It was a Yin and Yang year, as the National Society of Film Critics saw it. In deliberations that lasted all afternoon Saturday at the fabled Broadway eatery Sardi’s, the critics group bestowed its best picture prize to Lars von Trier’s brooding, end-of-world saga, Melancholia, while giving the best director nod to Terrence Malick for his similarly cosmic but vastly more hopeful The Tree of Life.
In the acting categories, Kirsten Dunst won best actress for her work in Melancholia, Brad Pitt for his performances in both Moneyball and The Tree of Life, while the supporting awards went to Albert Brooks (a violent mobster in Drive) and Jessica Chastain (who appeared in six 2011 releases, but was recognized for her work in three: The Help, Take Shelter and The Tree of Life.)
A Separation, Asghar Farhadi’s powerful Iranian drama, won in both the best foreign language and best screenplay categories.
Here’s the complete list of NSFC awards, with the two runners up in each category, plus other citations:
BEST ACTOR
*1. Brad Pitt – 35 (Moneyball, The Tree of Life)
2. Gary Oldman – 22 (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
3. Jean Dujardin – 19 (The Artist)
BEST ACTRESS
*1. Kirsten Dunst – 39 (Melancholia)
2. Yun Jung-hee – 25 (Poetry)
3. Meryl Streep – 20 (The Iron Lady)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
*1. Albert Brooks – 38 (Drive)
2. Christopher Plummer – 24 (Beginners)
3. Patton Oswalt – 19 (Young Adult)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
*1. Jessica Chastain – 30 (The Tree of Life, Take Shelter, The Help)
2. Jeannie Berlin – 19 (Margaret)
3. Shailene Woodley – 17 (The Descendants)
BEST PICTURE
*1. Melancholia – 29 (Lars von Trier)
2. The Tree of Life – 28 (Terrence Malick)
3. A Separation – 20 (Asghar Farhadi)
BEST DIRECTOR
*1. Terrence Malick – 31 (The Tree of Life)
2. Martin Scorsese – 29 (Hugo)
3. Lars von Trier – 23 (Melancholia)
BEST NONFICTION
*1. Cave of Forgotten Dreams – 35 (Werner Herzog)
2. The Interrupters – 26 (Steve James)
3. Into the Abyss – 18 (Werner Herzog)
BEST SCREENPLAY
*1. A Separation – 39 (Asghar Farhadi)
2. Moneyball – 22 (Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin)
3. Midnight in Paris – 16 (Woody Allen)
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
*1. A Separation – 67 (Asghar Farhadi)
2. Mysteries of Lisbon – 28 (Raoul Ruiz)
3. Le Havre – 22 (Aki Kaurismäki)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
*1. The Tree of Life – 76 (Emanuel Lubezki)
2. Melancholia – 41 (Manuel Alberto Claro)
3. Hugo – 33 (Robert Richardson)
EXPERIMENTAL
Ken Jacobs, for “Seeking the Monkey King.”
FILM HERITAGE
1. BAMcinématek for its complete Vincente Minnelli retrospective with all titles shown on 16 mm. or 35 mm. film.
2. Lobster Films, Groupama Gan Foundation for Cinema and the Technicolor Foundation for Cinema for the restoration of the color version of George Méliès’s “A Trip to the Moon.”
3. New York’s Museum of Modern Art for its extensive retrospective of Weimar Cinema.
4. Flicker Alley for their box set “Landmarks of Early Soviet Film.”
5. Criterion Collecton for its 2-disc DVD package “The Complete Jean Vigo.”
I don't get it....Moneyball the movie sucked, how does anyone find a best actor in a movie so bad?— jimmymack- and "I" dont get the logic behind Melancholia winning anything at all. I saw 3 people walk out and Im sitting there waiting and waiting to try to get a hold of what's going on in this film, I was lost from the get go. It's just one of those weird and "cant follow" films.— tulipwalk
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