Another day, another precursor group, another show of love for The Artist. The film earned Michel Hazanavicius Best Director honors in addition to being named the year’s Best Film by the Indiana Film Journalists Association. (Though props to them for citing Terrence Malick as Hazanavicius’ runner-up.) The Artist also took home Best Musical Score, which it’s been doing a lot of lately. I personally think that there are tons of other original scores more worth exploring — hey, what do you know, here’s another category where Moneyball is being overlooked — but if this thing is destined to be the category’s juggernaut, so be it.
The Indiana critics did take some nice leaps and bounds in the acting categories, however. Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene) won Best Actress and was followed up by Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin) — those are so clearly two of the year’s finest performances. I’ll also never begrudge anyone for rewarding Paul Giamatti, so his Best Actor victory for Win Win is as delightful as it was unexpected. Ralph Fiennes (Coriolanus) earning runner-up status in the category, meanwhile, is also a head-scratcher — Vanessa Redgrave has been reaping all of the film’s acting honors thus far.
Also interesting was Viola Davis’ (The Help) inclusion in the Best Supporting Actress realm. She’ll still be campaigned for Best Actress, obviously, but it’s worth noting nonetheless. And good on this group, too, for citing Amy Ryan (Win Win) in the same category — and right on the heels of my FYC shout-out for Ryan late last night. Win Win also took home Best Original Screenplay — clearly this bunch was a fan of the film.
I’m not going to harp on the fact that The Artist was cited alongside The Tree of Life in the Original Vision category, except to say that it made me laugh. The Tree of Life conquered in the field, which is good, but they skipped a whole world of unique visions by labeling The Artist as the year’s #2. We Need to Talk About Kevin, anyone?
Check out the full list of winners below. For a recap of all of the precursor groups that have announced their winners thus far, click here.
Best Picture: The Artist [Runner-up: The Descendants]
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) [Runner-up: Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)]
Best Actor: Paul Giamatti (Win Win) [Runner-up: Ralph Fiennes (Coriolanus)]
Best Actress: Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene) [Runner-up: Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin)]
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer (Beginners) [Runner-up: Albert Brooks (Drive)]
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (The Help) [Runner-up: Amy Ryan (Win Win)]
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants [Runner-up: Moneyball]
Best Original Screenplay: Win Win [Runner-up: Margin Call]
Best Musical Score: The Artist [Runner-up: Hugo]
Best Animated Film: Rango [Runner-up: Winnie the Pooh]
Best Foreign Language Film: The Skin I Live In [Runner-up: 13 Assassins]
Best Documentary: Project Nim [Runner-up: Into the Abyss]
Original Vision Award: The Tree of Life [Runner-up: The Artist]
Hoosier Award: Lindsay Goffman (Producer — Dumbstruck)