'Tree of Life' by Terrence Malick Wins 5 Film Critics Awards

By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, January 03, 2012

“The Tree of Life,” directed by Terrence Malick, turned out to be the big winner Monday night as it swooped five awards at the 15th annual Online Film Critics Society (OFCA) awards.

The movie was widely hailed by critics and won the top award of the night, Best Picture of the Year, beating out four other films that were up for the award, including “The Artist,” “The Descendants,” “Drive,” and “Hugo.”

“The Tree of Life,” which explores the creation of the universe and the development of the Earth amidst a suburban family drama, also brought in other major prizes, including Best Director, Best Editing, Cinematography for Emmanuel Lubezski, and Best Supporting Actress for Jessica Chastain. “The Tree of Life” was also the only movie to win more than one award out of all the nominees.

The OFCA is a collection of reviews and essays by 200 critics whose work appears mostly on the Internet, MSN Entertainment reported.

Michael Fassbender picked up the award for Best Lead Actor for “Shame,” Tilda Swinton won Best Lead Actress for “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” while the prize for Best Supporting Actor went to Christopher Plummer for his role in “Beginners.”

In the Screenplays category, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” earned the Adapted Screenplay award, while Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” was given Best Original Screenplay. Werner Herzog’s “Cave of Forgotten Dreams,” which explores the earliest human cave paintings discovered won for Best Documentary.

The list of the winners at the 15th-annual Online Film Critics Society awards included:

Best Picture

“The Tree of Life”

Animated Feature

“Rango”

Director

Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”

Lead Actor

Michael Fassbender, “Shame”

Lead Actress

Tilda Swinton, “We Need to Talk About Kevin”

Supporting Actor