Slumdog Millionaire sweeps awards in most non-American Oscars

Photo Ed: 81st Academy Awards Ceremony

 

Photo Ed: India Celebrates "Slumdog" Oscar Success

 

The small-budget British film, shot in the teeming slums of Mumbai, about a tea boy who rises from poverty and enters a television quiz show to win millions and find the love of his life, was nominated the nine categories

 

The acting honors saw Sean Penn triumph for his portrayal of murdered gay politician Harvey Milk in the biopic "Milk" while Britain’s Kate Winslet ended her Oscars losing streak for her performance in Holocaust drama "The Reader."

 

There was a tear-jerking posthumous Oscar for late Australian actor Heath Ledger, a moment of unforgettable poignancy that reduced the star-studded audience to hushed silence.

 

Penelope Cruz broke through as the first Spanish actress to claim an Academy Award, winning for her supporting role in the Woody Allen romance "Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

 

SLUMDOG'S VICTORY NIGHT

It was the triumph of "Slumdog Millionaire" that stole the show, with more than a dozen members of the Bollywood-inspired movies cast and crew crowding the stage to receive best picture from Steven Spielberg.

 

At the climax of the night, the stage was swarmed by jubilant members of the "Slumdog" cast and crew, including several school children who were plucked from Mumbai's shantytowns to appear in the movie.

 

"We had passion and we had belief and if you have those two things, truly, anything is possible," said producer Christian Colson.

 

British filmmaker Danny Boyle was named best director for the often dark but ultimately hopeful tale of a young orphan who risks it all for love and a shot at instant wealth as a TV game show contestant. The "Slumdog" Oscar-haul included a brace of Academy Awards for Indian composer A.R. Rahman, who won for best song and original score.

 

It was a fairytale night for "Slumdog", which had been nearly released directly to video last year after losing its US distributor, a move which would have ruled it out of Oscar’s contention.

 

Boyle said he had wanted as many of the "Slumdog" team as possible to attend Sunday's ceremony. "It's lovely to have brought them together, really. And it makes tonight deeply special for us, because we tried to make the film as a family unit, everybody," Boyle said.

 

THREE ACTINGS GO TO NON-AMERICANS

Adding to the international flavor of this year's Oscars, hosted by Australian stage and film star Hugh Jackman, three of the night's four acting awards went to non-Americans.

 

The best picture award brought the curtain down on a revamped Oscar’s ceremony that had earlier seen Penn and Winslet carve up the top acting honors.

 

"Thank you, you commie, homo-loving sons-of-guns. I did not expect this," joked Penn after collecting the second best actor Oscar of his career.

 

Penn used his acceptance speech to urge opponents of same-sex marriage -- recently banned in California -- to rethink their positions.

 

"I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support," he said. "We've got to have equal rights for everyone."

 

Winslet, 33, meanwhile won her first Oscar after five previous defeats, for her portrayal of a former Nazi death camp guard who starts a love affair with a teenage boy in post-war Germany and is later put on trial for war crimes.

 

Winslet admitted she had been dreaming of Oscar’s gold for a very long time. "I'd be lying if I havent made a version of this speech before. I think I was probably eight years old and staring into the bathroom mirror and this would have been a shampoo bottle," she told the audience.

 

"It's not a shampoo bottle now," Winslet quipped. "I feel very fortunate to have made it all the way from there to here and I’d like to thank some of the people along the way who had faith in me."

 

Earlier Heath Ledger's family took to the stage to collect the tragic stars best supporting actor honor for his portrayal of Batman villain the Joker in "The Dark Knight."

 

"Heath, we both knew what you had created in the Joker was extraordinarily special, and had even talked about being here on this very day," Ledger's sister Kate said. "We really wish you were, but we proudly accept this award on behalf of your beautiful daughter Matilda. Thank you," she added.

 

Cruz won the best supporting actress prize for her part in the steamy Woody Allen comedy "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." "Has anybody ever fainted here? Because I might be the first one," an overwhelmed Cruz said as she accepted her award.

 

Milk's Oscar-winning screenwriter, Dustin Lance Black, a gay Mormon, struck a similar chord with Penn in his remarks from the stage, telling young gays and lesbian viewers, "...You are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value."

 

Period romance "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," which began the night with 13 nominations, ended the night with only three Oscars in the technical categories of art direction, makeup and visual effects.

 

The night's biggest surprise came in the foreign-language film contest, with Japan's funereal drama "Departures" upsetting Israel's animated anti-war film "Waltz With Bashir."  Â