“La La Land”s Golden Globe winners Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have both been given a nod by BAFTA members for lead actor and actress. The director, Damien Chazelle, is also nominated in the director category and for original screenplay, capitalising on his Golden Globe wins in those categories. The film is a contemporary musical set in LA, a city not particularly famous for its happy-go-lucky romantic real-life stories. However, Gosling’s Sebastian and Stone’s Mia manage to find true love while sweeping each other off their feet. The nods for "La La Land" might suggest that the musical is back and happiness is the order of the day but the other nominees put paid to that notion.
Bafta nominations take broad view
The two films with nine nominations each couldn’t be more different. “Nocturnal Animals” is a thriller starring Amy Adams as the owner of an art gallery who has to deal with the fallout from a violent novel written by her ex-husband. Not so much romance here as the film weaves a story within a story and has Adams’ character Susan confronting some unsettling truths. Tom Ford directs with a stylish hand and, alongside lead actor Jake Gyllenhaal and supporting actor Britain’s Aaron Taylor-Johnson, picks up a Bafta nomination.
“Arrival”, which sees Adams pick up her nod for lead actress, also welcomes nine nominations including several tech credits. Adams stars as linguistics professor Louise Banks who must find a way to talk to aliens who have landed on earth before we descend into global warfare.
The decidedly bleak, but beautifully acted, "Manchester by the Sea" has six Bafta nominations in all. Casey Affleck who also won a Golden Globe at the 74th edition of the awards is nominated for lead actor for his heart-rending performance as a grieving uncle who must care for his teenage nephew.
Brits well represented in Baftas
“I, Daniel Blake”, from veteran Ken Loach is nominated for director and the film is also nominated for best film, outstanding British film, original screenplay for his long-term collaborator Paul Laverty and supporting actress for Hayley Squires. The film is typical Loach territory which he covers extremely well.
Daniel Blake is a working man who has taken a heart attack but then has to negotiate his way through the Kafkaesque British benefits system. It is apt that the film shows it has a lot of heart.
Andrew Garfield is nominated for lead actor in “Hacksaw Ridge”, a film which has garnered a lot of critical praise for its take on the story of second world war US army medic Desmond Doss. Doss was a conscientious objector who won the Medal of Honour for bravery. The film’s director Mel Gibson was not nominated.
Another surprise was the nomination of Emily Blunt for “The Girl on the Train”, which wasn't quite as well-received by the critics, but sometimes actors are given a nomination on their acting skills alone and Blunt does have that on her side.
British documentary makers are represented by Pete Middleton and James Spinney's “Notes on Blindness” an insight into the life of John Hull, an academic who descended into total blindness and kept an audio timeline of his experiences.
Naomie Harris has a nod for “Moonlight” and Dev Patel in “Lion” is also recognised. The wonderful “Moonlight”, a coming-of-age story about a young boy struggling to grow up in the rough part of Miami. Harris plays his mother. “Lion” is adapted from the book "A Long Way Home" by Saroo Brierley, his autobiographical story about being separated from his mother for 25 years and final reunion.
In light of the criticism of the lack of diversity of the academies in Britain and America, the line-up of nominees seems to be lacking on that front again this year. It is yet to be seen how Bafta’s new qualifying rules, also announced today will address this.
The EE British Academy Film Awards take place on Sunday 12 February at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
