'No Country for Old Men' takes Oscar for best picture
HOLLYWOOD (AFP) — Violent thriller "No Country for Old Men" was crowned best picture at the Oscars here Sunday, completing a virtual clean sweep of awards season honors.
Joel and Ethan Coen's film about the bloody aftermath of a botched drug deal pipped oil industry epic "There Will Be Blood," World War II drama "Atonement", legal thriller "Michael Clayton" and comedy "Juno" to take the prize.
It was the first Coen brothers film to win the best picture Oscar.
Best actor honors wen to Daniel Day-Lewis, the second best actor Oscar of his career, for his portrayal of a ruthless oil prospector in "There Will Be Blood."
The British-born actor, whose first Oscar came for his performance in the 1989 film "My Left Foot," had been the overwhelming favorite to claim the Oscar after sweeping top honors at several award shows this year.
The Coen brothers also won the best director prize, becoming the first the first co-directors to take the prize since Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, who won Oscars for the 1961 musical "West Side Story."
It is only the third time that two people have been jointly nominated for the directing honor. Warren Beatty and Buck Henry received joint nods for 1978 film "Heaven Can Wait" but lost out.
"No Country for Old Men" bagged two early Oscars in the best supporting actor and adapted screenplay categories.
Javier Bardem became the first performer from Spain ever to win an acting Oscar for his portrayal of a psychopathic hitman in the film.
"This is pretty amazing, it's a great honor for me to have this," Bardem told guests in his acceptance speech.
"Thank you to the Coens for being crazy enough to think that I could do that and put one of the most horrible haircuts in history on my head," he added, referring to the bizarre coiffure given to his character in the film.
Earlier France's Marion Cotillard was crowned best actress at the 80th Academy Awards here Sunday.
Cotillard, 32, won for her astounding performance as tragic chanteuse Edith Piaf in "La Vie En Rose," becoming the first Frenchwoman to win the best actress Oscar since Simone Signoret in 1960.
It was the only second time in Oscars history that the best actress award had gone to a performance in a non-English speaking role. Italian legend Sophia Loren was the other woman to achieve the feat in 1962.
Cotillard, who received the award from 2007 best actor Forest Whitaker, paid tribute to her director before exclaiming: "Thank you life, thank you love. It is true that there are some angels in this city. Thank you so, so much."
Britain's Tilda Swinton was crowned best supporting actress for her performance as a scheming corporate legal chief in the drama "Michael Clayton."
"Oh, no. Happy birthday, man," Swinton said, clutching her Oscar statuette. "I have an American agent who is the spitting image of this. Really truly the same shape head and, it has to be said, the buttocks."
In other early awards, Disney-Pixar's "Ratatouille", about a Parisian rat who attempts to become a master-chef, won the best animated feature Oscar.
Earlier, dark clouds and rain failed to put a dampener on the movie industry's biggest party of the year as stars lit up the red carpet.
Streets around the venue were cordoned off as authorities draped a security blanket over the neighborhood where guests arrived on a red carpet that has been shielded by a waterproof canopy.
Oscar host Jon Stewart quipped about the crop of "Oscar-nominated psychopathic killer movies" in his opening monologue.
"Does this town need a hug? What happened? 'No Country For Old Men?' 'Sweeney Todd?' 'There Will Be Blood?' All I can say is, thank God for teen pregnancy. I think the country agrees," Stewart said in a nod to best picture nominee "Juno."
This year's Oscars are taking place after months of uncertainty following the Hollywood screenwriters strike that wreaked havoc with the entertainment industry's awards season.
The Golden Globes were canceled after stars vowed to boycott the event in support of striking writers and fears of a similar no-show had plagued the Oscars until the strike was called off earlier this month.
