Industry fetes family dramas
Linklater’s Boyhood, Dolan’s Mommy collect hardware at awards ceremony
Richard Linklater’s undeniably authentic coming-of-age story proved it had award-winning mettle as Boyhood picked up two top prizes at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle’s annual prize ceremony Monday.
Scoring awards for best film and best supporting actress for Patricia Arquette, Boyhood won out over other top contenders, including Birdman, which did pick up the directing prize for Alejandro González Iñárritu.
The rest of the international field included Jake Gyllenhaal for best actor in Nightcrawler, Tilda Swinton for best actress in Only Lovers Left Alive, J.K. Simmons for best supporting actor in Whiplash, Wes Anderson for best screenplay with The Grand Budapest Hotel, Jesse Moss’ The Overnighters for best international documentary and Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure as best foreign film.
The Canadian awards slanted toward Quebec, with Stéphane Lafleur’s Tu dors Nicole, Xavier Dolan’s Mommy and director Denis Villeneuve claiming glory.
Dolan’s Cannes International Film Festival darling scored prizes for stars Antoine-Olivier Pilon (best actor) and Suzanne Clément (best supporting actress) as well as best screenplay. Lafleur’s gentle portrait of emotional exile picked up best picture, best actress for Julianne Côté, and best supporting actor for Marc-André Grondin.
Villeneuve won best director for his work calling the shots on Enemy. Harold Crooks’ The Price We Pay won the prize for best Canadian documentary, and best British Columbia film honours went to Andrew Huculiak’s Violent while veteran production manager Warren Carr received the Ian Caddell Award for Achievement (named in honour of the VFCC’s late cofounder and presented to a British Columbian who has made a significant contribution to the province’s film industry).
Ken McIntyre received the Critics’ Sweetheart Cup, an award recognizing those who make the critic’s job that much easier.