(Los Angeles) Dunesby Denis Villeneuve, is the film that won the most Oscars, but CODA nevertheless won the statuettes in the three categories in which it was in the running, including the ultimate one for best film.
Posted at 6:35 a.m.
As sometimes happens in a race for the Oscars, a candidate that nobody expected at the start finally passed the competitors in the final stretch. CODA (an abbreviation of Child of Deaf Adults), by Siân Heder, won the Oscar for best film, in addition to winning the one awarded to the best adapted screenplay. And Troy Kotsur won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The latter did not fail to thank France, where the idea of this film was brought to the screen for the first time.
This American adaptation of the French film The Aries family marks history by becoming the first feature film broadcast exclusively on a platform, Apple TV+ in this case, to obtain the supreme Hollywood award. It also becomes one of those rare films to win the ultimate Oscar without being cited in the category of best director, a scenario that has occurred only three times in 32 years (Driving Miss Daisy in 1990, Argo in 2013 and Green Book in 2019).
Six Oscars for Dunes !
The other big story of the evening was that of Dunes. The film adaptation of the famous novel by Frank Herbert, directed by Denis Villeneuve (who was not in the running for the category of best director), saw six of its ten selections turn into statuettes, more than any other film .
And if it were still necessary to be convinced of it, we had the opportunity to note the admiration that the craftsmen of Dunes to Denis Villeneuve, which is boundless. In addition to expressing their affection in their thanks on stage, they in turn paid tribute to the Quebec filmmaker in front of the journalists. One of the sound team members even said that Villeneuve was, in addition to being a great artist, an exceptional human being. “He’s the best filmmaker I’ve worked with,” he added. We were ready for anything for him. “And if they have for the most part obtained their Oscar during the unaired portion of the gala, these craftsmen did not wish to evoke the controversy. “We, this evening, we just want to honor Denis! »
PHOTO JORDAN STRAUSS, INVISION/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Patrice Vermette and Zsuzsanna Sipos won the Oscar for Best Art Direction for Dunes.
As one might expect, Dunes has been full of trophies in the so-called more “technical” categories: sound, visual effects, musical score (Hans Zimmer), editing (Joe Walker), cinematography (Greig Fraser) and artistic direction. This last trophy was awarded to Patrice Vermette, who thus got his hands on the precious golden statuette after being quoted for the first time in 2010 (The Young Victoria) and a second time in 2017 (Arrival). When the Quebec craftsman, who shares this trophy with the decorator Zsuszanna Sipos, appeared in front of the journalists, his emotion was still palpable.
Arriving on the platform with a glass in hand, Patrice Vermette first raised this glass to his missing friend Jean-Marc Vallée, “who I miss every day”, he said, suppressing a sob. “I so wish he were here tonight. I also think of all those times when I watched the Oscars with my parents when I was young, and here I am, today, little guy from Montreal, with this trophy. It’s surreal! »
The predictions were good!
The Power of the Dog, this film quoted 12 times (of which Roger Frappier is one of the main producers), was also saved from laundering thanks to Jane Campion. The filmmaker’s victory in the category of best director – fully deserved – did not surprise anyone. Twenty-eight years after being in the running thanks to The Pianothe one who hadn’t done anything for the cinema since BrightStarin 2009, became the third director to get her hands on the statuette, succeeding Kathryn Bigelow, winner in 2010 thanks to The Hurt Lockerand to Chloé Zhao, whose film nomadland was celebrated last year.
“I’m happy to see the pace picking up in terms of the recognition of women in the film world,” she said. Parity matters. »
On the performance side, the predictions were good: Will Smith, who was at the heart of an incident with Chris Rock that took everyone by surprise after the comedian made a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in King Richard, a film in which he plays Richard Williams, the father of sisters Serena and Venus Williams. On stage, the actor, visibly very moved, spoke of the clash, explaining that, like Richard Williams, he would do everything to “defend his family”.
Jessica Chastain, for her part, won the Oscar for best actress thanks to her composition in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, a film which was also awarded in the category of make-up and hairstyles. The actress’ portrayal goes far beyond the cartoonish image associated with Tammy Faye, a flamboyant woman who, along with her televangelist husband Jim Bakker, created the largest religion-focused media empire in spectacle in the 1970s and 1980, which collapsed after a major financial scandal.
Then, Ariana DeBose was crowned best actress in a supporting role thanks to her performance in West Side Storyexactly 60 years after Rita Moreno got the same statuette for playing the same role in the first film adaptation of the famous musical.
Other Films on the Honor Roll
the sublime Drive My Carby Ryûsuke Hamagachi, also cited in three other categories (including Best Film of the Year), finally won the Oscar for Best International Film. Encanto was consecrated in the animated feature film category and summer of soulin that of the documentary feature film. cruella got on the honor roll thanks to his costumes, Belfast distinguished itself by winning the coveted Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and No Time to Dieby Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, was chosen best song.
It should be noted that several of the winners whose trophies were presented before the ceremony, only to have their speeches cut short during the broadcast, underlined with emotion the fact that the room was still full for this unbroadcast portion of the gala. . A great gesture of solidarity from the teams.