, came in third.
The best movies of 2002 were honored Saturday night by 55 newspaper and magazine film critics at the National Society's 37th annual awards ceremony at swanky New York eatery Sardi's.
The critics' awards, the latest in the lead-up-to-Oscar frenzy, typically tend to honor more arty fare than the often commercially driven choices of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members who bestow the Oscars.
While The Pianist may not score big at the box office, the film, about a Polish pianist who escapes the Warsaw Ghetto with the help of a German soldier, is proving to be a critical favorite. The movie, which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes last May, is also up for Best Picture and Best Actor props from the upcoming Golden Globes and Best Picture and Best Director from the Broadcast Film Critics Association's Critics' Choice Awards.
Other awards bestowed by the National Society were a mix of more conventional choices and some surprising picks. The chronically underappreciated Diane Lane was named Best Actress for her adulterous turn in Unfaithful, while Patricia Clarkson, who played Julianne Moore's best friend in Far from Heaven, was named Best Supporting Actress.
A New York film critics' favorite, Far from Heaven also received an award for Best Cinematography.
Meanwhile, Christopher Walken was named Best Supporting Actor for his role as a con man's father in Steven Spielberg's hit caper Catch Me If You Can.
Cuaron's sexy Mexican flick Y Tu Mamá También also took home the award for Best Foreign Film.
Best Documentary went to Standing in the Shadows of Motown, an introduction to the Detroit musicians who backed the classic acts on Berry Gordy's record label.
The critics awarded a special Film Heritage award to Kino International, a theatrical distribution company, for its release of Fritz Lang's restored Metropolis and boxed sets of D.W. Griffith silent films. The UCLA Film & Television Archive also received special kudos for their work in film restoration.
For those keeping tabs at home, the Online Film Critics Association is up next with its awards, to be announced Monday. Also on the docket: The Broadcast Film Critics' Choice Awards will be handed out January 17 (the ceremony will be taped for broadcast January 18 on E!), and the Golden Globes will be presented on NBC January 19. Finally, the Oscar nominations will be announced February 11.
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