“Everything Everywhere At The Same Time”the film by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, in a sober ceremony held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, which left glamor aside and outlined some humor, although with little space to the sketchs perhaps, out of fear, of repeating foolishness.
“If something violent happens, do what you did last year: Nothing”said comedian Jimmy Kimmel, host of the gala, referring to Will Smith’s slap to Chris Rock from the previous edition, while he rescued the return of the 23 categories to the gala that is broadcast live: “All the categories are here because the community wanted it that way, not television”. Although the winners of the so-called technical items were hardly allowed to thank, as happened to one of the make-up artists of “La ballena”, who, when trying to do so, cut off her microphone and turned up the music.
In a somewhat boring gala, lasting three and a half hours, the Daniels’ film also won the Oscar for Best Director, Best Actress (Michelle Yeoh, the first Asian to win this award), Best Original Screenplay, Editing (with complicated martial arts scenes), Best Supporting Actor (Ke Huy Quan) and Best Supporting Actress (experienced Jamie Lee Curtis).
The other big winner of the evening was the German war drama “All Quiet on the Front”, which won four statuettes, among them for Best International Film, thus ending the dream of “Argentina 1985”, by Santiago Mitre, of obtaining the third Oscar in history for our country.
Vietnamese Ke Huy gave an emotional speech, on the verge of tears: “This is the American dream”he said, recalling his boat trip and his year-long stay in a refugee camp before he became an actor.
Both Kwan and Schneinert referenced difficult childhoods and their love of movies and their families. Applause and laughter snatched up speeches that were not thoughtful and full of emotion.
Another moment that called to tears was when Brendan Fraser won his Oscar for Best Actor, in his return to the cinema thanks to director Darren Aronofsky, who convinced him to star in “The Whale”, a film that also won the statuette for Best Makeup. .
Earlier, the Mexican director Guillermo del Toro got his third Oscar with “Pinocchio”, under Netflix production, as Best Animated Film. In previous years, he had won the award for “The Shape of Water” in the Best Film and Best Director categories, in addition to being nominated for “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “The Alley of Lost Souls.”
As Best Documentary, “Navalny”, by Daniel Roher, won in what seemed like a more political than cinematographic award for the film that narrates the life of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opponent who is imprisoned in Moscow and who years before had been poisoned, being on the brink of death. His wife, Yulia Navalnaya, received the Oscar and sent a message to her husband from the stage.
The ceremony began at 9:00 p.m., with a story about the main nominees by the host, comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who rescued the laughter of those present with several jokes about them. A classic of the Oscars and of American humor, where mockery and humor constantly run their limits.
In a lengthy introduction, Kimmel shared jokes for James Cameron and Tom Cruise, who were absent from the evening: “The two who most insisted that we return to theaters are not here today.” Cruise, for being on the set of “Mission Impossible: 7”. In Cameron’s case, the reason was not known.
Two and a half hours into the broadcast, Kimmel reappeared. With papers in his hands, he approached those present to chat for a while with humor, although he spoke with little grace with Colin Farrell and the Nobel Prize winner and activist Malala Yousafzai. She also reached out to Jessica Chastain, who seemed to be stuck in 2020 with a mask on her face. The sketch was not very well understood and oscillated between ridiculous and nonsense.
The classic In Memoriam also passed, which remembers the members of the industry who have died during the last year. On this occasion, with a presentation by John Travolta and musicalized by Lenny Kravitz, they showed, among others, the images of Olivia Newton John, Ray Liotta, Jean Luc Godard, Gina Lollobrigida, Vangelis, James Caan, and Raquel Welch.
The 2015 #OscarsSoWhite movement called for more and better racial representation at the awards; the #MeToo born in 2018 denounced the sexist abuse in the industry. Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty’s historic mistake in declaring “La La Land” the Best Picture winner by seconds instead of “Moonlighting” spoiled the end of the 2017 ceremony.
The experiments with the format also showed a loss of course: there were galas without a presenter or presenter, and even with multiple hosts; Changes in the historical and logical order of the awards ceremony were tried, so that one year the maximum category of Best Film was not the one that closed the transmission; an attempt was also made to cut the total duration of the gala with the suppression of technical items of the “alive”. Neither option was liked and this Sunday the Oscars stuck to the classic format.
