The good news is that the Globes were shunted, the Oscars are in the balance,
and this is the biggest window of opportunity yet for the Baftas. Yippee for
Britain and our nonstriking writers’ guild!
The bad news is that any behaviour that might be construed as opportunistic,
jingoistic or gloating is severely frowned upon. As the normally garrulous
director Joel Schumacher puts it, with so many people out of work, now is
“not an appropriate time to discuss the industry, especially the awards”.
Oh, all right, then.
Actually, not all right. This is a rare opportunity for our
always-the-bridesmaid, never-the-bride film industry to snatch the bouquet.
If you can’t celebrate at a moment like this, what’s the point of Schadenfreude?
Of course, it could blow up rather spectacularly in our faces, as has happened
before. Seven years ago, when Bafta cannily moved its film awards ceremony
forward to a date before the Oscars, and hived it off from its downmarket TV
awards doppelgänger, it was rewarded with a stellar turnout – Kidman,
Zellweger, Watts – and crimson faces all round as the freshly laundered red
carpet dissolved into a sea of frothy detergent (anyone would think they
hadn’t been expecting torrential rain), laying waste to many a goddess’s
Jimmy Choos.
No wonder Bafta’s chief executive, Amanda Berry, who has done so much to
elevate the international prestige of the awards, was hedging her bets
yesterday, when the nominations were announced: “It seems wrong to hope too
much. We won’t know for a while exactly who plans to attend.”
All of ’em, you would assume from scanning the half-empty restaurants in LA
last week. “We did fittings up to the last moment,” says Annabel Tollman,
fashion director of Interview magazine and stylist to, inter alia,
Scarlett Johansson and Amy Ryan, a nominee at the Globes this year for Gone
Baby Gone. “The designers sewed all night, even though they knew it
would probably be called off – it’s that big a deal.
“This could be Bafta’s big moment. For actresses who have spent the past year
on 14-hour shoots in downbeat roles, it’s their big night to shine. They
need the publicity. Also, a lot of Hollywood genuinely loves coming to
London. It’s more relaxed and they can have more fun with their outfits.”
Traditionally, the fashion houses hold back their best dresses for the Oscars.
But Tollman reckons that this year could be an exception: “I think we’ll see
a lot of dresses that were designed for the Globes turning up at the Baftas.”
Come Baftas night on February 10, then, that red carpet will be crawling with
proper movie stars? Not necessarily. “There is an assumption of attendance
at the Oscars,” explains Berry. “Often it’s written into an actor’s contract
that, if nominated, he or she will be released from a shoot in order to
attend. It helps that so many of them live in LA and so many films are made
there. It’s not quite like that with the Baftas.”
So, on the credit side: the Royal Opera House, where the Baftas ceremony now
takes place, is infinitely more elegant than the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.
British actresses – we’re talking about Dames Judi and Helen rather than
Melinda Messenger – are revered as a class act, and British designers are
some of the most exciting in the world. But we are still at the mercy of
work schedules and geography. As always, it’s down to numbers. The Oscars
are watched internationally, albeit at 3am in some time zones, by a billion
people. Even if that figure is inflated by the Academy, the photographs
circulate endlessly – the Lebanese designer Elie Saab says that pictures of
Halle Berry collecting her Oscar in his frock in 2002 were used “a billion
times. The effect on business is incalculable”.
In contrast, the Baftas ceremony was watched by four million in the UK last
year (up by 900,000), screened in 135 countries to
nobody-knows-quite-how-many viewers, and aired in the US on BBC America. As
Alex Brunner, the British producer, says: “Asking Brits about the Baftas is
one thing. Asking Americans is another.”
Bottom line? Only the Oscars make a difference to the box office. Except that
this time it could be different. This time, according to Charles Finch, a
powerbroker in the worlds of fashion and film whose clients include Chopard
and Cate Blanchett, there won’t be the same awards fatigue.
“Personally, I think the Oscars will happen,” he says. “Some people in LA are
talking them up as a platform for the writers to air their grievances – but
even if they don’t happen, the industry will have its parties. It has to
celebrate somehow.
Magazines have to fill their pages. Every major brand – film, fashion and
jewellery – should be rethinking its strategy on this year’s Baftas. The
American networks should be reviewing whether to take them, and the BBC
should film the whole red-carpet scene, as happens with the Oscars, instead
of going straight into the awards.”
