Christopher Plummer, Jessica Chaistain Among Winners of Vancouver Film Critics Award

As reported in The Vancouver Sun, stage veteran Christopher Plummer was among the winners of the 12th Annual Vancouver Film Critics Circle awards, handed out last evening. 'The Artist', Michel Hazanavicius's black and white homage to Hollywood's silent film era, won for Best Film and Best Screenplay and Jean-Marc Vallee's 'Café de flore' picked up the award for Best Canadian Film.

Other winners incluced Terrence Malick as Best Director for his film 'The Tree of Life' and the film's star, Jessica Chastain as best supporting actress. Chastain was also recognized for her work in 'The Help' and 'Take Shelter'. Following a breakout year on screen, the actress will make her Broadway debut in an upcoming revival of Ruth Goetz and Augustus Goetz’s play 'The Heiress', based on the 1880 novel 'Washington Square' by Henry James.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the evening was the award for Best Actress, which was given to Elizabeth Olsen for her portrayal of a former cult member trying to readapt to mainstream life in the film 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'.  The award for best actor went to Michael Fassbender for his role in Steve McQueen's 'Shame'.

Recognizing the best in Canadian film, The Vancouver Film Critics Circle awarded Michelle Williams the Canadian best actress award for 'Take This Waltz' and Peter Stormare as best actor in a Canadian film for 'Small Town Murder Songs'.

Plummer picked up an award for best supporting actor for his role as an aging father who reveals his homosexuality to his son in Mike Mills' feature film,'Beginners'. Plummer has won two Tony awards in his career, one for his performance in BARRYMORE and the other for his lead role in CYRANO. He first played the legendary actor John Barrymore in 1996 at the Stratford Theatre Festival in Ontario.