London critics honour Mad Max and 45 Years

Jason Korsner

One of the biggest and one of the smallest films of the year have shared the bulk of the awards, handed out by the London Film Critics Circle.

Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road

The Film of the Year and Director of the Year went to George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road. Its lead actor Tom Hardy was also honoured as the Best British or Irish actor of the year, for his body of work, including Mad Max, Legend and The Revenant.

Andrew Haigh’s marital drama 45 Years was named the Best British or Irish Film, while its leads, the Oscar-nominated Charlotte Rampling and Sir Tom Courtenay, took the main acting honours, although when British stars win the top awards, it begs the question of why they need a parochial set of British/Irish only honours.

The supporting acting prizes also went to British talent, with Mark Rylance honoured for Bridge of Spies and Kate Winslet for Steve Jobs, both – like Rampling – are in the running for Oscars next month.

The London critics named the star of Brooklyn, Saoirse Ronan, as their best British or Irish actress of 2015.

Amy Winehouse in a scene from the eponymous Amy
Amy Winehouse in a scene from the eponymous Amy

Another Oscar nominee, Asif Kapadia’s Amy Winehouse film Amy, won the best documentary prize, while one of the films it beat, The Look of Silence, was named the best foreign language film.

The critics gave their screenplay award to director Tom McCarthy and his co-writer Josh Singer, for Spotlight, about how the Catholic Church covered up abusive priests in Boston. Carol took the award for best technical achievement, for Ed Lachman’s cinematography.

The ceremony, at the May Fair Hotel in central London, ended with Sir Kenneth Branagh being honoured with the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film.

The full list of winners for the 36th London Critics’ Circle Film Awards:

FILM OF THE YEAR: Mad Max: Fury Road

BRITISH/IRISH FILM OF THE YEAR: 45 Years

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR: The Look of Silence

DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR: Amy

ACTOR OF THE YEAR: Tom Courtenay — 45 Years

ACTRESS OF THE YEAR: Charlotte Rampling — 45 Years

SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR: Mark Rylance — Bridge of Spies

SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR: Kate Winslet — Steve Jobs

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR: George Miller — Mad Max: Fury Road

SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy — Spotlight

BRITISH/IRISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR: Tom Hardy — Legend, London Road, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant

BRITISH/IRISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR: Saoirse Ronan — Brooklyn, Lost River

YOUNG BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR: Maisie Williams — The Falling

PHILIP FRENCH AWARD FOR BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH/IRISH FILMMAKER: John Maclean — Slow West

BRITISH/IRISH SHORT FILM OF THE YEAR: Stutterer — Benjamin Cleary

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Ed Lachman, cinematography — Carol

DILYS POWELL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM: Kenneth Branagh