Violent thriller 'No Country' dominates Oscars

Violent thriller "No Country for Old Men" won the best picture Oscar at the 80th Academy Awards Sunday as European stars scored a clean sweep in the acting honors in an historic Hollywood night.

"No Country for Old Men" emerged as the biggest winner of the evening, scooping four Oscars including best director for brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, best adapted screenplay and best supporting actor for Javier Bardem.

The film, a bleak and bloody drama about a drug deal that goes wrong and its murderous aftermath, was the overwhelming pre-Oscars favorite.

The evening's acting awards were dominated by European talent, with France's Marion Cotillard winning best actress for "La Vie En Rose" and Ireland's Daniel Day-Lewis winning best actor for "There Will be Blood.

Cotillard, 32, won for her astounding performance as tragic chanteuse Edith Piaf, becoming the first Frenchwoman to win the best actress Oscar since Simone Signoret in 1960.

It was the only second time in Oscars history that the best actress award had gone to a performance in a non-English speaking role. Italian legend Sophia Loren was the other woman to achieve the feat in 1962.

The British-born Day-Lewis received his award from British actress Helen Mirren, last year's winner for her role in "The Queen" quipping: "That's the closest I'll ever come to getting a knighthood."

The supporting actor and actress awards went to Spain's Javier Bardem for his performance as a psychopathic hitman in "No Country for Old Men" and Britain's Tilda Swinton, who played a scheming corporate legal chief in "Michael Clayton."

Bardem's award made him the first performer from Spain ever to win an acting Oscar. "This is pretty amazing, it's a great honor for me to have this," Bardem told guests in his acceptance speech.

Best Documentary

The Hollywood A-list meanwhile was reminded of the grim realities of the world beyond the red carpet as the best documentary Oscar went to Alex Gibney's harrowing "Taxi to the Dark Side."

The film spotlights interrogation techniques at U.S. military facilities, investigating the death in custody of a young Afghan taxi driver, called Dilawar, at a prison in Afghanistan in 2002.

"This is dedicated to two people who are no longer with us, Dilawar, the young Afghan taxi driver, and my father a Navy interrogator who urged me to make this film because of his fury at what was being done to the rule of law," Gibney said as he collected his Oscar.

"Let's hope we can turn this country around, move away from the dark side and go back to the light," Gibney said.

This year's Oscars are taking place after months of uncertainty following the Hollywood screenwriters strike that wreaked havoc with the entertainment industry's awards season.

The Golden Globes were canceled after stars vowed to boycott the event in support of striking writers and fears of a similar no-show had plagued the Oscars until the strike was called off earlier this month.