LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) — Movie musical “Chicago” won the Oscar for best film at the Academy Awards Sunday, but it was a pair of stunning upset victories for “The Pianist” — director Roman Polanski and actor Adrien Brody — that gave the biggest surprises in a ceremony marked by talk of war.

For much of this year’s awards season in Hollywood, “Chicago” had been a front-runner, and coming into the Oscars it was an odds-on favorite in many top categories with 13 nominations, more than any other film.

But its six awards came mostly in minor categories, and when star Renee Zellweger lost the best actress award to a tearful Nicole Kidman, star of drama “The Hours,” the musical about a pair of murdering actresses and the media who made them stars seemed to have lost its steam.

Along with best film, “Chicago” made Catherine Zeta-Jones the winner for best supporting actress, and it earned Oscars in art direction, sound, costume design and film editing.

Brody’s victory marked perhaps the biggest upset over heavily favored Daniel Day-Lewis of “Gangs of New York” and Jack Nicholson in “About Schmidt,” among the nominees.

Brody took the stage and gave last year’s best actress winner Halle Berry a big kiss on the mouth. “That was better than the gift bag,” he said, referring to the bags that are full of expensive watches, perfumes and gifts for the winners.

But his jokes turned to tears as he remembered making the film and thought about the war in Iraq. He said his experiences had made him “very aware of the sadness” war causes.

“Let’s pray for a peaceful and swift resolution,” he said, which brought the audience to its feet.

Surprise victory

Polanski’s victory, too, was a surprise, because the director fled the United States in 1978 after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl. He faces a long prison term if he returns, and many in Hollywood have mixed feelings about him — although peers like Martin Scorsese, whom he beat, consider him a film-making master.

Kidman, however, was far less a surprise, because she and Zellweger had come into the night’s ceremony neck-and-neck in the race for best actress.

“Russell Crowe said, ‘Don’t cry if you get up there,’ and now I’m crying,” she said before turning her back on the audience. When she turned around, she apologized: “Sorry.”

Through the first part of the show, there was little mention of the fighting in Iraq from the stars and even show host Steve Martin, but when Michael Moore took to the podium as the winner for a best documentary feature, the anti-gun movie “Bowling for Columbine,” all that changed.

“We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. Whether it is the fiction of duct tape or the fiction of orange alerts, we are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush!”

His statements set off a round of boos in the audience, which was met with some cheering, then more boos. The theater became so loud, Moore could not be heard finishing his speech.

Among other winners, Chris Cooper took the Oscar for best supporting actor in “Adaptation,” playing a poacher of exotic orchids from the swamps of Florida.

Like Brody, a nine-months-pregnant Zeta-Jones, too, found her voice cracking toward the end of her acceptance speech.

“My hormones are too way out of control to even be dealing with this now,” said Zeta-Jones, who was beginning to tear up just as she finished her speech.

Onstage, Martin braced himself for Walt Disney Co.-owned TV network ABC to preempt the show, but ABC cut in only twice in what appeared to be planned events.

Other early awards went to “Spirited Away” from legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, which was named the best animated feature. Popular fantasy film “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” won the Oscar for best visual effects.

Ahead of the show, the stars paraded into the Kodak Theater in downtown Hollywood along with what had been billed as a scaled-back red carpet that was absent all the glitz, glamour, reporters and cameras that normally line the entry.

Fashions subdued

As expected, the men wore mostly basic black tuxedos, and the women dressed in subdued designer gowns from Prada to Yves St. Laurent. They toned down the gowns in terms of style with simple sheaths, exposed shoulders and loosened hair. Colors ranged from pale fuchsias and blues, to beige and midnight black — the color chosen by Nicole Kidman.

Many of the actresses passed on wearing the diamond necklaces and large jeweled earrings that had been expected for this year’s diamond anniversary Academy Awards.

Several stars, such as Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, flashed peace signs as they walked in, and a few, like Julianne Moore, nominated in both the best supporting actress category for “The Hours” and best actress group for “Far From Heaven,” displayed pale blue peace sign pins — Moore’s on her purse.

Outside the Kodak Theater, Hollywood Boulevard was cordoned off for eight blocks or more on either side of the theater with a heavy police presence.

The Oscars are the U.S. film industry’s top honors given out each year by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. They are broadcast live, and the winners are given 45 seconds to say anything they want onstage. As a result, the awards sometimes become a soap box from which to preach.