VARIOUS: FILM STARS AND DIRECTORS REACT TO THIS YEARS FILM OSCAR NOMINATIONS

Record ID: 393378

  • Title: VARIOUS: FILM STARS AND DIRECTORS REACT TO THIS YEARS FILM OSCAR NOMINATIONS
  • Date: 12th February 1999
  • Summary: ROME, ITALY (FEBRUARY 9, 1999) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) BENIGNI SAYING: "This is the first time in the history of foreign language movies to have seven nominations. That for me is too much I feel like an ambassador, it's really wonderful."
  • Embargoed: 27th February 1999 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA AND NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES/ LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM/ ROME, ITALY
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA8D74H7EUAWZF2PP3X9H50LXKZ
  • Story Text: It was a battle between love and war for Hollywood's top honours as romantic comedy "Shakespeare in Love" and Steven Spielberg's epic war drama "Saving Private Ryan" led the Oscar nominations, announced on Tuesday (February 9).
    The film world's most coveted award ceremony inched closer on Tuesday (February 9) with the announcement of the nominations for this year's seventy first Oscar awards.
    And, while there is no 'Titanic' on this year's horizon, a number of films still managed to sweep the boards again and again...
    "Shakespeare in Love," which led the total nominations with 13, and second-place "Saving Private Ryan," with 11, landed on the list of Oscar nominees for best film of 1998.
    Rounding out the Best Picture nominations were Italian filmmaker Roberto Benigni's wartime drama "Life Is Beautiful", "Elizabeth," a story of the coming of age of the young English queen and another war drama "The Thin Red Line" by legendary director Terrence Malick.
    Each of those films earned seven seven nominations for the film industry's most prestigious awards, a first for a foreign language film, naturally Director Benigni is delighted.
    "Oh this is for me something very very special and I am really jubilant, very jubilant about this because I respect and I love so much people and I you know what can I say about Spielberg, Tom Hanks, everybody they are and the other people nominated with me.This is a little movie and a foreign language and this makes me very proud because it's little.I like to be very little when we are very little, you can see the magnificence of creation, no? Everything appears to be a giant and this I like, it's marvellous," Benigni said.
    This year's nominations were "a tribute to diversity" said Bob Ramey, president of Hollywood's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and marked only the third time that a film with subtitles, "Life is Beautiful" was nominated for Best Picture.The two subtitled films previously nominated were "Z"
    and "Il Postino."
    "Life is Beautiful" also was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film while Italian writer, director and actor Benigni won nominations for Best Director and Best Actor for his work in the wartime drama set amid the Nazi death camps.
    Two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks won a nomination for best actor for his role in "Saving Private Ryan" along with veteran actor Sir Ian McKellen for "Gods and Monsters."
    The Best Actor nomination list included Benigni for "Life Is Beautiful," Nick Nolte for playing a man nearing mental collapse in "Affliction," and Edward Norton for his role as a skinhead racist in "American History X".
    Shakespeare's sweetheart Gwyneth Paltrow received an Oscar nomination for best actress for her starring role in "Shakespeare In Love."
    Paltrow was joined on the list of nominees by Brazilian actress Fernanda Montenegro for the critical favourite "Central Station," Australian actress Cate Blanchett for "Elizabeth," previous Oscar winner Meryl Streep for "One True Thing" and Emily Watson for "Hilary and Jackie."
    Spielberg was nominated for best director for "Saving Private Ryan" along with Peter Weir for "The Truman Show".
    The director nominees also included John Madden for the romantic comedy "Shakespeare in Love," Benigni for "Life is Beautiful" and Malick for "The Thin Red Line."
    "Life is Beautiful" also was nominated for this year's Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film.Brazilian film "Central Station," about a motherless boy's search for his father with the help of a retired teacher, was nominated along with the Iranian film "Children of Heaven," "The Grandfather" from Spain, and "Tango from Argentina.
    And last but not least, the small-budget film "Gods and Monsters" starring Sir Ian McKellen and Lynn Redgrave was not forgotten, notching up nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress for the pair.
    The Oscars will be given out this year on March 21 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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