Dreams are achievable, and time is enough to reconcile our defeats, even after a while.
Perhaps we can use the above two phrases to frame the night of the 95th Academy Awards, and although they seem "canned" and conventional, they carry a kind of sincerity that we cannot ignore.
This was proven by the Oscar night, in which fate willed the dreams of the four actors who won the acting categories to come true, as they all exceeded the age of fifty, and this was also their first nomination, despite the difference and diversity of their careers in a coincidence that sparked contemplation.
Three of these are the heroes of the movie “Everything Everywhere All at once”, which is the undisputed winning horse of this year after it managed to snatch seven full Oscars, in a rare achievement.
Michelle Yeoh.. Making Oscar History
Screenshots of an article titled "It's been two decades since the last time a non-white woman won the Best Actress Oscar... Will that change in 2023?"
Posted by actress Michelle Yeoh on her personal account.
(communication Web-sites)
Last Tuesday (the last day of voting), actress Michelle Yeoh posted on her personal account screenshots of an article titled "Two decades have passed since the last time a non-white woman won the Best Actress Oscar... Will that change in 2023?" In one of its paragraphs, the article compares her with Her rival is strongly nominated Cate Blanchett, noting that Cate Blanchett has already won two Oscars.
This post faced some criticism from Yoh's followers, which prompted her to delete it, but it seems that the question remained on the table strongly, does the Oscars triumph for diversity and inclusiveness?
Michelle Yeoh (Reuters)
The answer didn't take long for us, as Michelle Yeoh had already managed to win the Academy Award at the age of 60, and the Academy described her Best Actress win in a leading role as "making Oscar history", even if the Academy seemed to be refining her image in one way or another. Given the amount of criticism of racism that the award has faced during the past years.
In turn, Halle Berry's presentation of the Best Actress award was very significant, as the latter was the first actress of color to win the award in 2001, and here she is presenting it to the second woman of color and the first Asian woman to win it.
But regardless of these considerations, we cannot ignore the emotional value of Michelle Yeoh winning the award, and her speech was very aware and sensitive to the value of this victory in an industry that cannot be denied the extent of its transcendence and racism, and she said that she directs her speech to all the boys and girls who look like her and follow the ceremony tonight, what happened It is a sign that big dreams are achievable.
Ki Hui Kwan .. From a small boat to the American dream
Ki Hui Kwan from "The Goonies" in 1985. (Communication sites)
At the age of about seven, the young child, Ki Hui Kwan, was forced to emigrate from Vietnam on a small boat, to settle for about a year in a refugee camp in Hong Kong with his father, before he was finally able to reach the United States of America in 1979 in a severe experience. Cruelty left a clear imprint on his childhood and his whole life.
Later, at the age of 12, serendipity alone led him to start his career in Hollywood, through two of the most successful films of the 1980s, "Temple of Doom" in 1984, and "The Goonies" in 1985. The kid Kwan thought that stardom would obey him, but unfortunately The fact that he is Asian prevented him from more acting opportunities, which he commented on in one of the press interviews, saying: "It is always difficult to move from a child actor to an adult actor, but when you are Asian, it is 100 times more difficult," which made him give up About acting for a long time, only working behind the cameras.
Ky Hui Kwan (Reuters)
This remained the case until his return came again after he was over fifty years old, through that movie, which seemed like a new adventure that he did not expect at first glance that would lead him to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, to finally achieve his dream, and strengthen the narrative of the American dream, which he referred to. In his speech: "They say that such stories only happen in the movies... I can't believe that this is happening to me. This is the American dream."
Ki Hui Kwan and Michelle Yeoh, then, share their suffering from limited roles due to their being of Asian descent, and we can describe Yeoh's suffering as double, given that she is a woman beyond middle age, which increases the scarcity of suitable roles for her.
