Senior Screen Reporter Emily Leahy offers her perspective on the curtain closer to the cinematic awards season, the Oscars…
The 85th Academy awards was a musical spectacular; reflected in both the award winners and the night’s entertainment. Peppered with dramatic accidents onstage (Jennifer Lawrence’s fall) and outrageous gags from the host Seth Macfarlane, clearly the highlight of the night was the show’s musical theme and its show stopping performances.
The biggest winners of the night included Daniel Day-Lewis for his leading male role in Lincoln, Jennifer Lawrence for her leading female performance in Silver Linings Playbook, Christoph Waltz for his supporting role in Django Unchained and not forgetting Anne Hathaway’s win for her supporting female role in Les Miserables. None of these were particularly surprising wins, however; it was always apparent that the academy would choose to favour Lawrence over Jessica Chastain’s fierce character pursuing Bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty.
More unexpected was the Best Motion Picture award going to Ben Affleck’s Argo, both because the director was so clearly snubbed in the Best Director category of the awards and because fellow pro-American film Lincoln was firm favourite early on. Ang Lee won the title in the end, which wasn’t undeserved. Life of Pi was in fact the overwhelming winner of the night, taking home four awards for Cinematography, Music: Original Score, Visual Effects and Best Director. Lincoln, the initial favourite ahead of the ceremonies, actually performed fairly averagely, winning only two of the twelve gongs it was nominated for. It was a welcome change for the academy to acknowledge the achievements of films outside the traditional ‘Hollywood’ choice, even if Argo is a film about Hollywood saving the day.
This year the awards uniquely carried a theme, celebrating the musical film genre. There was an abundance of musical talent on display, most notably the medley performed by the Les Miserables cast. Additionally, Jennifer Hudson gave a breathtaking performance of ‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going’ from the film she won her Oscar for, Dreamgirls. In contrast, it has been disputed whether Catherine Zeta Jones’ performance was live during her rendition of ‘All That Jazz’ from , nonetheless, she successfully resurrected the character for which she won her Oscar in 2002. In addition Barbara Streisand also took to the stage, performing ‘The Way We Were’ from the Oscar winning film of the same title during the ‘In Memoriam’ section of the ceremony.
In extension of this, the British institution of James Bond films was celebrated through its musical contributions. Dame Shirley Bassey performed, in her usual fashion, the classic ‘Goldfinger’, whilst Adele represented the modern Bond with an outstanding performance of ‘Skyfall’. She more than justified her later triumph in winning the award for the Best Original Song, and her pure shock ensured her acceptance speech carried her spontaneous London charm.
Conversely, Seth Macfarlane was an underwhelming host, with a mix of average to frankly offensive jokes rather than boundary-breaking humour. Stand out moments included likening the violent Django Unchained to Rihanna and Chris Brown’s relationship and referring to the unoriginal topic of Mel Gibson’s apparent racism. Perhaps his most original moments came in the form of the pre-recorded segments: such as the brief appearance of Captain Kirk pointing out the lack of success in his hosting skills and the subsequent ‘Boob Song’ which documented all the occasions various female celebrities had shown their breasts on screen (or not, in the case of Jennifer Lawrence).
Overall, the awards were successful but more due to the musical interludes than the host himself. This was probably for the best, as it focused the attention on the talented nominees rather than the funny man role which has overshadowed the real talent at so many ceremonies before. The most successful films of the year were recognised and although it was disappointing Affleck didn’t even receive a nomination for the Best Director award, for the most part the winners were deserving and gracious.
Emily Leahy, Senior Screen Reporter
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