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Daily News
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Oscars Provide A Beautiful Evening
Ron Howard's biopic takes home four Academy Awards, including Best Picture,
as African-American winners steal the show.
Monday, March 25, 2002
By J. Sperling Reich
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After a 42-year absence, the Oscars returned to Hollywood in grand fashion
as the 74th Annual Academy Awards were held in their new home on Sunday evening;
the Kodak Theater at the Hollywood & Highland complex. Ron Howard's biographical
picture of Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Nash, A Beautiful Mind,
was honored with four statuettes, including Actress in a Supporting Role, Best
Director and the top prize Best Picture.
Though Beautiful Mind may have taken home some of the Academy Awards'
most coveted prizes, what will be remembered from night was the history made
by African-American performers who walked off with the trophies for both Actress
in a Leading Role and Actor in a Leading Role. Indeed, for her performance in
Monster's Ball, Halle Berry became the first African-American woman to
ever win the award, a fact that did not escape her, for she provided one of
the most emotional moments in recent Oscar memory. The actress truly provided
an emotional high to what was a relatively straightforward, even bland, ceremony.
Denzel Washington's win the Best Actor prize also proved to be groundbreaking.
Berry's Big Moment
The award for Actress in a Leading Role was handed out toward the end of the
program. With only four awards left, Russell Crowe, last year's Best Actor winner
for Gladiator, presented the prize. When Crowe read Berry's name out
loud, she fell back in her seat in disbelief as a roar of enthusiastic applause
thundered through the Kodak Theater. Helped from her seat, the actress climbed
the steps up onto the stage, trembling all the way. By the time she made it
to the microphone to give her acceptance speech, Berry had tears streaming down
both cheeks, and Crowe was kind enough to attempt to steady her for a moment,
whispering in the actress' ear.
Like a deer caught in headlights, Berry tried to get her first few words out.
"This moment is so much bigger than me," she stuttered. "It's for every nameless,
faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has
been opened. I'm so honored, and I thank the Academy for choosing me to be the
vessel for which His blessing may flow."
After being escorted off stage by Crowe, Berry told reporters that she didn't
think it possible for African-American woman to win an Academy Award for Best
Actress. "I never thought it would be possible in my lifetime," said Berry who
won the award on her first nomination. "I just hope we now maybe will start
to be judged on the merit of our work and not our skin."
In speaking to the press, she reiterated what she had stated just moments earlier
on stage. "It's not really about me as much as it is about so many other women
of color who have tried to permeate this system for years," she said. "Today
I hope that the glass ceiling was broken wide open."
Tribute Paid To Poitier
Earlier during the proceedings, Sidney Poitier was given an honorary lifetime
achievement Oscar. A pioneering African-American performer in his own right,
who won the Best Actor Academy Award in 1963 for his role in Lilies of the
Field, Poitier gave an eloquent speech after being introduced by a seemingly
nervous Washington. "I arrived in Hollywood at the age of 22, in a time different
than today's," he began. "A time in which the odds against my standing here
tonight, 53 years later, would not have fallen in my favor. Back then, no route
had been established for where I was hoping to go. No pathway left in evidence
for me to trace. No custom for me to follow."
Poitier went on to thank those filmmakers, producers and studio executives
brave enough to cast him during a time in American history when it was economically
risky to cast an African-American as a male lead. "They knew the odds that stood
against them and their efforts were overwhelming and likely could have proven
too high to overcome. Still, those filmmakers persevered, speaking through their
art to the best in all of us," he pointed out. "I accept this award in memory
of all the African-American actors and actresses who went before me in the difficult
years. On whose shoulders I was privileged to stand to see where I might go."
When asked afterwards about the advances African-Americans have made in the
film industry, Poitier replied, "Things have changed clearly. And if you came
to this venue tonight and saw the array of minority actors headed by some rather
extraordinary people, you would know that there has been change. I think to
speak of Hollywood as if there has not been change is unfair. You can question
the pace of it. You can even question how long it will last. Denzel Washington
stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the best actors that ever lived for my money."
Denzel Washington Sets Bench Mark
Poitier's assessment of Washington's craft was confirmed even before the excitement
of Berry's acceptance speech had time to wear off. For his performance in A
Beautiful Mind, Russell Crowe was heavily favored to win the award for Actor
in a Leading Role, but Julia Roberts, last year's Best Actress winner for Erin
Brokovich, announced Washington's name upon opening the envelope. Calm and
collected, the actor took the stage and gave an energizing speech. "Two birds
with one night, huh?" he started out before turning to look for Poitier, a longtime
friend, in the balcony. "Forty years I've been chasing Sidney, they finally give
it to me, what do they do? They give it to him the same night. I'll always be
chasing you, Sidney. I'll always be following in your footsteps. There's nothing
I would rather do, sir. Nothing I would rather do."
