Jake Gyllenhaal (left) and Heath Ledger in the movie 'Brokeback Mountain'. CONTRIBUTED
NEW YORK, (Reuters):
GAY COWBOY love story Brokeback Mountain won three of the top four awards from the New York Film Critics Circle on Monday, building momentum as the critics' favourite for Hollywood's top honours, the Oscars.
Earlier the National Board of Review, a New York group of 150 film professionals, academics and students, announced its annual awards, naming George Clooney's McCarthy-era drama Good Night, and Good Luck as best film of 2005.
The awards presented by the New York Film Critics Circle are among a string of second-tier awards leading up to the March 5 Academy Awards. The slew of awards announced in December traditionally helps narrow the field for the Oscars.
CRITICS' FAVOURITE
Director Ang Lee's film Brokeback Mountain is shaping up as the critics' favourite, despite concerns that its depiction of a love affair between two men may have trouble winning over audiences in more conservative parts of the country.
The New York Film Critics Circle gave the film its awards for best film, best director and best actor, for Heath Ledger.
Brokeback Mountain already won best film from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association on Saturday, and it earned eight nominations for the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday.
The National Board of Review's prize for directing went to Lee for the film. Lee's resume boasts a varied string of hits from the Jane Austen adaptation, Sense and Sensibility in 1995 to martial arts epic, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000.
"A lot of people among critics are responding to it because it is so daring," said Gene Seymour, chairman of the New York Film Critics Circle.
"It has all the sweep of what we have come to know as a major Hollywood romance, but it carries within it such a grand departure," he said.
The New York Film Critics named Reese Witherspoon best actress for her role in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line.
Their awards for best supporting actor and best supporting actress went to William Hurt and Maria Bello for their roles in A History of Violence.
Critically acclaimed Capote, directed by Bennett Miller, won an award for best first film, while Werner Herzog will be honoured for two non-fiction films Grizzly Man and White Diamond, the group said.
Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai's 2046 was named best foreign language film and Japanese film-maker Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle won best animated film.