Jamie Lee Curtis.. The daughter of the stars reaches glory after sixty
Jamie Lee Curtis (Reuters)
Unlike Michelle Yeoh and Ki Hui Kwan, Jamie Lee Curtis, who won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the same film, did not suffer from a lack of roles, and she participated in about eighty works, but this is her first nomination for the Oscar, and it came when she was four years old. Sixty.
In her acceptance speech for the award, Jamie Lee Curtis referred to suffering of another kind. She has always been accused of entering the artistic field through mediation, given that she is the daughter of two actors, Tony Curtis and Janet Lee, both of whom were previously nominated for the Oscars without being able to win them, for years that extend a year ago. 1977 Jamie Lee Curtis struggled to prove her talent and worth, until she was finally able to crown that career by winning the award.
Brendan Fraser .. The return of the whale after an absence
Brendan Fraser (Reuters)
In the context of dreams that come after a long wait, we can also talk about Brendan Fraser winning the Best Actor award for his role in “The Whale”, an award that can be considered as a belated consolation after years away from the limelight, which sparked Fraser’s reaction on stage. , where he tearfully kissed the award statuette, and thanked director Darren Arnovski, who gave him what he described as a "lifeline".
Brendan Fraser was famous in the nineties of the last century as one of the most successful Hollywood stars, but his star career was subject to some pitfalls and challenges, starting with injuries he suffered while filming some of his works, which prompted him to undergo surgeries on the spine, knee and vocal cords, through the collapse of his marriage. And the legal battles that followed, and finally the accusation of sexual harassment by Philip Burke, the former head of the "Hollywood Foreign Press Association", which is responsible for the Golden Globe Awards.
All these successive matters led to Fraser's isolation from the limelight, and he moved away from the main roles until he had the opportunity again in the movie "The Whale", in which he played the role of the obese, reclusive English literature professor who tries to reconnect with his daughter, so that he can climb on the throne. The Oscars after many years of waiting.
And this wasn't the only award the film won, it also won the award for best makeup.
The winner of the bets.. Does he deserve to win?
Despite its limited budget due to being an independent production, the movie "Everything Everywhere all at once" was able to top the box office, achieving record profits of about $ 108 million worldwide, of which about 74 million in the United States of America alone.
Despite its release in March of last year 2022, it was able to appear strongly in the award season races, topping the Golden Globe lists with eight nominations, of which it won two awards.
Despite this, surprise and controversy erupted in the wake of his winning of seven Oscars: Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Original Screenplay, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Editing, a controversy centered on his deserving of those awards, And if it was just an attempt to show the comprehensiveness and diversity of the awards, especially in the Best Picture category, in the presence of a strong competitor such as “The Banshees of Inisherin”, which many expectations suggested would win.
In the end, opinions differed about the film, despite the achievement at the level of the image, technique, and the dynamic acting performance of its heroes, some critics accused it of presenting repetitive, dull and confused ideas, such as the idea of a multi-world universe that was presented before in Marvel films, in addition to the idea of the different possibilities of human life paths. Which changes with the change of human choices, in addition to the usual intrusion into the issue of "homosexuality".
However, this does not prompt us to ignore the good ideas presented by the film, mixing among several other issues, including issues of acceptance and tolerance, midlife crises, the experience of immigrant life, and the conflict between the two generations of parents and children, who grew up in a different world speaking a different language that parents cannot master its vocabulary. and its rules no matter how long they are.
Many questions were presented by the film with unprecedented daring, on a large scale that varied between comedy, action, science fiction, and drama.
India.. double win
The song "Naatu Naatu" from the movie "RRR" won Best Original Song.
(Reuters)
Turning to India, its lands were filled with joy after the historic winning of two awards;
The first is Best Original Song for "Naatu Naatu" from "RRR" and the second is Best Documentary Short Film for "The Elephant Whisperers".
This double win was a belated global recognition, as despite the nomination of many Indian works in previous sessions, this is the first win for an Indian-produced work at an Academy Award, and it is also the second time that an Indian song has been performed during the ceremony after the performance of the song "Jai Ho". From the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" in 2009.
