‘Parasite’ pulls off Oscar upset, winning four Academy Awards
LOS ANGELES — In a surprise upset and a historic milestone, director Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” — a darkly comic class satire about two families, one rich and one poor, whose lives become entangled — won best picture Sunday night at the 92nd Academy Awards, becoming the first foreign-language film ever to win the film academy’s top prize.
Throughout awards season, “Parasite” was seen by many as the underdog in a field that ranged from the gangster drama “The Irishman” to the 1960s fantasia “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood” to the World War I movie “1917.” But over time, the South Korean film worked its way into the hearts of Oscar voters, whose ranks have grown increasingly international and diverse in recent years.
The road to the Oscar for “Parasite” kicked off last May when the film claimed the Palm d’Or at the Cannes Festival. Despite Bong’s idiosyncratic, genre-scrambling vision — or perhaps because of it — “Parasite” went on to become a mainstream box office success like few foreignlanguage films in memory, earning the Screen Actors Guild’s ensemble award along with a slew of critics’ group prizes.
“Parasite” claimed four Oscars in total, with Bong winning the directing prize along with best international feature film and original screenplay, the first time a South Korean filmmaker had claimed those prizes.
Bong himself seemed surprised to have won the directing prize over a field that included Mendes, Scorsese and Tarantino. “After winning best international feature, I thought I was done for the day and was ready to relax,” he said. “When I was young and studying cinema, there was a saying that I carved deep in my heart, which is that the most personal is the most creative. That quote is from our great Martin Scorsese.”
Heading into the night, “1917” was widely considered the film to beat, having swept the director and drama honors at the Golden Globes as well as the top prizes from the Producers and Directors guilds. In contrast to the boundary-pushing “Parasite,” director Sam Mendes’ war epic is in many ways a more old-fashioned Oscar film, boasting the sort of epic sweep, period setting and rousing themes of bravery and sacrifice that often have been hallmarks of best picture winners dating all the way back to the very first one, 1927’s silent World War I movie “Wings.”
In recent years, the academy has brought in hundreds of new members from overseas as part of its ongoing effort to diversify its historically white-male-dominated membership. In naming “Parasite” both best picture and best international feature — the first time a South Korean film has earned that prize — the organization seemed to be embracing the chance to show that it has become less parochial and more open-minded than it may have been in decades past.
The acting prizes were largely foregone conclusions, with each of the winners having opened up insurmountable leads over their competition early on in the awards horse race.
Joaquin Phoenix, who swept virtually every major acting prize leading up to the Oscars, won the lead actor award for his physically transformative turn as a troubled would-be comedian turned supervillain in the dark comic-book film “Joker.”
In the run-up to the Oscars, Phoenix’s acceptance speeches at the Golden Globes, SAG Awards and BAFTAs had been every bit as unpredictable and mesmerizing, in their own way, as his performance in “Joker” — and on that score, his Oscar acceptance speech didn’t disappoint, with the actor touching on themes of inclusion, environmental and personal redemption and choking up as he invoked his late brother, River.
“I’ve been a scoundrel in my life — I’ve been selfish, I’ve been cruel at times, hard to work with, and I’m grateful that so many in this room have given me a second chance,” said Phoenix, who had never previously won an Oscar. “I think that’s when we’re at our best, when we support each other.
As expected, Renee Zellweger won the lead actress award for her turn as Hollywood icon Judy Garland near the end of her turbulent life in “Judy,” telling the starry crowd in the Dolby Theatre that when we celebrate heroes like Garland, “we’re reminded of who we are as one people, united.”