The Academy Awards matter. They are self-congratulatory and often pretentious, but they also have the potential to elevate filmmakers with unique voices, introduce them to mainstream audiences, and open them up to future opportunities.
For example, the 2017 winner, Moonlight, barely had a release in my hometown, far outside of any major cities. As soon as it won big at the Oscars, cinemas everywhere were screening it, and audiences were suddenly flocking to see this film that had been named the Best Picture of the year. I have been cynical towards the Academy Awards in the past, but right now I want to put that aside for a while. I am so unbelievably glad that Parasite will now be getting the same opportunity that Moonlight did, earning a far wider release than it previously had up to this point.
Parasite’s Best Picture win was the biggest upset in this year’s ceremony, winning over the expected 1917, though there were plenty of other smaller twists along the way, many of which were still very well deserved. Ford v Ferrari nabbed Best Film Editing away from the expected winner, Parasite, and 1917 got one over Avengers: Endgame with its win for Best Visual Effects.
Though it had the most nominations out of all the films this year, Joker ended up with only two wins, those being the two it deserved most – Best Original Score and Best Actor. This is the second time in Oscars history that two actors have won Academy Awards for playing the same part, the first being Marlon Brando and Robert de Niro’s portrayals of Vito Corleone in The Godfather I & II, and with Heath Ledger winning for his version of the Joker in 2008’s The Dark Knight.
Joaquin Phoenix telling the audience to stop clapping as he accepted his award was a funny aside, but his speech was socio-political on an epic scale, and stood out alongside Brad Pitt and Bong Joon-ho’s as the best of the night. Phoenix’s humility is rare for an actor of his calibre, but it is also clear that he doesn’t enjoy the pomp of the awards and applause, so I will stop myself before going overboard in praise of him.
For the second year in a row the Oscars went without a host, leaving the individual presenters with the job of keeping the evening flowing along smoothly and lightly. Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig’s “acting” bit was hilarious, and they proved that should the Academy ever decide that they need a host again, they would be more than capable. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell also bounced off each other wonderfully in their bit, attempting and failing to determine the role of a cinematographer.
The lowlight of the ceremony came in the form of Rebel Wilson and James Corden dressing up as their characters from Cats and mocking the movie in the most awkward, stilted sketch of the evening. At this point the joke feels beaten to death, and especially when it came to their announcement of the Best Visual Effects winner, the bit started to drag out to the point of frustration.
The Best Original Song category this year was a little more disappointing than usual, though Elton John took both the award and our hearts with his song “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again”. Idina Menzel’s performance of “Into The Unknown” from Frozen II could have been one amongst many that came and went without much to say about it, but the decision to include the voice actresses from each dubbed language version of the film made it far more memorable and shone a light on the amazing non-American talent out there – apparently a running theme of the night.
After a celebration of songs from movie history, Eminem made a baffling appearance that had little connection to the rest of the evening, singing his song “Lose Yourself” from the 2002 film 8 Mile. As far out of left field as it was, he still had everyone in the audience bobbing and attempting to rap along, and it was a welcome break from the more formal proceedings. Billie Eilish’s subdued rendition of “Yesterday” beneath the In Memoriam carried the night through its most sombre moment as well, as we remembered filmmakers and stars such as Agnès Varda, Kobe Bryant, and Kirk Douglas.
No Academy Awards ceremony is ever without a few missteps, but this year’s had a lot more hits than misses. Between the performances and presenters, the 2020 Academy Awards were a fun and entertaining three and a half hours spent celebrating accomplished filmmakers, all of whom deserved their accolades. Parasite’s win in particular is both a huge shock and a welcome step forward for the Academy as they embrace more international, independent films. It is winners like these that restore my faith in an organisation that believes Crash and Green Book were truly the best films of their respective years. Parasite’s win is a win for cinema in general, and sends a message to Hollywood about the kinds of movies we want to see more of.
