The Artist wins Oscar for best score

The Artist has won the Oscar for best score at the Academy Award ceremony currently taking place at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Ludovic Bource is the composer of the music for the otherwise largely silent black-and-white French film, and was the strong favourite for the award after taking the Bafta and Golden Globe. Bource defeated a lineup including Hollywood heavyweights John Williams The Adventures of Tintin, War Horse) and Howard Shore (Hugo), and well as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy's Alberto Iglesias. The score, however, created controversy after Kim Novak objected to the inclusion of a passage inspired by Bernard Herrmann's score for the Alfred Hitchcock film Vertigo. The Artist sees Dujardin play George Valentin, a silent movie star struggling to come to terms with the arrival of the talkies. Bérénice Bejo, who is married to Hazanavicius, co-stars as Peppy Miller, whose star is in the ascent as Valentin's fades.