For almost twenty years, the Oscars yearned for a film like Oppenheimer. A blockbuster with a huge budget that unites the audience, the critics and the Oscars again. In recent years, the relevance of the Oscars for the average film audience has decreased. Winners were ‘small’ or independent films: Nomadland, CODA, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.
Oppenheimer broke that trend. And was rewarded with seven Oscars, including the prizes for Best Film, Director (Christopher Nolan), Male Actor (Cillian Murphy), and Cinematography: for the work of cameraman Hoyte van Hoytema. He came to collect the prize – very Dutch – cool and nonchalant on his sneakers. “Thank you Christopher Nolan. You are by far the best thing that has happened to my career.” Gesturing with the Oscar: “Obviously.” Van Hoytema became the eleventh Dutchman to win the most important film prize. In 2013, Erik-Jan de Boer won Best Visual Effects Life of Pi.
The awards ceremony was not really exciting. With a lengthy awards season before the Oscars, the betting houses made the big profit Oppenheimer predicted weeks ago. There was a little surprise here and there: this is how we won American Fiction, about a black American writer who accidentally finds success with a stereotypical book, Best Adapted Screenplay. Not bad for a film that was quite ignominiously dumped on Amazon Prime Video in the Netherlands. But the only really exciting Oscar was for Best Actress. For a long time it was a neck-and-neck race between Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon) and Emma Stone (Poor Things) – with the first as the leader. Stone came out on top and won her second Oscar.
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Barbie
Excitement or not, at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, for the first time in years, it felt like the Oscars were once again a celebration of film as an art form for the masses, rather than as an art form for a small group of film nerds. And the organization of the awards ceremony responded well to this. That’s how it was Barbie, the most visited film of the year, very present at the Oscars. There seemed to be a camera constantly pointed at Margot ‘Barbie’ Robbie. Two songs from the film were sung live. Ryan Gosling’s ‘I’m Just Ken’ was a huge dance party. Billie Eilish’s ‘What Was I Made For?’ an emotional tour de force. although Barbie was one of the losers of the evening (with only the Oscar for Best Song out of eight nominations), it didn’t feel like the film was being ignored.
It was one of the most fun and streamlined ceremonies in years. Host Jimmy Kimmel perfected his biting-puppy style of humor: stars laughed benevolently at his innocent cynicism. The speeches were emotional, the politics universal, and the jokes original. A highlight was actor and muscle man John Cena as a reluctant streaker. Stark naked, in sandals, he had to present an Oscar: “Costumes… they are so important. Perhaps most importantly…” Even the always awkward In Memoriam section was emotional, with Andrea Bocelli singing ‘Con te Partirò’.
The smartest addition this year was that each acting prize was presented by five former winners. That pushed another twenty top actors onto the stage. Fun for the viewer: the tanned Matthew McConaughey, the always crazy Nicolas Cage, and the always charming Charlize Theron. And it caused visible emotion among the nominees.
And luckily – the highlight of every Oscar ceremony – something also went terribly wrong. Nothing on the level of the wrong name in the envelope, like in 2017. Or Will Smith punching Chris Rock on stage. But at the level of Al Pacino, who read the award for Best Film in such a confusing and anti-climactic way that the audience wondered whether there might be the wrong note in the envelope again. Scratchingly: “My eyes see Oppenheimer…Yes!”
Long ceremony
It does not alter the fact that the ceremony, which lasted more than three and a half hours, was far too long. The thought that another category will be added next year (Best Casting) drives one to despair. But just when the words of praise started to feel bitter, the accumulation of puns became irritating, or the many pauses with cheap screensavers and a bloody irritating instrumental version of Dua Lipa’s ‘Dance The Night’ started to get on your nerves, along came another speech that brought the fun back.
Such as that of Robbert Downey Jr., after winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (Oppenheimer): “I would like to thank: my terrible childhood, and the Academy. In that order.” And the completely unintelligible speech from the Japanese crew Godzilla: Minus Onewhich won Best Visual Effects.
Other winners used the stage for a political statement. Director Jonathan Glazer, who with Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest Won Best International Film, spoke about the conflict in Gaza. “We refuse to allow our Jewish identity and the Holocaust to be hijacked for an occupation that creates conflict for so many.” Stars such as Mark Ruffalo and Bradley Cooper wore a red pin to call for a ceasefire.
Just like last year, attention was also paid to the Russian attack on Ukraine. Director Mstyslav Chernov, the first Ukrainian Oscar winner, said he was probably the first on stage who wished he didn’t have to make his film. 20 Days in Mariupol documents Russia’s destruction of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. “I would trade this Oscar if I could reverse the invasion of Russia.”
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The victory procession is over for the film industry Oppenheimer a clear sign that choosing between art and commercialism is not necessarily necessary. It’s not just superheroes that can make money, and it’s not just small dramas that can win awards. Now that superhero fatigue is setting in among movie audiences, it is a signpost for the direction of Hollywood.
What also became clear with these Oscars is that international films are becoming increasingly popular in the US. In addition to the prize for Best International Film, five Oscars went to ‘foreign films’. That’s how I won Anatomy of a Fall the award for Best Original Screenplay above Poor Things. And not one American film was nominated for Best Documentary. Who knows, we may soon get more Dutch Oscar winners.
All Oscar winners
Best Movie: Oppenheimer
Best Female Lead: Emma Stone (Poor Things)
Best Male Lead: Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
Best Director: Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
Best Supporting Actress: Da’vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
Best Supporting Actor: Robbert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
Best Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema (Oppenheimer)
Best Music: Oppenheimer
Best Song: ‘What was I Made For’ (Barbie)
Best Original Screenplay: Anatomy d’une chute
Best Adapted Screenplay: American Fiction
Best Foreign Film: The Zone of Interest
Best Animated Film: The Boy and the Heron
Best Documentary: 20 Days in Mariupol
Best Make-Up and Hairstyling: Poor Things
Best Production Design: Poor Things
Best Costumes: Poor Things
Best Visual Effects: Godzilla: Minus One
Best Sound: The Zone of Interest
Dear Editing: Oppenheimer
Best Documentary Short: The Last Repair Shop
Best Short Film: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (first Oscar Wes Anderson)
Best Animated Short Film: War is over