Take Away English-The BAFTAs 英国电影奖

British BAFTA winner Thandie Newton

The red carpet was rolled out in London’s Leicester Square on Sunday as stars from all over the world gathered for this year’s British Academy Film Awards.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts, or BAFTA as it is more commonly known, has raised its profile in recent years by bringing forward its award ceremony to take place before the American Oscars.

However, hopes that home-grown films would triumph over Hollywood productions were dashed as American movies swept the board, winning all the major awards including Best Film, Best Actor and Best Actress. Ang Lee’s ‘Brokeback Mountain’ enjoyed particular success, winning four BAFTAs in total.

Fans and supporters of British Cinema were particularly disappointed that ‘The Constant Gardener’, featuring British stars Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes, won only one award despite having received ten nominations¹.

One consolation² prize for the UK was the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role which went to Thandie Newton for her performance in ‘Crash’. Thandie, who was born in Zambia to a Zimbabwean mother and a British father, impressed the Academy with her portrayal³ of a woman confronting her racial prejudices.

It was also a disappointing night for Keira Knightley who failed to be nominated for her role in the adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’. However, she is still in the running for an Oscar having been nominated in the Best Actress category.

In fact, the UK is well-represented in this year’s Oscar nominations. British actresses Judi Dench and Rachel Weisz hope to win Best Actress and Best supporting actress respectively, whilst ‘The Constant Gardener’ has received four nominations including best adapted screenplay.

In the Best Animation⁴ category, the ‘claymation’ film ‘Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit’ is another UK hopeful. Its director, Nick Park, told us that he just made films for the love of it, but he admitted, “It is great to have this kind of recognition.”

GLOSSARY 词汇表
red carpet 红地毯/贵宾礼遇的 British Academy of Film and Television Arts 英国电影和电视艺术学院大奖 award ceremony 颁奖仪式 triumph over 战胜 swept the board 大赢家 consolation prize 安慰奖 portrayal 扮演 adaptation 改编 well-represented 占有相当比例的 claymation 粘土动画	rolled out 铺开 bringing forward 提前 home-grown 土生土长的；本国编导的 dashed 挫败；破灭 nominations 提名 performance 表演 racial prejudices 种族歧视 in the running 仍有望获奖 screenplay （电影）剧本 recognition 承认

 

1 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

2 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

3 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

4 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。