A night for movies music and magic
Look out Dublin ? Glen Hansard is planning one hell of a night when he comes back. Pictured with partner Marketa Irglova after they won an Oscar for the song 'Falling Slowly' from the movie 'Once', an elated Hansard said he intends to celebrate Irish-style when he gets back
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Tuesday February 26 2008
OSCAR winner Glen Hansard plans to celebrate his success Irish-style -- as soon as he gets home, he is "putting the golden man on a bar and having a night out".
Amid all the Hollywood glitz and razzmatazz, both he and adopted Irishman Daniel Day-Lewis revealed a sincerity that did us proud as they accepted their statuettes at the 80th Academy Awards.
At a ceremony famous for gushing speeches, both winners managed to express their delight at receiving the accolade while achieving that elusive response from the celebrity-filled audience -- spontaneous laughter.
Hansard's speech, as he took to the podium after winning in the Best Original Song category for 'Falling Slowly' from the movie 'Once', was a combination of pure emotion and inspiration.
"Go raibh mile, mile maith agat," he said. "What we are doing here -- this is mad.
"We shot this on two handicams in three weeks for one hundred grand. We never thought we would be up here tonight."
He concluded with the exhortation: "Make art. Make art."
Day-Lewis, who won best actor for the gripping 'There Will Be Blood', could not help poking a little fun at the event, getting down on bended knee and bowing his head to Helen Mirren, recipient of last year's best actress gong for 'The Queen'.
She immediately picked up his cue, touching the statuette to his shoulders as she would a royal sword.
Knighthood
"That's the closest I'll ever come to getting a knighthood, so thank you," he joked.
Perhaps drawing inspiration from his violent character Daniel Plainview, he added: "My deepest thanks to the members of the academy for whacking me with the handsomest bludgeon in town."
Day-Lewis, who won an Oscar in 1990 for Dublin movie 'My Left Foot', was up against four stars -- George Clooney, Johnny Depp, Tommy Lee Jones and Viggo Mortensen -- who gave great performances in their own rights. But he was always tipped to win.
Later, when asked if he knew when he was good, he said: "No. I think you know when you're OK, which is a very dangerous thing to know."
He also said he felt a little ostentatious walking around with the Oscar. "It's like you're inviting people to slap you on the back," he said.
Hansard's co-winner Marketa Irglova was recalled to the stage to give her acceptance speech, having managed a bare "thank you" before the orchestra inadvertently started up.
The 19-year-old Czech musician said: "Fair play to those who dare to dream and don't give up," adding that the song was written from a perspective of hope, "and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are". As well as the Irish triumphs, there were disappointments, particularly for Saoirse Ronan, the 13-year-old Carlow girl nominated as best supporting actress for 'Atonement'.
Sitting in the front row of the Kodak theatre for the ceremony, she lost out to Scottish actress Tilda Swinton for her performance in the thriller 'Michael Clayton', directed by Tony Gilroy.
- Grainne Cunningham
