Staunton tipped for Oscar glory

Imelda Staunton won best actress at the European Film Awards. Picture / Reuters

Imelda Staunton has beaten rivals including Penelope Cruz to the title of best actress at the European Film Awards, for her heart-rending performance as a back-street abortionist in the title role of Vera Drake.

Her success at the ceremony in Barcelona was repeated in the United States the next day when the unassuming British star was named best actress by the Los Angeles Film Critics' Association.

The honours build on a momentum which began at the Venice Film Festival, where Vera Drake was premiered and took the best film prize for its often-overlooked director, Mike Leigh, as well as the top acting award for Staunton.

It then swept the board at the British Independent Film Awards, and there are now strong hopes of glory at next year's Oscars - despite the contentious subject matter.

Asked for her own view on abortion, Staunton has said: "I'm not Susan Sarandon. I don't want to bang a drum. I think I'm just going to say 'I'm pro-choice' and leave it at that."

The film has brought the 48-year-old international acclaim after a string of smaller roles in films such as Shakespeare in Love, Sense and Sensibility and Peter's Friends as well as many television appearances.

Her most critically lauded performances before working with Mike Leigh had been in theatre, for which she has won a couple of Olivier awards.

Apart from Staunton's win, "British" success at the European Film Awards was restricted to just one category, Eduardo Serra's beautiful cinematography in Girl With a Pearl Earring, which starred Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth.

Instead, it was Germany's night with Gegen die Wand (Head-On) taking the best film prize.

Head-On, already a hit at the Berlin Film Festival, overcame a scandal over its star's porn movie past and controversy over its subject matter to win.

It tells the story of a young Turkish woman in Germany who escapes her strict Muslim home through a difficult marriage with an older man.

Fatih Akin, its German-Turkish director, said it was one of the first films to tackle the problems of Muslim immigrants in Europe.

"Three different views are in this film: the Turkish-Turkish view, the Turkish-German view, and the German-German view. We've tried to bring those three views together to find a middle ground."

Mar Adentro (The Sea Inside) took two top prizes, for its director Alejandro Amenabar - who is best known outside his native Spain for The Others with Nicole Kidman - and for its star, Javier Bardem, who is known for films such as The Dancer Upstairs and Jamon, Jamon.

The story of a paraplegic man who fights for the right to end his own life, it saw the good-looking Bardem spend up to five hours a day in makeup to gain wrinkles, and lose most of his hair.

Liv Ullman, the Norwegian actress famed for her long professional and personal relationship with the Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, was given a lifetime achievement award. She will be 66 on Thursday.

Penelope Cruz was one of the winners in the People's Choice Awards chosen by Europe's film fans.

The European Film Academy was founded in 1988 and represents around 1600 European film professionals, presided over by Wim Wenders, the German art-house director.

The awards were created to promote European movie-making, although they lack the clout of America's Oscars.

In the Los Angeles Film Critics' Association awards, Staunton beat Julie Delpy in Before Sunset to the best actress prize.

Liam Neeson was named best actor for Kinsey, a biopic about sex researcher Alfred Kinsey.

Four of the critics' top awards went to Sideways, a comedy about two friends on a road trip through California's wine country.

- INDEPENDENT