Judi Dench won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress? No—she lost to Jennifer Hudson ( Dreamgirls ), but her nomination was universally acclaimed. Dench transforms Barbara into a monstrously sympathetic figure. Her voiceover—dry, precise, vindictive—is the film’s true weapon. Cate Blanchett, also nominated, plays Sheba with a mix of reckless passion and pathetic naivete. You never quite hate Sheba, even as her life collapses.