Another year and another awards season that has come and gone. I genuinely mean this when I say it’s been one of the most exciting and nail biting awards season in recent memory. Usually there’s one or at least two front runners making it fairly easy to predict the winners but this year you could make a strong argument for quite a few to take the top prize at the Oscars. It’s hard to digest in detail everything that happened at the Oscars so I want to highlight the films or topics that interest me.
To summarise; PARASITE was the nights biggest winner taking home 4 Oscars (out of 6 nominations) including the top prize of Best Motion Picture of the Year. This makes it the first time a film not in the English language has won in that category, which was such a refreshing thing to see the Academy not play it safe and give the award to the film that genuinely deserved it. I had settled on the idea that 1917 would win as it had won Best Picture at the Golden Globes and BAFTA Film Awards, however whilst it would have been a worthy winner PARASITE is leaps and bounds more deserving for it’s wholly original concept and intricately detailed storytelling.
(PARASITE)
When I saw PARASITE days before the Oscars it was at the Tyneside Cinema and it was so encouraging for a foreign language film to see that the screen was packed, not only that but the tension and love for the film was palpable and thus shows that the greatest films do NOT have to be in English. It made me ecstatic to see Hollywood embrace this richly layered film and to not play it safe by rewarding 1917 by showing the world that Hollywood is ready to embrace stories from all backgrounds. This was a groundbreaking moment for the Academy Awards and I love the message it sends but it’s always important to reiterate that it is deserving of the awards on its own merit.
(Daniel Kaluuya, director Melina Matsoukas & Jodie Turner-Smith on the set of QUEEN & SLIM)
I LOVED Janelle Monae’s opening number that addressed the lack of diversity in the acting categories and how women were shocking overlooked in the film-making categories. I won’t even give time to the argument that there were no contenders (HUSTLERS, A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD, QUEEN & SLIM, HONEY BOY, THE FAREWELL etc.) because there was a wealth of wonderful work by female filmmakers so there is no excuse at all. Oscar winner Natalie Portman gloriously highlighted this issue by stitching the names of the overlooked female filmmakers onto her cape and that is why she is the best. The silver lining is that these films were critically acclaimed and have made MONEY. This sends a clear message to Hollywood that films by women can make money (shock) and I think that’s the beautiful message is yes it’s criminal that these films were overlooked but hopefully the successes of these films will help highlight more work by women already working and to give more opportunities to women behind the camera.
Not dismissing the points about lack of diversity but that’s why PARASITE‘s success makes it all the more beautiful and glorious. I loved how Karen Rupert who is one of the Oscar winner recipients of HAIR LOVE (Best Animated Short Film) said that representation matters. End of discussion.
(Joaquin Phoenix, Renée Zellweger & Brad Pitt)
Continuing on with our Oscar talk we HAVE to talk about the acting categories because I was thrilled with the winners: Laura Dern (MARRIAGE STORY) & Brad Pitt (ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD) won for their supporting roles and Joaquin Phoenix (JOKER) & Renée Zellweger (JUDY) won for their leading roles. These categories were a lock from the start of awards season and I’m happy there were no surprises. I could write an essay series on why each actor was deserving of their awards but my advice is to watch their films and you’ll know instantly why.
(Laura Dern & Renée Zellweger)
Why do people care so much about the Academy Awards? Well as OSCAR WINNER Laura Dern has wisely spoken all through award season; the accolades raise the profile of films that people may not have seen otherwise and recognition is important and beautiful. It can inspire others like how now films not in English now can run the race as fast as the English speaking films, or how the win of Hildur Guðnadóttir marked the first time in over 20 years that a women has won the Oscar for Best Original Score and there are many examples of people breaking down barriers in recent years.
But also strip away the awards chatter and the business side of the campaign trail and focus on the foundation of awards season: the films. I love giving myself homework to watch all of the Best Picture nominees and the actors that have been recognised, the content of the films can cover an array of experiences which beautifully opens up your horizons of what constitutes at the human experience. MARRIAGE STORY is a love story with divorce as the backdrop and then you can watch a film like PARASITE where in South Korea you see the struggle to want to achieve a better life under dire circumstances, or exploring mental health in JOKER to using humour as a powerful tool to confront the darkness and beauty of humanity in JOJO RABBIT.
(Oscar nominees Adam Driver & Scarlett Johansson for MARRIAGE STORY)
To put it simply, I love films. It’s special to have a window into experiences that are far removed from our own or are so close to home that it has a profound affect on us.
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