A very good selection

Oppenheimer, Poor Things And Killers of the Flower Moon dominated the list of finalists of the 96^e Oscar night. Who was snubbed? Who stood out? Overview by our columnist Marc Cassivi.

Oppenheimer on your mind

There were no huge surprises and the selection of the 96^e Oscar evening, announced Tuesday morning in Hollywood, is very well held. As expected, Oppenheimer leads the finalists of the ceremony, which will take place on March 10. Nominated 13 times, Christopher Nolan’s film about the remorseful inventor of the atomic bomb will be the big favorite in several leading categories, including that of the Oscar for best actor, which can already be awarded to Cillian Murphy for his role as Robert Oppenheimer. Poor Thingsa scathing satire by Yórgos Lánthimos crowned with the Golden Lion of Venice, follows with 11 citations, including that of Emma Stone in the best actress category.

The surprises and the snubbed

Despite the critical and popular success – more than a billion dollars at the box office – of barbie, its director Greta Gerwig and its lead actress Margot Robbie were not selected among the finalists. This surprised some (not me) since barbie, nominated eight times, is one of ten candidates for the Oscar for best film. America Ferrera only appears for a few moments, but her vibrant feminist advocacy seems to have convinced the Academy to include her in the list of the five best supporting actresses. This surprised some (me first). The biggest snubbed? Leonardo DiCaprio, shunned by voters for his role as a detestable simpleton in Killers of the Flower Moonyet one of the best roles of his career.

Flowers for Killers

Killers of the Flower Moon, by Martin Scorsese, is not to be outdone, with 10 citations. Lily Gladstone becomes the first American-born native to be a finalist in an acting category. Robert De Niro, nominated for the ninth time at the Oscars, will compete in the category of best supporting actor. At 81 years old, Martin Scorsese is the oldest finalist for the Oscar for best director. He is a finalist for the tenth time, more than any other living filmmaker (he surpasses Steven Spielberg). Surprisingly, Scorsese is not a finalist with Eric Roth for the adapted screenplay of Killers of the Flower Moonwhich moves away from the point of view of David Grann’s essay – the birth of the FBI – to focus on the Osage people.

The sweet revenge of Justine Triet

We felt the disappointment in Justine Triet’s voice during the promotional campaign in Quebec for her brilliant film, Anatomy of a fall. The Palme d’Or of the most recent Cannes Film Festival had just been rejected by the French selection committee in order to compete for the Oscar for best international film, in favor of the most academic The Passion of Dodin Bouffant, by Tran Anh Hùng. Justine Triet gets sweet revenge. His film is a finalist in five categories, and not the least: best film, best direction, best original screenplay (with his companion Arthur Harari), best editing and best actress for Sandra Hüller. The Passion of Dodin Bouffant was not even selected among the finalists. Some people must be biting their fingers…

The end of Americanocentrism

After the recent successes of Parasite, Rome or Drive My Car, all nominated in cutting-edge categories, the Oscars seem to be becoming less and less American-centric. It must be said that a quarter of the Academy’s new members come from outside the United States. Among the finalists for the Oscar for best international film, we find a Japanese film (Perfect Days) directed by a German (Wim Wenders) and a film in German shot in Poland (The Zone of Interest) by a Brit. The film by Jonathan Glazer, big favorite to win in the absence ofAnatomy of a fall, is nominated in five categories, including best film. As Past Livesthe remarkable first film by Canadian-South Korean Celine Song, shot mainly in Korean.