Chlo茅 ZhaoB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淣omadland,B次元官网网址� a wistful portrait of itinerant lives on open roads across the American West, won best picture Sunday at the 93rd Academy Awards, where the China-born Zhao became the first woman of colour to win best director and a historically diverse group of winners took home awards.
In the biggest surprise of a socially distanced Oscar ceremony held during the pandemic, best actor went to Anthony Hopkins for his performance in the dementia drama B次元官网网址淭he Father.B次元官网网址� The award had been widely expected to go to Chadwick Boseman for his final performance in B次元官网网址淢a RaineyB次元官网网址檚 Black Bottom.B次元官网网址� The nightB次元官网网址檚 last award, it ended the ceremony on a down note, particularly since Hopkins wasnB次元官网网址檛 in attendance.
Hours later, Hopkins made a belated victory speech from his Welsh homeland and paid tribute to Boseman, who he said was B次元官网网址渢aken from us far too early.B次元官网网址�
The B次元官网网址淣omadlandB次元官网网址� victory, while widely expected, nevertheless capped the extraordinary rise of Zhao, a lyrical filmmaker whose winning film is just her third, and which B次元官网网址� with a budget less than $5 million and featuring a cast populated by non-professional actors B次元官网网址� ranks as one of the most modest-sized movies to win HollywoodB次元官网网址檚 top honour. (ZhaoB次元官网网址檚 next film, MarvelB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淓ternals,B次元官网网址� has a budget approximately 40 times that of B次元官网网址淣omadland.B次元官网网址�)
A plain-spoken meditation on solitude, grief and grit, B次元官网网址淣omadlandB次元官网网址� stuck a chord in a pandemic-ravaged year. It made for an unlikely Oscar champ: A film about people who gravitate to the margins took centre stage.
B次元官网网址淚 have always found goodness in the people IB次元官网网址檝e met everywhere I went in the world,B次元官网网址� said Zhao when accepting best director, which Kathryn Bigelow (B次元官网网址淭he Hurt LockerB次元官网网址�) was the only previous woman to win. B次元官网网址淭his is for anyone who has the faith and the courage to hold on to the goodness in themselves and to hold on the goodness in other no matter how difficult it is to do that.B次元官网网址�
With a howl, B次元官网网址淣omadlandB次元官网网址� star Frances McDormand implored people to seek out her film and others on the big screen. Released by the Disney-owned Searchlight Pictures, B次元官网网址淣omadlandB次元官网网址� premiered at a drive in and debuted in theatres, but found its largest audience on Hulu.
B次元官网网址淧lease watch our movie on the largest screen possible,B次元官网网址� McDormand said. B次元官网网址淎nd one day very, very soon, take everyone you know into a theatre, shoulder to shoulder in that dark space, and watch every film thatB次元官网网址檚 represented here tonight.B次元官网网址�
Soon after, McDormand won best actress, too B次元官网网址� her third such win. Only Katharine Hepburn, a four-time winner, has won best actress more times.
The most ambitious award show held during the pandemic, the Oscars rolled out a red carpet and tried to restored some glamour to a grim year. For the first time ever, this yearB次元官网网址檚 nominees were overwhelmingly seen in the home during a pandemic year that forced theatres to close and prompted radical change in Hollywood.
More women and more actors of colour were nominated than ever before, and Sunday brought a litany of records and firsts across many categories, spanning everything from hairstyling to composing to acting. It was, some observers said, a sea change for an awards harshly criticized as B次元官网网址淥scarsSoWhiteB次元官网网址� in recent years, leading the film academy to greatly expand membership.
The ceremony B次元官网网址� fashioned as a movie of its own and styled as a laid back party B次元官网网址� kicked off with opening credits and a slinky Regina King entrance, as the camera followed the actress and B次元官网网址淥ne Night in MiamiB次元官网网址� director in one take as she strode with an Oscar in hand into Los AngelesB次元官网网址� Union Station and onto the stage. Inside the transit hub (trains kept running), nominees sat at cozy, lamp-lit tables around an intimate amphitheatre. Some moments B次元官网网址� like Glenn Close getting down to B次元官网网址淒a ButtB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� were more relaxed, but the ceremony couldnB次元官网网址檛 just shake off the past 14 months.
B次元官网网址淚t has been quite a year and we are still smack dab in the middle of it,B次元官网网址� King said.
Daniel Kaluuya won best supporting actor for B次元官网网址淛udas and the Black Messiah.B次元官网网址� The win for the 32-year-old British actor who was previously nominated for B次元官网网址淕et Out,B次元官网网址� was widely expected. Kaluuya won for his fiery performance as the Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, whom Kaluuya thanked for showing him B次元官网网址渉ow to love myself.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檝e got to celebrate life, man. WeB次元官网网址檙e breathing. WeB次元官网网址檙e walking. ItB次元官网网址檚 incredible. My mum met my dad, they had sex. ItB次元官网网址檚 amazing. IB次元官网网址檓 here. IB次元官网网址檓 so happy to be alive,B次元官网网址� Kaluuya said, while cameras caught his motherB次元官网网址檚 confused reaction.