Backstage, Washington talked about how much Poitier's camaraderie has meant
to him over the years. "He's been a friend of mine for a long time, and he's
given me advice for the first one or two pictures that I made. I'm indebted
to Sidney," he said. Truly, the actor was more nervous presenting Poitier his
award than receiving his own. "I was just very calm all day today," he recounted.
"In fact, I turned the TV on, and I was watching the NCAA finals up until four
o'clock. I was trying to wait to see who would win, and I just felt relaxed
and waited for the dance to be done."
Washington has been nominated five times and won the Best Supporting Actor
Oscar for Glory in 1990. This makes him the only African-American actor
to ever win two Academy Awards.
A Beautiful Mind's Awards
After two back-to-back history-making trophies were handed out, the awards
for Directing and Best Picture, both of which went to A Beautiful Mind,
were rather anti-climactic. In a year when most of the categories were difficult
to predict, most entertainment pundits viewed Ron Howard as the frontrunner
in the Best Director selection. Mel Gibson presented the award to the filmmaker,
who had to beat out the likes of Robert Altman, for Gosford Park, Ridley
Scott for Black Hawk Down and Lord of the Ring's Peter Jackson.
"I am not a good enough actor anymore to be able to stand up here and make
you believe that I haven't imagined this moment in my mind over the years and
played it out about a thousand times," Howard's speech began. Then, in talking
to journalists after the ceremony, the director said, "This is kind of the hubris
of the young. I didn't think that Grand Theft Auto was going to be an
Oscar nominated picture, but I thought it might get in the best comedy category
for the Golden Globes, which, of course, it didn't.. I thought, rather unrealistically,
very highly of myself from the beginning. And always hoped and dreamed that
I'd be able to make a project that would gel, would come together in such a
way that I can experience a night like this."
Howard wound up double fisting his Oscars on Sunday night, as he would win
another trophy, with his producing partner Brian Grazer, for the same film when
Tom Hanks announced the Best Picture award. The filmmaker let Grazer do the
talking for the both of them. While he began his career as a writer, Grazer
said, "I found that my calling was to tell stories as a producer, and I just
love doing just that. In the case of A Beautiful Mind, the story and
the subject were personal and important to me. And to receive an award for making
this movie is a miracle."
The only sure bet at this year's awards seemed to be Jennifer Connelly winning
the prize for Actress in a Supporting Role, which was the very first statuette
handed out. When the actress' name was read aloud nobody seemed shocked, including
Connelly, who plays Crowe's wife in A Beautiful Mind. "By some beautiful
twist of fate I've landed in this vocation that demands that I feel and helps
me to learn," she said in accepting the award before going on to talk about
her the real-life woman her character was based on. "I believe in love that
there is nothing more important. Alicia Nash is a true champion of love. So
thank you to her for her example."
"It's been such an honor," the actress added after the ceremony had ended.
"I was so grateful just to work on the movie. But then I can't deny the fact
that this has been really lovely as well, and I'm immensely flattered by it."
For adapting Sylvia Nasar's biography of Nash, Akiva Goldsman won the Oscar
for Adapted Screenplay.
Lord of the Technical Rings
Peter Jackson's epic cinematic rendering of the first installment of J.R.R.
Tolkien's Lord of the Rings also went home with four awards, all of them
technical, except for Howard Shore's nod for Original Score. The other trophies
the film was honored with were for cinematography, visual effects and makeup.
At the podium to receive his Oscar, Shore said, "It was just a tremendously
rewarding performance to translate the words of Tolkien into music. And I feel
blessed to be part of this production."
Cinematographer Andrew Lesnie nearly passed up the opportunity to work on The
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, thinking the project would be
too difficult to pull off. "I'm always basically searching for a quality script,
closely followed by a quality director," said Lesnie grasping his award backstage.
"I don't care what sort of story it is, I don't care what sort of genre it is,
but I am interested in trying to work on the films that are trying to have something
to say. It was just that I would never recommend anybody to undertake a trilogy."
Lord of the Rings was nominated for a whopping 13 Academy Awards, including
Best Picture.
Surprise Selections
It wouldn't be the Oscars if there weren't a few surprise winners, and this
year's ceremony provided at least two. Split voting is being widely reasoned
for Jim Broadbent being announced as the winner of Actor in a Supporting Role
for his performance in Iris. A small film that never received a wide
release, Broadbent hoped that his winning might make more people want to see
the movie. "I think the whole purpose of the awards itself, especially for a
film like Iris, it needs all the help it can get," he said. "It is nice
to be able to promote it with the awards we've been given."
| The other stunner was when Randy Newman, nominated for his 16th Academy Award,
won the prize for Original Song thanks to his music and lyrics for "If I Didn't
Have You," featured in the animated Disney film Monsters, Inc. With Sting
and Paul McCartney nominated in the category, Newman was not expected to win,
but split voting must have struck again. "I don't want your pity," Newman joked
in his acceptance speech. "I want to thank, first of all, the music branch for
giving me so many chances to be humiliated over the years."
