Hollywood stars and homegrown talent turned out for the Irish Film and Television Awards this weekend. Davin O'Dwyerwatched it all unfold
THEY MIGHT be the closest thing Ireland has to the Oscars, but the Irish Film and Television Awards, which were held in the Burlington Hotel on Saturday night, offers something the Academy Awards really can’t match – the wonderfully incongruous sight of Hollywood royalty rubbing shoulders with everyday Irish TV personalities.
At one stage during the evening, Jon Voight, Brendan Gleeson, Juliette Binoche and John Boorman, recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award, passed the gauntlet of photographers, radio microphones and press hacks assembled deep in the bowels of the hotel. As they all chatted happily about Boorman’s career and their love of the Irish film industry, who followed hot on their heels only Dáithí Ó Sé and Don Wycherley. This sure isn’t Hollywood, but then again, would we want it to be? Host Victoria Smurfit brought her trademark elegance to proceedings, and while some of the gags were more hit than miss, she proved a sure hand.
The big winner on the night was The Eclipse, the forthcoming supernatural chiller from writer-director Conor McPherson, and which stars Ciaran Hinds and Aidan Quinn. It won best film, while McPherson and co-writer Billy Roche took the gong for best script, and Quinn won best supporting actor, which he said was his first acting award.
Hinds, however, was pipped in the best actor category by Colin Farrell, for his role in Neil Jordan's Ondine. His long, cheerily meandering speech was one of the most heartfelt of the night, but down in the press room he castigated himself, in typically profane Farrell style, for forgetting to thank the people of Castletownbere, Co Cork, where Ondinewas filmed. Jim Sheridan, meanwhile, won best director for the recently released Brothersand Dervla Kirwan won best supporting actress for Ondine.
Most of the best picture nominees, however, have yet to get a widespread release, which was undoubtedly problematic, not only for the audience at home who didn’t know who to root for, and also because some Ifta voters weren’t able to see all the films they were asked to judge.
In the best actress category, Saoirse Ronan picked up her second Ifta award, this time for her performance in The Lovely Bones, prompting her father to quip "we'll need an Ifta extension at this rate". Ronan is growing into quite the film star, coping with both her perilously high heels and the frenzied attentions of the paparazzi with equal aplomb. Another young female actor who enjoyed the spotlight was Sarah Bolger, who won best supporting actress in the TV category for her role in The Tudors.
For many winners, particularly those less accustomed to the glare of attention, the initial euphoria of victory drains away as soon as they face the phalanx of photographers, all barking orders and making wisecracks. The fixed grins and forced poses from the writers and documentary makers, say, were in stark contrast to the likes of Bolger and Ronan, who both share that natural poise in front of the lens.
The international awards were a perfunctory addition to the evening, with The Hurt Lockertaking the top prize over Avatar, while Robert Downey Jr will undoubtedly be surprised to hear his broad performance in Sherlock Holmeshas netted him an acting award. Meryl Streep, took the public vote in the hair-product sponsored best international actress award for the second year in a row, this time for middle-aged romcom It's Complicated, rather than the critics' favourite Julie and Julia.
Apart from the awards, there was also the highly competitive and unofficial best-dressed award. The winner will be decided by the court of public opinion, but Sarah Bolger's silver dress looked like it took its inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum, best actress nominee Jade Yourell turned heads with her scarlet number, while young Misfitsactor Robert Sheehan was the most adventurous of the men, rejecting the tired tuxedo formula for a daringly colourful pink tie and suit combo.
But it was Farrell's girlfriend, Polish actor and Ondineco-star Alicja Bachleda, who received the most plaudits from fashionistas, many of whom struggled to believe she had given birth in the past few months. There was some competition in the dazzling smile category, with Amy Huberman and Michael Fassbender battling it out to see who could boast the most radiant, heartwarming grin. We'll call it a draw.
But if the night belonged to anyone, it belonged to John Boorman. Collecting his lifetime achievement award, he drew the most sustained applause of the evening, and the fact that Jon Voight and Juliette Binoche had travelled specifically to offer their warm words was an indication of the esteem in which he is held.
Video tributes from Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne and an effusive Burt Reynolds added to the collective sense that Boorman is the national treasure we never knew we had. And his hilariously indiscreet anecdote about the luminous Juliette Binoche and a hypothetical meal with all her lovers was the funniest moment of the evening, to boot.
FOR ALL THOSE SCEPTICSwho think these award ceremonies are insufferably self-congratulatory, the refutation came from Aidan Quinn. Down in the press room after winning he jokingly explained the mindset.
“When you’re watching these awards shows when you’re not nominated, you’re looking at the thing at home on TV and saying ‘Sheesh, they’re taking themselves a bit seriously, it’s a bit self-important.’ But when you’re holding the award, you’re saying ‘Yeah, it’s just!’ ”
Even seasoned veterans, it seems, enjoy a bit of recognition for their good work.
