Brits Score in Italy

Well we may not have trounced Poland last week, but the Brits beat Italy on their home turf when Jim Broadbent carried off the Best Actor Lion at the Venice Film Festival this weekend. Broadbent, last seen in Little Voice alongside Michael Caine and Jane Horrocks, won the award for his performance as WS Gilbert in Topsy-Turvy, Leigh's film on the life and music of the originators of easy listening, Gilbert and Sullivan. The movie is due to be released in the UK on 18 February. Topsy Turvy marks the second successful pairing of Leigh and Broadbent. They last worked together on 1980 movie Life is Sweet. Next up for Broadbent is a part in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge with Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.