“Oppenheimer”, a three-hour epic about the making of the atomic bomb in World War Two, was the big winner at the BAFTA Film Awards on Sunday, winning the top honours for best film and best director as well as five other awards.
One of the highest-grossing movies of 2023, it also won awards for leading actor Cillian Murphy, who portrays the American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, supporting actor Robert Downey Jr, editing, cinematography and original score.
Nolan, who won his first BAFTA for directing, thanked his cast and crew in his acceptance speech.
“In the real world there are all kinds of individuals and organisations who have fought long and hard to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world… in accepting this I do want to acknowledge their efforts,” he added.
Like Nolan, Murphy had been favourite to win his category and in his acceptance speech, he referred to the man known as “the father of the atomic bomb”.
“Oppenheimer was this colossally naughty, complex character and he meant different things to different people,” Murphy said.
“One man’s monster is another’s man hero. That’s why I love movies because we have a space to celebrate and interrogate and investigate that complexity.”
Emma Stone picked up the leading actress award for sex-charged Gothic comedy “Poor Things”, which won five prizes overall.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph won the supporting actress prize for her role in “The Holdovers”, a comedy set in a boys’ boarding school.
