AWARD SEASON ENDS: THE OSCARS RECAP
Us Oppen-homies can rejoice at the hugely
satisfying display of Christopher Nolan clutching Best Director. Despite being
acclaimed as one of the greats of modern cinema, the auteur has struggled to twist
the awards in his favour as he has done with time and linear narratives. His
only wins are one for the effects in the sci-fi odyssey Interstellar and
a posthumous Best Supporting Actor for the late Heath Ledger. Now, not only is
Nolan’s award shelf jam-packed, but he might have to build another as the
Academy is finally recognising his distinct impact on the industry. His team of
technical wizards also scooped their fair share, as Oppenheimer won Best Cinematography,
Best Editing and Best Original Score respectively.
Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr.
took the last two awards for their impeccable performances. Murphy paid tribute
to his homeland, calling himself “a proud Irishman” standing in the spotlight.
Downey Jr. deserves much credit considering his hardships, which he alluded to
in his speech. With pure deadpan, he stated: “I would like to thank my terrible
childhood and the Academy, in that order.” Both actors received their first Oscar
wins, with Downey Jr. previously nominated on two other occasions and Murphy
having been nominated only once.
I know the big phenomenon was Barbie
rivalling Oppenheimer for ticket sales upon their joint releases (flippantly
titled Barbenhiemer), but when it came to the awards, the bout was heavily
one-sided. Poor Things, however, stepped in Barbie’s place and was an almost
worthy opponent at this award season for Oppenheimer. It swept the artistic
categories – Best Costume Design, Production Design and Hair and Makeup – as well
as gave Emma Stone her first Oscar. A very welcome selection of wins, particularly
since Barbie was tipped to win Production, but the weird and wonderful way director
Yorgos Lanthimos brought a Salvador Dali painting to the screen was always my
hopeful pick. Stone also deserved the win; although I had Killers of the
Flower Moon’s Lily Gladstone, Stone produced something that required a
stretch across all forms of acting to reflect her character’s journey. She has
come a long way from the ‘pretty girl’ trope.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph has been a true
success story throughout this award season, scooping up Best Supporting Actress
like there’s no tomorrow and it's nevertheless deserved. In fact, the entire evening
was full of brilliant wins that I had hoped for but had doubted given the
Academy’s track record with questionable choices (I, of course, refer to Jaime
Lee Curtis’ last year, to name an example).
The biggest surprise was to see The
Zone of Interest, the pseudo-documentary of Rudolph Hoss and his family
living life whilst next door to the Auschwitz camp, gain Best International
Feature and Sound. If you have not yet had the privilege, I would recommend experiencing
through earphones, as I did, to endorse the effectiveness of this disturbing
feature.
Fans who loved Barbie have had grievous disappointment
constantly. First was the lack of nominations for Margot Robbie (a frontrunner for
Best Actress) and Greta Gerwig (Director). Now they will only get to see the
film scoop up Best Original Song (Billie Eilish’s What Was I Made For?).
The only saving grace was that we got to see Ryan Gosling performing a
flamboyant and lavish rendition of his popular song I’m Just Ken, also
nominated, with his fellow Kens from the film.
The overall ceremony after Gosling's
performance was very jaded, as can be expected. Jimmy Kimmel returned to host for
a fourth time but, again, his showman qualities come across as very vanilla and
very few of his jokes landed. I fear he has about as much charisma as the
golden men handed to the winners. The other celebrity presentations were not
much better unless you enjoy a stark-naked John Cena.
That aside, there did seem to be much
more vigour in this award season than others previously and I argue much of
that has to do with the nominations. Audiences have had the privilege of
enjoying and experiencing a group of nominees with distinct personalities; from
the vibrant Barbie to the haunting The Zone of Interest, from the
cavalier The Holdovers to the ominous Oppenheimer. Thus, whilst
this award season has not thrown many surprises, it was a very sufficient evening,
witnessing plenty of people and products taking home their deserved prizes.
Comments
Post a Comment