Brokeback Mountain big star at Baftas

Jake Gyllenhaal won Best Supporting Actor for his role in 'Brokeback Mountain'. Picture / Reuters

LONDON - Brokeback Mountain, already a hot favourite for next month's Hollywood Oscars, was the big star of the night at the British Film Academy awards today, scooping four Baftas.

The gay cowboy love story won the coveted Best Film Award, Ang Lee was picked as Best Director, Jake Gyllenhaal was chosen as Best Supporting Actor and it also won the Best Adapted Screenplay statuette.

The film, which had taken Lee seven years to bring to the screen, faced tough competition in a strong year from Capote, The Constant Gardener, Crash and Good Night, and Good Luck to be picked as Best Film.

Philip Seymour Hoffman took home the Best Actor Bafta for his mesmerising portrayal of writer Truman Capote in Capote and Reese Witherspoon was selected as Best Actress for her role in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line.

The Best Supporting Actress award went to Thandie Newton for her role in the low-budget racial drama Crash.

The British film industry had high hopes for the stylish political thriller The Constant Gardener which garnered 10 nominations but its stars Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz went home empty-handed.

Another disappointed star was George Clooney who had been nominated four times in recognition of his directing, acting and writing skills in the McCarthy era drama Goodnight, and Good Luck and the Middle East thriller Syriana.

Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, another in line for Oscar glory in Hollywood next month, was chosen as The Best British Film of the Year.

Memoirs of a Geisha, the tale of a penniless child who is transformed into an elegant Geisha, won three awards -- for its cinematography, costume design and the John Williams musical score.

The Baftas were shifted in 2001 from April to February to fall between the Golden Globes and the Oscars with organisers hoping to capture some Hollywood glitter in the packed awards calendar.

But winning a top UK film industry award is certainly no guarantee of Oscar success.

Last year, Clint Eastwood's boxing drama Million Dollar Baby swept the board at the Oscars but failed to score at the Baftas after distributors refused to send out copies of the film to voters amid fears of piracy.

- REUTERS