Baby's Day Out
The awards to The English Patient, Fargo and Shine capped a year in which the Hollywood big daddies were pushed aside in favour of smaller productions.

MESMERISING. That one word would describe The English Patient, a tale of love and betrayal set against the background of World War II in the deserts of North Africa and the devastation of Italy. The film dominated the 69thAcademy Awards in Los Angeles in March end. Adapted by its director Anthony Minghella from Michael Ondaatji's 1992 Booker Prize-winning novel, it won in nine of the 12 categories in which it had received nominations, including the best picture.

Its Academy Awards of Merit, the official name of the Oscars, included the prizes for Minghella as director and for Juliette Binoche as best supporting actress, as well as for cinematography, are direction, costume design, editing, sound and original dramatic score.

The haul of the gold-plated statuettes, depicting a knight standing on a reel of film, hands gripping a sword, put, The English Patient in a category of films that includes the 1958 musical Gigi and the 1987 The Last Emperor. Only the 1961 musical West Side Story, with 10 Oscars, and the 1959 biblical drama Ben-Hur, with 11, have won more.

Standing between The English Patient and a sweep in the major categories were Billy Bob Thornton, who won the Oscar for best screenplay adaptation for Sling Blade; Geoffery Rush for his portrayal of the troubled Australian painist David Helfgott in Shine, and Frances McDormand, chosen best actress for her portrayal of a pregnant police chief in Fargo. That film also won the brothers Ethan and Joel Coen the prize for best original screenplay.

Even before the ceremonies, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had announced that its Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, an honorary accolade for high level of producing, was to go to Saul Zeantz, the producer of The English Patient. His previous Oscar winners were One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus.

Accepting his award, Zeantz spoke of the passion that separates one film from another, and as he held his award aloft, he said: "This belongs to the many with whom I have shared dreams and journeys. My cup is full." Later, when The English Patient was named best film, Zaentz quipped, "It runneth over."

The awards to The English Patient, Fargo and Shine capped a year in which the major Hollywood studios were pushed aside at awards ceremonies in favour of so-called independent productions.

If the awards night could be said to hold a surprise, it was the decision of the voters to award the prize for best supporting actress to Binoche rather that to Lauren Bacall for her portrayal of an overbearing mother in the Mirror Has Two Faces. Even Binoche said she was surprised.

None the less, it was a night made notable by the endless "I love you's" and thanks delivered by a jubilant Cuba Gooding Jr., who won the evening's first award, best supporting actor, for his portrayal of the professional football player who demands, "Show me the money," in Jerry Maguire. There were also ovations for the former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali and the pianist David Helfgott, who figured in two of the nominated film.

Ali walked slowly to the stage after When We Were Kings, about his 1974 heavy weight championship bout with George Foreman in Zaire, won the prize for best feature documentary.

The dimwitted cartoon characters Beavis and Butt-head made their debuts as presenters, delivering the award for best achievement in sound effects editing to Bruce Stambler for The Ghost and the Darkness.

Kolya, a Czech production directed by Jan Sverak, won the prize for best foreign film. In Prague, Czech President Vaclav Havel dispatched a congratulatory telegram to Jan and Zdenek Sverak, director-son and screen writer-father. In Britain the triumph of The English Patient, with an English director and two English actors, Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas, as its doomed lovers, was hailed as a shot in the arm for the nation's film industry though the production was financed with American money.

They were elated at the other end of the world too. The choice of Geoffrey Rush as best actor in Shine brought official praise. Arts minister Richard Alston gushed: "This is a gold-medal performance from Geoffrey Rush. He didn't just shine; he dazzled."

LAWARENCE VAN GELDER.

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