"The Artist" garners 4 honors at Indie Spirit Awards

 　　LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The contender for top Academy Awards including best director and picture "The Artist" won big at the 27th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards held Saturday afternoon in Santa Monica, California, grossing four major honors including best feature.

　　The black-and-white silent homage¹ to the Hollywood heyday² beat out "Take Shelter," "Beginners," "Drive" and "The Descendants" for the best feature film.

　　It also walked away from the independent film-orientated awards ceremony with gaining best director for Michel Hazanavicius, best male lead for Jean Dujardin and best cinematography for Guillaume Schiffman.

　　"The Descendants," which is a main rival against "The Artist" in the leadup to the Academy Awards, whose writers including Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, received best screenplay honors.

　　Michelle Williams, who played the iconic star Marilyn Monroe in the biopic "My Week With Marilyn," was named best actress. The 31-year-old actress also won a Golden Globe for her performance and is nominated for an Academy Award for best actress.

　　Wall Street thriller³ "Margin⁴ Call" won the award for best first feature. It was also picked to receive the annual Robert Altman Award, which was given to a film's director, casting director and ensemble⁵ of actors.

　　Iranian drama "A Separation," directed by Asghar Farhadi and also a favorite for best foreign language film in the Academy Awards, was honored with best international film.

　　The ceremony was held by comedian⁶ Seth Rogen.

1 homage   

n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬

参考例句：

• We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
• The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。

2 heyday   

n.全盛时期，青春期

参考例句：

• The 19th century was the heyday of steam railways.19世纪是蒸汽机车鼎盛的时代。
• She was a great singer in her heyday.她在自己的黄金时代是个了不起的歌唱家。

3 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

4 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

5 ensemble   

n.合奏(唱)组；全套服装；整体，总效果

参考例句：

• We should consider the buildings as an ensemble.我们应把那些建筑物视作一个整体。
• It is ensemble music for up to about ten players,with one player to a part.它是最多十人演奏的合奏音乐，每人担任一部分。

6 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。