Can “Anatomy of a Fall” prevail against “Oppenheimer”?

Since its triumph in theaters, “Oppenheimer” has set off a chain reaction which only seems to be able to lead to its coronation on Sunday at the Oscars. But the French film “Anatomy of a Fall” is one of the rare competitors capable of countering this script written in advance.

With 13 nominations, Christopher Nolan’s portrait of the father of the atomic bomb is a huge favorite for the best film statuette, and a host of other awards at the ceremony. “It would be an unprecedented surprise if ‘Oppenheimer’ don’t win” the supreme reward, explains Scott Feinberg, columnist at the Hollywood Reporter, to AFP.

With rave reviews and an impeccable cast, the film should crown Nolan as best director, and Robert Downey Jr as best supporting actor. It is also favorite in many technical categories – editing, photography, sound, soundtrack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2DdcW8TNEO

Cillian Murphy, who plays scientist Robert Oppenheimer, is also a serious candidate for the Oscar for best actor. But Paul Giamatti is resisting, with his character as a cantankerous history professor in Winter Break.

“I bet almost everything on Oppenheimer This year”a voting member of the Academy told AFP, on condition of anonymity. “It’s such a monumental cinematic achievement.”

“Outsider”

With five nominations, Anatomy of a fall still hopes to do well. The Cannes Palme d’Or seems certain to come away with the Oscar for best original screenplay, as at the Golden Globes and the Baftas – the equivalent of the British Césars. A victory in another category, including best film, would be a thunderous achievement for the film by Justine Triet, the only woman nominated in the best director category.

However, surprises remain possible for this legal thriller about the collapse of a dysfunctional artist couple, where an ambiguous writer played by Sandra Hüller finds herself accused of the murder of her husband. “We must not underestimate Sandra Hüller (…), she is the outsider” for the Oscar for best actress, continues the anonymous voter.

The German actress could disrupt the announced duel between Emma Stone and Lily Gladstone. Already rewarded for La La Landthe first is in search of a second statuette thanks to her character of feminine Frankenstein in the baroque tale Poor Creatures. The second, star of Killers of the Flower Moon could become the first Native American actress to win the award thanks to Martin Scorsese’s historical thriller about the silent massacre of a tribe in the 1920s.

If Sandra Hüller fails on this front, she will surely be able to console herself with the planned success of another film in which she is starring: The Area of ​​Interest. This chilling chronicle of the carefree life of a family of Nazis, peacefully installed in their villa adjoining the Auschwitz camp, is widely considered for the Oscar for best international film. A category where Anatomy of a fall cannot compete, due to not having been selected by the French authorities.

The “Barbie” show

Presented by comedian Jimmy Kimmel for the fourth time, the ceremony will necessarily be tinged with pink, to celebrate the summer phenomenon barbie. Nominated in eight categories, Greta Gerwig’s feminist satire should be content with secondary awards: its director and the interpreter of the peroxide doll, Margot Robbie, were snubbed.

But after dominating the global box office last year, with $1.4 billion in revenue, the film will put on a show. Ryan Gosling, who left his mark as the evil Ken, seduced by the sirens of patriarchy, is particularly eagerly awaited. He will perform his song on stage I’m Just Kena walk on the fragility of the male ego.

Pop star Billie Eilish will sing What Was I Made For?the flagship title that she composed for barbie, favorite for the Oscar for best song. The show should take on a more serious tone, with the anticipated victory of 20 days in Mariupolan account of the atrocities of the war in Ukraine, in the best documentary category.

Finally on the animation side, the Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki (The Boy and the Heron) is promised a duel against the spider-man, star of the cartoon Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The 96th Academy Awards will begin Sunday at 4 p.m. in Hollywood.