David and the Oscars
The 92nd Academy Awards were for the underdogs, especially Bong Joon-ho, director of “Parasite,” who won all three of his first Oscar nominations.
His Korean thriller pulled in four total wins, including best picture. This prize was almost sure to go to the war drama, “1917,” after it won best picture from the American Film Institute, the British Academy Film Awards and the Golden Globes.
“1917” itself was nominated for ten Oscars and won three: sound mixing, visual effects and cinematography.
But the huge upset does not compare to the fact that “Parasite” was the first non-English-language film to win best picture. In 92 years of the Academy Awards, only 11 international films have even been nominated for the award.
“Parasite” is now tied with “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000) and “Fanny and Alexander” (1982) for most wins by an international film.
“I feel like a very opportune moment in history is happening right now,” said Kwak Sin Ae through a translator after accepting the grand prize.
Another major upset occurred in the music department. Hildur Guðnadóttir won best original score with her haunting cello-heavy score for “Joker,” becoming the first woman to win the award. She became only the ninth woman to be nominated for any scoring category in Oscar history.
And it was not an easy win. She went up against film scoring giants John Williams, Thomas Newman, Randy Newman and Alexandre Desplat who, between them, have exactly 100 Oscar nominations and nine wins.
This was Guðnadóttir’s first Oscar nomination.
“To the girls, to the women, to the mothers, to the daughters who hear the music bubbling within,” Guðnadóttir said with the trophy in hand, “please speak up. We need to hear your voices.”
Despite the surprises, some awards followed protocol, such as Joaquin Pheonix’s performance in “Joker,” Laura Dern’s role in “Marriage Story” and Roger Deakins’ cinematography for “1917.”
Also, as in years past, Netlfix was notably snubbed. Despite garnering 24 total nominations, the popular streaming service took home only two Oscars: best supporting actress for “Marriage Story” and best documentary feature for “American Factory.” Although Netflix has seen success with their documentaries in recent years, “Marriage Story” was the first narrative film from Netflix not named “Roma” to win an Oscar.
Not even the legendary auteur, Martin Scorsese, could lift Netflix’s “The Irishman” above 2019’s competition. Despite walking into Dolby Theatre as a front-runner with ten nominations, the crime epic went home completely empty-handed.
John Williams, nominated with his score for “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” continues to hold the record for most Oscar nominations for a living person at 52. He is followed by director Woody Allen with 24.
Another notable moment from the night was Phoenix’s speech about injustice when he took the stage to receive his award for best actor.
“This form of expression has given me the most extraordinary life,” Phoenix said. “I don’t know what I’d be without it. But I think the greatest gift that it’s given me, and many of us in this room, is the opportunity to use our voice for the voiceless.”
He spoke about the fight against injustices towards minorities, women, animals and the environment, calling humanity to “use love and compassion as our guiding principles.”
“I think that’s when we’re at our best,” Phoenix continued, “when we support each other, not when we cancel each other out for past mistakes, but when we help each other to grow, when we educate each other, when we guide each other toward redemption. That is the best of humanity.”
Phoenix, fighting his emotions, finished his speech with a lyric his late older brother, River, wrote: “Run to the rescue with love, and peace will follow.”
*Photo by Chris Pezzallo/Associated Press.
—william.bultez@aggiemail.usu.edu
@willistheginger