Grand Oscar night for 'No Country'

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Grand Oscar night for 'No Country'
The iconoclastic filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen won three Academy Awards, including best picture.
By Susan King, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

It was a golden night for the Coen brothers.

The iconoclastic filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen won three Academy Awards -- and made history Sunday evening -- with their wins for best picture, director and adapted screenplay for their gritty contemporary Western, "No Country for Old Men."

It also won an Oscar for supporting actor for Javier Bardem, who plays the merciless paid assassin at the center of the film.

Though "No Country for Old Men" is a quintessentially American movie -- and based upon the novel by Cormac McCarthy -- the 80th annual Academy Awards had a distinctly international flavor: All four acting winners were from Europe.

As predicted, Brit Daniel Day-Lewis won an Oscar for his gripping performance as a greedy oilman in "There Will Be Blood." The actor had won practically every major accolade this awards season for his audacious turn.

Frenchwoman Marion Cotillard was something of an upset, winning lead actress for her transcendent performance as France's tragic Little Sparrow -- chanteuse Edith Piaf -- in "La Vie En Rose." Going into the evening, the betting money was on veteran British actress Julie Christie for "Away From Her." Cotillard -- who transforms throughout the film from a gorgeous young girl to a frail, ailing woman -- also made history of sorts. She's the first actress to win this award for a performance in a foreign-language film since Sophia Loren did it for 1961's "Two Women."

Cotillard was clearly overwhelmed as she held the statuette aloft: "You rocked my life, you truly rocked my life," she said as she thanked the film's director. "Well, I'm speechless now. Thank you, life; thank you, love. It is true there are some angels in this city. Thank you so much."

Until Cotillard, the show's biggest surprise was Tilda Swinton upsetting favorites Amy Ryan and Ruby Dee for supporting actress for "Michael Clayton."

The shock was clear on Swinton's face: "Oh, no," she said. Looking down at the Oscar, celebrating its 80th anniversary, she added, "Happy birthday, man."

The British actress said she would be giving her Academy Award to her American agent, who is the "spitting image" of the Oscar.

Bardem's was one of the evening's first major awards. "This is pretty amazing," the Spaniard exclaimed, adding that he wouldn't hold it against the Coens for putting "one of the most horrible haircuts in history on my head."

He then broke into rapid-fire Spanish to thank, among others, his mother, who was also his date.

Diablo Cody could do no wrong this awards season.

The 29-year-old former-stripper-turned-screenwriter capped off her fairy-tale awards season by winning the Oscar for original screenplay for her bittersweet coming-of-age comedy, "Juno."

It was almost a fait accompli after she won a slew of other awards this season, including the Writers Guild of America and the Film Independent Spirit Award.

"What is happening?" asked Cody, who strode onstage in a billowy animal print dress with a thigh-high slit that she had to hold closed as she walked up to the stage. (But to be fair, it did showcase nicely that tattoo of a girl in a bikini on her right shoulder.) "This is for the writers," she said.

It was also an enchanted evening for the little Irish drama-with-music "Once," which took home the Oscar for original song for "Falling Slowly."

The song was written and performed by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who star in the film about two lonely souls who meet by chance on the streets of Dublin and quite literally make beautiful music together.

It was the evening's little tune that could: It was pitted in this category against three songs from the Disney hit film "Enchanted" as well as a song from "August Rush."

"What are we doing here?" Hansard asked as he and Irglova accepted the award, noting that the film cost about $100,000 to make and was shot in three weeks. "It's been an amazing thing; thank you for taking this film seriously."

"Atonement," the sweeping romantic drama, had seven nominations, but it has received one Oscar: original score for Dario Marianelli.

"There Will Be Blood," an epic about greed, ambition and oil, went into the evening with eight nominations. It was passed over except for Robert Elswit, who won for cinematography, and Day-Lewis.

"The Bourne Ultimatum" also had a big night: The spy thriller won three Oscars. Granted, they came in technical categories of editing, sound mixing and sound editing. But still. Three Oscars.

Presenter Tom Hanks had help introducing the nominees in the documentary short category from members of the nation's armed forces in Iraq. Soldiers read out the names of the nominees and the winner, "Freeheld," about a dying police detective who is trying to get her benefits for her life partner. The statuette for feature documentary went to "Taxi to the Dark Side," about torture practices of the U.S. overseas.

Past Oscar winner Nicole Kidman presented veteran production designer Robert Boyle, 98, an honorary Academy Award for contributions to cinema, which include "North By Northwest," "Marnie" and "Mame."

Austria's Holocaust drama "The Counterfeiters" won in the foreign-language film category. It was that country's first film to win such an honor.

Earlier in the evening, the bloody musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" was honored with an Oscar for art direction. Italian production designer Dante Ferretti and his wife, set designer Francesca Lo Schiavo, shared the honor.

"The Golden Compass" also led to an Oscar for visual effects.

"Thank you!" whooped the winners, including Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood.

Moments earlier, a rat named Remy scurried off with the Oscar for animated feature.

Writer-director Brad Bird won his second Oscar in this category for the Disney-Pixar blockbuster "Ratatouille," about a French rodent who dreamed of becoming a Parisian chef.

The French theme continued into the evening as "Le Mozart des Pickpockets" won for live action short film, and the makeup award went to Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald won for "La Vie En Rose."

The Oscar for animated short film went to "Peter & the Wolf."

That gave way to Amy Adams, who starred in the Disney hit "Enchanted," performing one of the film's three Oscar-nominated tunes, "Happy Working Song." Without the birds, rats and other critters whirling around her as they were in the movie, her performance seemed rather flat.

The 80th Annual Academy Awards got underway beneath gray skies and drizzles at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood with a montage homage to Hollywood. There were scenes from such films as "North by Northwest," "Aliens," "Lawrence of Arabia" and "The Terminator."

The first Oscar of the evening went to Alexandra Byrne for costume design for the historical epic "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."

"These past 3 1/2 months were very rough," host Jon Stewart began, referring to the bitter work stoppage caused by the Writers Guild strike. "The fight is over. So tonight, welcome to the makeup sex."

He then took aim at the slate of "psychopathic killer movies" nominated for Oscars, among them "No Country for Old Men," "Sweeney Todd" and "There Will Be Blood," and asked: "Does this town need a hug?"

"Thank God for teen pregnancy," he quipped, referring to "Juno."

Academy Awards ceremonies may have been postponed, but the show has gone on despite wars, assassinations and the fickleness of Mother Nature. This year, the writers strike threatened to cancel the show, but a settlement was reached and the show went on as scheduled.

susan.king@latimes.com