With the awards capping a year of national reckoning on race and coming days after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted for killing George Floyd, police brutality was on the minds of many attendees. King said that if the verdict had been different, she might have traded her heels for marching boots.
Travon Free, co-director of the live-action short winner B次元官网网址淭wo Perfect Strangers,B次元官网网址� wore a suit jacket lined with the names of those killed by police. His film dramatizes police brutality as an inescapable time loop like a tragic B次元官网网址淕roundhogB次元官网网址檚 DayB次元官网网址� for Black Americans.
Best supporting actress went to Youn Yuh-jung for the matriarch of Lee Isaac ChungB次元官网网址檚 tender Korean-American family drama B次元官网网址淢inari.B次元官网网址� The 73-year-old Youn, a well-known actress in her native South Korea, is the first Asian actress to win an Oscar since 1957 and the second in history. She accepted the award from Brad Pitt, an executive producer on B次元官网网址淢inari.B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淢r. Brad Pitt, finally,B次元官网网址� said Youn. B次元官网网址淣ice to meet you.B次元官网网址�
Hairstylists Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson of B次元官网网址淢a RaineyB次元官网网址檚 Black BottomB次元官网网址� became the first Black women to win in makeup and hairstyling. Ann Roth, at 89 one of the oldest Oscar winners ever, also won for the filmB次元官网网址檚 costume design.
The nightB次元官网网址檚 first award went to Emerald Fennell, the writer-director of the provocative revenge thriller B次元官网网址淧romising Young Woman,B次元官网网址� for best screenplay. Fennell, winning for her feature debut, is the first woman win solo in the category since Diablo Cody (B次元官网网址淛unoB次元官网网址�) in 2007.
The telecast, produced by a team led by filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, moved out of the awardsB次元官网网址� usual home, the Dolby Theatre, for Union Station. With Zoom ruled out for nominees, the telecast included satellite feeds from around the world. Performances of the song nominees were pre-taped and aired during the preshow.
Pixar notched its 11th best animated feature Oscar with B次元官网网址淪oul,B次元官网网址� the studioB次元官网网址檚 first feature with a Black protagonist. Peter DocterB次元官网网址檚 film, about a about middle-school music teacher (Jamie Foxx), was one of the few big-budget movies in the running at the Academy Awards. (It also won best score, making Jon Batiste the second Black composer win the award, which he shared with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.) Another was Christopher NolanB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淭enet,B次元官网网址� which last September attempted to resuscitate moviegoing during the pandemic. It took best visual effects.
David FincherB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淢ank,B次元官网网址� a lavishly crafted drama of 1940s Hollywood made for Netflix, came in the lead nominee with 10 nods and went home with awards for cinematography and for production design. Netflix led all studios with seven Oscars but again B次元官网网址� after close calls with B次元官网网址淭he IrishmanB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淩oma,B次元官网网址� again missed out on the top award.
B次元官网网址淢y Octopus Teacher,B次元官网网址� a film that found a passionate following on Netflix, won best documentary. Danish director Thomas VinterbergB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淎nother RoundB次元官网网址� won best international film, an award he dedicated to his daughter, Ida, who in 2019 was killed in a car crash at age 19.
The red carpet was back Sunday, minus the throngs of onlookers and with socially distanced interviews. Casual wear, the academy warned nominees early on, was a no-no. Stars, limited to a plus-one, went without their usual battalions of publicists.
But even a good show may not be enough to save the Oscars from an expected ratings slide. Award show ratings have cratered during the pandemic, and this yearB次元官网网址檚 nominees B次元官网网址� many of them smaller, lower-budget dramas B次元官网网址� wonB次元官网网址檛 come close to the drawing power of past Oscar heavyweights like B次元官网网址淭itanicB次元官网网址� or B次元官网网址淏lack Panther.B次元官网网址�
SundayB次元官网网址檚 pandemic-delayed Oscars bring to a close the longest awards season ever B次元官网网址� one that turned the seasonB次元官网网址檚 industrial complex of cocktail parties and screenings virtual. Eligibility was extended into February of this year, and for the first time, a theatrical run wasnB次元官网网址檛 a requirement of nominees. Some films B次元官网网址� like B次元官网网址淪ound of MetalB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� premiered all the way back in September 2019. The biggest ticket-seller of the best picture nominees was B次元官网网址淧romising Young Woman,B次元官网网址� with $6.4 million in box office.
___
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
