MOVIES - March 21, 1989

“The Last Emperor,” last year’s big winner at the Academy Awards, was named best film Sunday night by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Two stars from the offbeat comedy “A Fish Called Wanda” won acting awards: John Cleese (best actor) and Michael Palin (supporting actor). Best actress awards winners were Maggie Smith, for her starring role as a spinster piano teacher in Dublin in “The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne,” and Dame Judi Dench, for her supporting role as the pushy mother in “A Handful of Dust.” Best original screenplay went to “A World Apart,” while “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” won best adapted screenplay. Louis Malle took directing honors for “Au Revoir Les Enfants.” This year’s best picture Oscar nominees were ineligible because they were not released in Britain during 1988.