Stone Slams USA

Director Oliver Stone was in a typically bolshy mood at yesterday's Empire Awards when he arrived to accept his award for Movie Masterpiece for his 1991 movie JFK. Presenting the award to Stone for JFK was Radio One’s Mark Kermode who described Stone’s career as being, ‘as controversial and diverse as it has been successful' and the movie itself as ‘more than a work of art – it’s a political act.’ Accepting the award Stone referred to the evening’s earlier winner, Michael Caine, saying that he thought he’d depressed Caine so much after directing him in Hand that ‘I put him on Prozac for three years after that!' But the maverick director became more serious when discussing JFK. 'This film has a really ambivalent history in America and ever since then my life has never been the same…So often the Americans live in isolation with a sense of superiority and the ugly accusations of JFK have offended many in my country. The political press have only fuelled the flames and I accept this award with great ambivalence. This movie meant so much to me and it was the apex of my career to date but it has been relegated to the national hall of blackholes of memory in my country. So tonight is a great honour.’ ![Real Audio]