A Deserved Double for a Great British Drama ; Vera Drake Put Actress Imelda Staunton and Director Mike Leigh Ahead of the Pack in the Judging for the Evening Standard British Film Awards
Summary
IT took our five judges over three hours of impassioned debate to determine the winners of the 2004 Evening Standard British Film Awards. The highly coveted Eros statuettes were presented last night at a glittering ceremony at The Savoy. Joining the Evening Standard's critic Derek Malcolm on the panel were James Christopher of The Times, Mariella Frostrup, Nigel Andrews of the Financial Times and Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph. Evening Standard editor Veronica Wadley chaired the meeting. Here is how they voted: BEST FILM ALTHOUGH all British films of 2004 were eligible for the big prize, it seemed inevitable that Vera Drake would walk away with it. Derek Malcolm certainly thought so: "The best by a long way," he began, "but I don't suppose that's a very original thing to say."
Yet, as it turned out, the decision was not so quickly made. Tim Robey pitched hard for Shane Meadows's Dead Man's Shoes: "It is an extremely successful, queasy, interesting blend of black comedy and tragedy - and the performances are titanic."See the full content of this document
Extract
A Deserved Double for a Great British Drama ; Vera Drake Put Actress Imelda Staunton and Director Mike Leigh Ahead of the Pack in the Judging for the Evening Standard British Film Awards
James Christopher didn't disagree about the gritty revenge drama, but named Vera Drake his number one -"the most marvellous depiction of life in that very odd time between the war and the Sixties, when people didn't have many life choices".
With the support of Mariella Frostrup, Nigel Andrews stirred the pot further by praising the "Lawrencian" My Summer of Love for its "vividness and candour about sexual relationships". But both rated Vera Drake too, and what Malcolm called "th...See the full content of this document