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Speaking to journalists after walking backstage, Newman confessed, "I thought
McCartney would win, or Sting would win. But then, when The Lord of the Rings
was getting all those awards, I began to think that the Enya song might, but
I never thought mine would. Even though it's not undeserved."
Animated Awards
This was the first year that the Academy added the award for Animated Feature.
Three films were up for the award with the race coming down to Dreamworks' Shrek
and Monsters, Inc. When Shrek was announced as the winner, producer
Aron Werner let everyone know it took five years and 500 craftspeople to bring
the film to life.
For the Birds, a short made at the animation studio Pixar, won the trophy
for Animated Short Film.
Woody's Walk On
| One of the highlights of the show on Sunday night was the unannounced appearance
of Woody Allen. The writer-director-actor is known for not turning up to the
Oscar ceremony, even when he's nominated for awards. When Whoopi Goldberg, the
show's host, introduced the filmmaker, he received a standing ovation that lasted
for some time. "Thank you very much, that makes up for the strip search," he
kidded after the applause had subsided. It turns out he was present to introduce
a reel of clips of films made in New York City, which was devastated by the
September 11th terrorist attacks. Allen said that when the Academy called and
asked him to appear he "panicked because I thought they wanted their Oscars
back. I panicked because the pawn shop has been out of business for ages, and
I have no way of retrieving anything."
| |
It wasn't long before exiting the stage that Allen had taken off the bow tie
to his tuxedo. "I'm not a tuxedo person, but I didn't want to come without a
tuxedo because I thought it would be offensive to the other people," he lamented.
And as to why he would finally show up at the Academy Awards, "I wanted to do
something special for New York and the opportunity presented itself to me on
a silver platter. It was a chance to come and try and be helpful to the city.
There was no way I could resist it."
Best Picture Candidates
The only film to be nominated for Best Picture and not win any awards was Todd
Field's In the Bedroom. Gosford Park's Julian Fellowes won an
Oscar for Original Screenplay, and Moulin Rouge walked off with gold
statues for Costume Design and Art Direction.
| The Best Foreign Language film was given to the cantankerous Danis Tanovic
for No Man's Land, a movie set during the Bosnian war. The filmmaker
was quite provocative when approached by a middle-aged reporter in the pressroom.
"I think it's people of your age basically who makes war, and it's people of
my age who gets killed," he shot back at the journalist. "It's basically your
generation who made this mess, and it is mine who's getting you out."
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The Oscar show lasted 4 hours and 17 minutes, breaking the record set in 1997
by six minutes. Goldberg closed the ceremony with a message for New York City.
"We've got your back," she said as she turned to walk off stage, trailed by
a cape with emblems from New York's police and fire departments emblazoned down
the back.
A complete list of Academy Award winners is as follows:
Picture:
A Beautiful Mind (Universal and Dreamworks), Brian Grazer, Ron Howard
Director:
Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind (Universal and DreamWorks)
Actor:
Denzel Washington, Training Day (Warner Bros.)
Actress:
Halle Berry, Monster's Ball (Lions Gate)
Supporting Actor:
Jim Broadbent, Iris (Miramax)
Supporting Actress:
Jennifer Connelly, A Beautiful Mind (Universal and DreamWorks)
| |
Foreign Film:
No Man's Land (Noe/Fabrica Cinema/Man's Films/Counihan Villiers/Studio
Maj/Casablanca) Bosnia & Herzegovina
Original Screenplay:
Julian Fellowes, Gosford Park (USA Films)
Adapted Screenplay:
Akiva Goldsman, A Beautiful Mind (Universal and DreamWorks)
Original Song:
Randy Newman, "If I Didn't Have You" from Monsters, Inc. (Buena Vista)
Original Score:
Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New
Line)
Visual Effects:
Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Richard Taylor, Mark Stetson, The Lord
of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New Line)
Sound Editing:
George Watters II, Christopher Boyes, Pearl Harbor (Buena Vista)
| Sound:
Mike Minkler, Myron Nettinga, Chris Munro, Black Hawk Down (Sony)
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Animated Film:
Shrek (DreamWorks) Aron Warner
Art Direction:
Art Direction: Catherine Martin, Set Decoration: Brigitte Broch, Moulin Rouge
(20th Century Fox)
Documentary Short:
Thoth (Amateur Rabbit), Sarah Kernochan, Lynn Appelle
Documentary:
Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, Denis Poncet, Murder on a Sunday Morning (Maha
Productions/Pathe Doc/France 2/HBO)
Cinematography:
Andrew Lesnie, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New
Line)
Costume Design:
Catherine Martin, Angus Strathie, Moulin Rouge (20th Century Fox)
Film Editing:
Pietro Scalia, Black Hawk Down (Sony)
Makeup:
Peter Owen, Richard Taylor, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the
Ring (New Line).
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