Oscar's night of dazzling surprises

Washington

THE conventional wisdom, going into the 87th Academy Awards, was that it would be a horse race between two quirky, experimental films: Boyhood, Richard Linklater's coming-of-age drama that took 12 years to film, and Birdman, a backstage show-business satire that director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu constructed to resemble one continuous take.

In the end, however, Birdman was the night's big winner, earning four awards for Best Screenplay, Cinematography, Direction and Best Picture. Boyhood, favoured to at least win Best Director for Linklater, earned just one Oscar: Patricia Arquette for Best Supporting Actress.

Birdman's sweep - as well as an exceptionally strong showing for Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel and Damien Chazelle's Whiplash, qualified as the bi…