The movie “RRR” is the largest production in Indian cinema in terms of cost, with a production budget of $ 72 million. The song has also won a Golden Globe Award, and it was filmed in 2021 in front of the Mariinsky Palace, the official residence of the Ukrainian president, before the Russian invasion. to Ukraine for several months, and more than 150 dancers and a crew of about two hundred people participated in it, and it took fifteen days to film it.
The song is inspired by the rhythms of popular songs popular in the Telugu-speaking states of India.
After receiving the award, composer MM Keravani commented, "It's just the beginning. I feel very happy to open the doors of the world to embrace my culture."
The win also attracted comments from India's top politicians, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeting that the song "Natu Nattu" will be remembered for years to come.
An injured elephant, Raghu, after being separated from his herd, explores the intimate bonds between humans and animals.
(communication Web-sites)
In addition to the song, the historic victory of “The Elephant Whisperers” came as the first Indian documentary to win an Academy Award, and it revolves around an indigenous couple caring for an injured elephant after it was separated from its herd, and through scenes of extreme sensitivity and sensitivity that explores the relationship and intimate bonds between humans and animals.
Fashion design.. Two Oscars for a black woman
By winning Best Costume for her work on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ruth E.
Carter is the first black woman to win two Oscars, and Carter won her first award in 2019, for her work in the first part, "Black Panther."
She has been nominated twice more for her work on Spike Lee's "Malcolm X" and Steven Spielberg's "Amistad".
It is worth noting that only four blacks have won more than one Oscar, and there were no women among them, and they are the stars Denzel Washington and Maher Shala Ali, and the sound engineers Philly de Burton and Russell Williams.
Avatar .. a lonely Oscar after 13 years of waiting
Avatar was nominated for four Academy Awards, of which it deservedly won only one, Best Visual Effects.
(Reuters)
Finally, after director James Cameron was able to achieve a resounding success in the first part of the movie “Avatar”, and won three Oscars out of nine nominations, he had to wait thirteen years before finally returning with the second part, “Avatar: The Way of Water" to revive this epic that his fans are waiting for, so that the film can be nominated for four awards, of which it won only one well-deserved, which is the award for best visual effects.
For many years, Cameron has been preparing for his new movie, in which he relied on new techniques he invented to create a very impressive image, in which he relied on a face mask supported by a precise camera to capture the expressions of the actors, with the development of the “Fusion Digital 3-D Camera” system that allows the actor to experience the surrounding effects instead of from green screen or chroma, allowing for a more realistic experience of the scene.
All Quiet on the Western Front
Well, despite the return of the spotlight somewhat to the works shown in cinemas after two years of stagnation and the recovery of broadcast platforms such as “Netflix” and its counterparts, “Netflix” still has a good share of the Oscars this year, including four awards won by the war drama movie. The German “All Quiet on the western front” became the most award-winning German film in the history of the Academy, winning awards for Best International Film, Best Cinematography, Best Soundtrack, and Best Production Design.
Four Oscars were won by "All Quiet on the western front", becoming the most award-winning German film in the history of the Academy.
(communication Web-sites)
Also produced by “Netflix” is the movie “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”, which won the Best Animated Film Award. On the power relations and dynamics between parents and children, as well as the historical context of Italy under Mussolini's Fascist state.
This is how the results of this year’s awards came, some of which are surprising, while others are closer to expectations as part of the Oscars’ continuous and relentless attempts to improve its image, especially after the scandalous ceremony of last year, as it seems that Will Smith’s slap to the presenter of the previous session Chris Rock on stage still casts a dark shadow on him. The event, and this year's ceremony host Jimmy Kimmel took advantage of the situation and sarcastically promised the audience that anyone who commits an act of violence will receive the award for best actor and be allowed to deliver an 18-minute speech (referring to Smith's Oscar win last year).
This was not the only joke that Kimmel made, but he continued to make jokes throughout the ceremony about the same thing, and until the last award was handed over, where a plaque was seen reading: "Number of Oscars broadcasts without incident: 001".