Shape of Water wins as Oscars face change
LOS ANGELES — Against all odds, love won out at the 90th Academy Awards.
Guillermo del Toro’s lavish, full-hearted monster romance The Shape of Water swam away with best picture at an Oscar ceremony flooded by a sense of a change for a movie business confronting the post-Harvey Weinstein era.
The ceremony, held on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, exorcised some demons — such as last year’s envelope fiasco — and wrestled with other, deeper problems in Hollywood, like gender equality and diversity.
The Shape of Water, which came in with 13 nods, took a leading four awards, including best production design, best score and best director for del Toro. The Cold War-era movie, about a mute woman and a captive fish-man, is del Toro’s Technicolor ode to outsiders of all kinds — and species.
Del Toro became the third Mexican-born filmmaker to win the award, joining his friends and countrymen Alejandro Inarritu and Alfonso Cuaron — who once were dubbed “the Three Amigos”. He dedicated the best picture award to young filmmakers — “the youth who are showing us how things are done”.
The night’s final award was handed out again by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, a year after the infamous Moonlight-La La Land error. “It’s so nice seeing you again,” said Beatty with a grin.
The ceremony was the crescendo of one of Hollywood’s most turbulent awards seasons ever — one that saw cascading allegations of sexual harassment topple movie moguls, upended Oscar campaigns and spark new movements such as Time’s Up.
Much of Sunday’s broadcast, hosted for the second straight year by Jimmy Kimmel, seemed to point a way forward for the industry. “It’s a new day in Hollywood,” said presenter Jennifer Lawrence, who with Jodie Foster, subbed for last year’s bestactor winner, Casey Affleck, in presenting the best-actress award.
The award went to Frances McDormand for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, a movie about a furious woman seeking justice.
Jordan Peele became the first African-American to win best original screenplay for his script to his horror sensation Get Out. Peele said he stopped writing it “20 times”, skeptical that it would ever get made.
Things went as expected in the acting categories, where three widely admired veteran actors won their first Oscars. Gary Oldman won for his Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, Allison Janney (I, Tonya) took best supporting actress, and Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards) won best supporting actor. Oldman thanked his nearly 99-year-old mother. “Put the kettle on,” he told her. “I’m bringing Oscar home.”
Host Kimmel opened with a monologue that mixed Weinstein punchlines with earnest comments about reforming gender equality in Hollywood. And of course, Kimmel — returning to the scene of the blunder — dove straight into material about last year’s infamous best-picture mix-up.
“I do want to mention, this year, when you hear your name called, don’t get up right away,” said Kimmel. “Give us a minute.”
But while Kimmel spent a few moments on the fiasco known as Envelopegate, he expended far more minutes frankly and soberly discussing the parade of sexual harassment allegations in the wake of the revelations regarding Weinstein. Kimmel cited the industry’s poor record for female directors and equal pay.
“We can’t let bad behavior slide anymore,” said Kimmel. “The world is watching us.”
In a year lacking a clear front-runner, the awards were spread around. Christopher Nolan’s World War II epic Dunkirk landed three awards, all for its technical craft: editing, sound editing and sound design.
Several cinema legends won their first Oscar. James Ivory, 89, won best adapted screenplay for his script for the coming-of-age drama Call Me By Your Name, becoming the oldest winner ever. After 14 nominations, revered cinematographer Roger Deakins finally won for his photography on Blade Runner 2049.
Pakistan-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani joined Kenyan-born Lupita Nyong’o to salute the so-called Dreamers — immigrants brought to the US illegally as children and in the country without permanent protection from deportation.
Later, Pixar’s colorful ode to Mexican culture Coco won best animated film as well as best song for Remember Me. Best foreign language film went to Chile’s A Fantastic Woman, Sebastian Lelio’s drama starring transgender actress Daniela Vega.
Netflix scored its first feature-film Oscar with best documentary going to Icarus. Darkest Hour won for best makeup. The period romance Phantom Thread won for costume design.