Kim Hye-ja named best actress by LA critics

Actress Kim Hye-ja was named best actress by the Los Angeles Critics Association, Sunday, for her role in Bong Joon-ho’s “Mother.”
/ Korea Times file

By Lee Hyo-won

Korean actress Kim Hye-ja was named best actress by the Los Angeles Critics Association, an influential group of American film critics, Sunday.

The 69-year-old won the coveted prize awarded annually for her role in Bong Joon-ho’s crime drama “Mother,” alongside Colin Firth for the British monarchy tale “The King’s Speech.”

Kim played the role of a feverishly devoted mother who tries to save her son from being imprisoned for murder. Jennifer Lawrence was the runner-up for best actress for the Ozarks crime thriller “Winter’s Bone.”

“Mother,” which earned rave reviews when it debuted at Cannes last year, was also the runner-up for best foreign language film. The French-German terrorist epic “Carlos” won the top award.

Edgar Ramirez from “Carlos” on the other hand was runner-up in the best actor category.

“Mother” marked Kim’s big screen debut. The veteran star also won the best actress award at the 2009 Asian Pacific Screen Awards in Queensland, Australia. She was honored with the same title at the China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival the same year. “Mother” was released locally in 2009, but didn’t make its American debut until earlier this year.

Other overseas crime dramas were recognized by the critics, including Australia’s “Animal Kingdom”(Jacki Weaver as best supporting actress) and France’s “A Prophet” (Niels Arestrup as best supporting actor).

Along with the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles reviewers’ awards are among the key critical picks that help single out potential favorites in the buildup to the Feb. 27, 2011 Academy Awards. Top critics groups usually pick different films from the Oscars, often going to smaller, even obscure releases.

This year, however, “The Social Network” was chosen as best picture. The Facebook drama, along with “The King’s Speech,” are generally considered the front-runners for the Oscars, whose nominations come out Jan. 25, 2011.

Tom Hanks and Tim Allen’s blockbuster “Toy Story 3” was chosen as best animated film, while French filmmaker Sylvain Chomet’s “The Illusionist” was the runner-up.

The winners, including career-achievement recipient Paul Mazursky, will be honored at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Jan. 15, 2011.

김혜자, 미국 평론가들이 선정한 최고의 여배우

국민 배우 김혜자가 일요일 영향력 있는 미국 영화 평론가들이 뽑은 최고의 여배우가 됐다.

김혜자는 봉준호 감독의 영화 ‘마더’로 LA 영화 비평가 협회의 여우 주연상을 수상했으며, 남우주연상으로는 ‘킹스 스피치’의 콜린 퍼스가 차지했다.

김혜자는 영화 ‘마더’에서 살인 혐의를 받고 있는 아들을 구하기 위해 세상과 치열히 맞서는 어머니 역을 했다.

김혜자는 또한 이 영화로 지난해 호주 퀸즈랜드에서 열린 아시아 태평양 영화제와 중국 금계백화 영화제에서도 여우 주연상을 수상한 바 있다.

뉴욕 영화 비평가 협회에서도 LA 비평가들의 시상식은 2월 27일에 있을 아카데미 시상식에서 잠재력 있는 영화를 골라내도록 도와주는 영향력있는 행사이다. 상위 비평가 단체들은 보통 오스카 시상식과 다른 저 예산 영화나 무명의 영화에서 고른다.

한편, 페이스북의 탄생과정을 그린 ‘소셜 네트워크’ 가 LA 영화평론가협회가 선정한 올해 최우수 작품상을 수상했다.

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