The 84th Academy Awards is over and it was record setting. For the first time since 1929 (when Wings won), a silent film, The Artist has taken the Best Picture statue. It was also the first movie filmed in the 4:3 aspect ratio to win Best Picture since 1955. It was the first non R-rated film to get Best Picture since 2004 (when Million Dollar Baby won). Jean Dujardin because the first Frenchman to win a Best Actor award. Was his acceptance speech charming or what? Michel Hazanavicius becomes only the second Frenchman to win Best Director (Roman Polanski, who was born in France, won in 2003 for The Pianist). With all the accolades it has received this award season, The Artist is the most awarded French film of all time. Viva la France!
But, that’s not all the excitement from this year’s ceremony. Christopher Plummer became the oldest Oscar winner at age 82. The record was formerly held by Jessica Tandy for her win for Driving Miss Daisy. Plummer won Best Supporting Actor for his appearance in Beginners.
Martin Scorsese saw his film Hugo take home Oscars for Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects and Best Cinematography, although he himself failed to win for Best Director.
There was a bit of a race this year for Best Actress between Viola Davis for her work in The Help and Meryl Streep portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in Iron Lady. I haven’t seen The Help yet, but I understand Viola Davis did an exceptional job, so I expected her to beat out Streep for the statue. Streep took home the BAFTA, but that is a British award, so no one really knew who would win. In the end, Streep received her third Oscar. She has received 17 nominations and this is her first win since 1982’s Sophie’s Choice. After her charming acceptance speech, I think they should give her an Oscar every year!
There was a bit of excitement in Memphis as Undefeated, a documentary about the struggles of the Manassas High School football team, took the Best Documentary award.
All in all, I thought the night was well-done, funny (not just Billy Crystal, but all the presenters), and amazingly enough, ran just minutes over the scheduled time.