Oscar bowed four times for “The King’s Speech” Sunday night at the 83rd Academy Awards in Hollywood.
The one about the stuttering sovereign won best picture, acting honors for Colin Firth as the title character, England’s George VI, director Tom Hooper, who thanked his mother for telling him about the original property and screenwriter David Seidler, a onetime stutterer who won for original screenplay. In number of awards won, it tied with “Inception,” which won a quartet of technical honors.
Firth, 50, who played the monarch eloquently struggling to speak, took the podium by saying, “I have a feeling my career just peaked.”
Oscar likewise friended “The Social Network,” the one about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. It took a total of three awards: adapted screenplay honors for Aaron Sorkin’s supersonic dialogue, Trent Reznor’s and Atticus Ross’ electronica score and its lightning-paced editing. Natalie Portman, 29, accepted best actress honors for the physically and psychically demanding role of Nina, the unstable ballerina of “Black Swan.” She thanked her numerous colleagues including dancer/choreographer Benjamin Millepied, with whom she is expecting a baby.