One teeny hitch on the glamour front is that that some of the nominated films
this year are on the worthy side, with names that aren’t exactly household
(why couldn’t they have changed the cut-off date to include Sweeney
Todd?). Still, the balance could be redressed by lining up a shimmery
roster of presenters, with possibly a bit of almost-royalty (Kate
Middleton’s legs wouldn’t go amiss) as a trump card.
At least the week leading up to Baftas night has acquired its own
constellation of social fixtures, including Charles Finch’s party at Mark’s
Club and the Vogue/Working Title/Nick Jones dinner at Cecconi’s,
where the likes of George Clooney break bread with Jay Jopling and Al Gore.
“Unlike LA, London is not a one-industry town,” says Fiona Golfar, who as
editor-at-large of Vogue helps to organise its Baftas party and as
the wife of Robert Fox, who produced The Hours and was executive
producer of Atonement, has attended her share of awards ceremonies.
“Actors love the idea of sitting next to a politician or an artist. They
view London as cool.
“Let’s not kid ourselves, though. We have great actors but when it comes to
international movie stars there’s basically Keira, Sienna and Kate Winslet.”
Happily, there is no shortage of great designers willing to lend for the event
– for the right calibre of guest. But for every Westwood or Chanel there are
dozens of frocks from Whistles or Karen Millen, all very well in their place
but not exactly couture. One insider suggests that a thorough cull of the
hundreds of Bafta members, who are all entitled to attend, might spruce
things up – but perhaps that is a bit draconian. It’s not as if the Oscars
doesn’t have its share of tacky horrors, it’s just that somehow Nicole
Kidman is always on hand to distract the cameras.
“You can’t make the Baftas too glossy,” says Jimmy Choo’s Tamara Mellon.
“Brits won’t accept it.”
She is probably right. The designers who benefit most from the Baftas are
those who celebrate the ceremony’s idiosyncracies. “I love that it always
rains,” says Roland Mouret, who was established as an international name the
moment Scarlett Johansson stepped on to the red carpet in his peachy dress
to the Oscars, and consolidated when Rachel Weisz wore his titanium dress to
the Baftas. “We can’t offer LA weather in February – get over it. The slight
lack of polish adds to the charm and makes it more interesting.”
At stake, potentially, are not only 11 UK newspaper front pages (last year’s
Baftas total) but substantial revenue for London. LA is reckoned to have
missed out on $80 million (£41 million) from last week’s Globes
cancellation.
Alberta Ferretti, the Italian designer, has no doubt of the ceremony’s
relevance. “The Baftas are already authoritative,” she says, “but
this year they’ll be the first ceremony with clout.”
Armani is likewise on the case. “Look, having an actress in your dress,
clutching an Oscar, is obviously the pinnacle – it makes an iconic picture,”
says Robert Triefus, the company’s head of communications. “But there is no
doubt that with the Oscars in jeopardy, the Baftas will probably be bigger –
they should up their ante.” Given Bafta nominee Cate Blanchett’s special
relationship with Armani, there is a strong possibility that she may wear
the label on the tenth – if she makes it.
Perhaps we should unburden ourselves of our British diffidence and/or
cynicism. But then again, as Charles Finch says, there is something in
British culture that militates against taking awards ceremonies seriously:
“There is always that residual feeling that they are a bit naff, that we’re
too cool for them and don’t want to be seen to be trying that hard.”
This is probably a good thing on balance, but it would be a shame, if only
financially, to blow our moment.
Alternatively, perhaps we could transplant the Oscars here for the year? Nice
venue, lovely red carpet, plus plenty of nonstriking writers (and
journalists) who could write the gags. Sorry – is that a gloat or
opportunism?
well as it turns out my friends the writers strike is over so any illusons of the baftas outdoing the oscars is crushed... who were they kidding?
amanda, laredo, Texas,US
There is no film industry in London!
dteran, London, UK
I hope Brit. writers will picket the Royal Opera House in support of their US colleagues.
Nowritingforthisoldwoman , London,
Who cares? You`ve now got the British running around in circles not unlike those jerks in Hollywood. I thought I`d die when I heard some British actress talk about not being able to wear her ballgown.
Geez, is that to which filmmaking in this country has descended?
Sandra Shevey, London, UK
no way, uk tries too hard making the bafta the second to the last award to be nominated and to win the golden globe is even more imoprtant than the bafta's sorry
k, LA, califonia