The night-walkers of Uganda

Dan Glaister, Los Angeles
February 25, 2008
The Coen brothers’ brutal thriller No Country For 
Old Men won the Oscars for best director and 
best film at the 80th Academy Awards in Los
Angeles last Sunday. 
Javier Bardem also won the best supporting 
actor Oscar for his role as the hitman Anton 
Chigurh in the same film. And, in a triumphant
night for the film, its directors Ethan and Joel
Coen won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay. 
In a night of few surprises, Daniel Day-Lewis won 
the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of an oil 
prospector in There Will Be Blood. He accepted 
his award on his knees from Helen Mirren who 
won the best actress Oscar last year for her 
portrayal of the British Queen. 
There was a British feeling to much of the 
evening, with six Oscars going to British 
nominees. British actress, Tilda Swinton won the 
award for best actress in a supporting role for her 
performance in the legal thriller Michael Clayton. 
Swinton also surprised many people with her
45-second acceptance speech when she used 
the words nipple and buttock. 
Speaking backstage after her win, Swinton 
said she was surprised to win. “I’m so excited, 
I think it’s fantastic. It’s completely astonishing, 
and I’m amazed I’m still standing, but I’m not
complaining. It’s good.” 
The 80th annual Academy Awards took place 
even though there were problems: the weather 
was bad, and the writers’ strike had only just 
ended. The Golden Globes, Hollywood’s other 
major celebration, was cancelled because of the 
writers’ strike. The strike ended less than two 
weeks before the Academy Awards and so the 
show’s writers had very little time to prepare. Jon 
Stewart, who hosted the awards for the second 
time, opened the show by saying, “You’re here! I 
can’t believe it! You’re actually here!” 
One of the evening’s biggest surprises came 
when Marion Cotillard won the best actress 
award for her portrayal of Edith Piaf in La Vie 
en Rose. Most people had expected either 
Julie Christie or Ellen Page to win the award, 
but Cotillard followed her victory at the BAFTAs 
(the British Academy of Film and Television Arts 
awards) by winning the Oscar. 
British winners included Alexandra Byrne for her 
costume designs for Elizabeth: The Golden Age, 
Jan Archibald, along with Didier Lavergne for La 
Vie en Rose, and Suzie Templeton and Hugh
Welchman for the animated short film Peter and 
the Wolf. 
Daniel Day-Lewis was the only winner to 
use over-the-top sentimental and emotional 
language. He said during his acceptance speech 
that There Will be Blood had, “sprung like a 
golden sapling out of the mad, beautiful head of 
[director] Paul Thomas Anderson.” 
But best actress winner Cotillard probably came 
up with the most touching sentiment of the night 
when she said, “It is true, there are some angels 
in this city.”