Posted at 9:00 a.m.
Patrice Vermette, still “flabergasted”
Quoted in 2010 thanks to The Young Victoriaby Jean-Marc Vallée, and again in 2017 thanks to Arrival, by Denis Villeneuve, Patrice Vermette is this year favorite for the Oscar for best artistic direction. Like other artisans of Dunes, the Quebec artist saw his category relegated to the non-live broadcast portion of the ceremony. Even today, Patrice Vermette says he is “flabergasted” by this decision of the Academy. “I find that it creates classes, confided the craftsman to The Press. The mission of the Academy is rather to educate people in the professions of cinema. This evening should celebrate cinema and its making. There, it’s TV people dictating to movie people how to celebrate their art. They’re the same ones that speed up the credits when they show movies, so much that you can’t read any names, or shrink them in the top left corner while they’re advertising. It’s a lack of respect. They did the same at the BAFTAs in London [où Patrice Vermette a remporté le trophée]. It is certain that if I ever win on Sunday, I will have in mind that only part of my speech will be heard on TV. And I find that sad. That said, I’m still super happy to be nominated! »
Guillermo del Toro and the importance of an outside perspective
PHOTO GEORGE PIMENTEL PROVIDED BY THE CONSUL GENERAL OF CANADA IN LOS ANGELES
Denis Villeneuve and Guillermo del Toro met at the reception held Thursday at the residence of the Consul General of Canada in Los Angeles.
At the end of the credits Dunes, Denis Villeneuve personally thanks Guillermo del Toro, to whom the filmmaker asked for advice during the editing stage. Also present at the reception held Thursday at the residence of the Consul General of Canada in Los Angeles, the Mexican filmmaker, whose film Nightmare Alley is a finalist in four categories, told The Press have a special affection for Canadian filmmakers, Denis Villeneuve and Xavier Dolan, of course, but also David Cronenberg, Atom Egoyan and Sarah Polley. “All of these filmmakers have distinct personalities,” he says. The themes they tackle and the way they put them into images are always very strong. I love meeting other filmmakers and talking to them, because our profession is rarely well understood by those who don’t make films. For my part, I asked for the help of people like JJ Abrams, Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu, James Cameron and Michael Mann, because an outside look can detect what is not working much more easily! »
The rapid return of a tradition
PHOTO PROVIDED BY SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
Anthony Hopkins won the Oscar for best actor last year thanks to his performance in The Fathera film written and directed by Florian Zeller.
Last year, in the midst of a pandemic, the Academy decided to end the evening by awarding the Oscar for best actor. The idea was probably to end the ceremony in tribute to Chadwick Boseman, established favorite to win the golden statuette posthumously thanks to his performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, directed by George C. Wolfe. But the gala had ended in a fish tail with the more unexpected victory of Anthony Hopkins, remarkable in The Father, a film by Florian Zeller. The Welsh actor, held back at home, wasn’t even liaising with Los Angeles because the Academy hadn’t planned anything logistically. Earlier this week, producer Will Packer promised that we wouldn’t make the same mistake again and that, true to tradition, the last trophy of the evening would be awarded to the best film of the year. Hosted by Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes, the 94and Oscars Night will be broadcast Sunday at 8 p.m. on the CTV network, which relays the signal of the American network ABC.