As had been widely predicted, "No Country For Old Men" won the Oscar for best picture, but a couple of surprises brought some much-needed life to tonight's generally lackluster Oscar show, notably Tilda Swinton's upset win in the best-supporting-actress category and Marion Cotillard's triumph as best actress.
Cotillard's victory over favorite Julie Christie ("Away From Her") came as a bit of shock, although it probably shouldn't have. Cotillard's portrayal of Edith Piaf in "La Vie en Rose" was a bravura piece of work that actors -- who make up a majority of the voters -- clearly could appreciate. I didn't expect Cotillard to win, but only because I wasn't sure that the picture had had enough exposure.
Despite such surprises and a genuinely sweet moment in which Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova took home the Oscar for the best song -- "Falling Slowly" from "Once" -- the evening seemed to suffer from a decided lack of electricity, so much so that it made me wonder whether Oscar isn't beginning to lose most of its luster.
Many observers seem to feel that it's not a healthy sign that the movies nominated for best picture -- with the exception of "Juno" -- haven't been widely seen; it also has been noted that none of this year's acting awards went to American-born performers. And if one were of cynical bent, it would be easy to employ Norma Desmond's line from "Sunset Boulevard;" the pictures sometimes do seem to be getting smaller.
But for me, it's not the nominated movies that cause irritation, but the show. I have no arguments with any of this year's choices, and I admired all but one of the best-picture nominees. (I wasn't a particular fan of "Atonement.") Yet, I watched the Oscars without the usual sense of excitement. It wasn't that the show left me wanting more, but that it made me feel as if I were seeing some pallid, alternate universe version of the Academy Awards. The festivities -- hosted with only moderate success by Jon Stewart -- even ended early, as if for once, the industry had run out of ways to congratulate itself.
2 comments:
No Country for old men is way too dark and violent for most people. I did not leave the theatre in a happy mood after seeing it. I loved Michael Clayton and There will be blood.
I think there were too many video montages. Also, there used to be a build up for best picture by showing a clip of each nominee intermitently through the show. We didn't get that so the drama for best picture wasn't there.
I am a huge Jon Stewart Daily Show fan, but somehow he doesn't quite do it for me as an Oscar host. I agree that there were too many video montages and not enough Best Picture buildup (I literally fell asleep before BP was announced).
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