Worst best film? Green Book wins amid fierce criticism

LOSANGELES: Is it the worst best picture winner the Oscars has seen since Crash? Is it a feel-good throwback, nothing more? Is it an outdated inversion of Driving Miss Daisy? Or an atonement for the ‘Oscars too White’ criticism in the recent past?

These were some of the questions surrounding Green Book as soon as the 2019 Academy Awards drew to a close on Sunday. But despite the criticism, the segregation-era road-trip drama was crowned best film. In a year where Hollywood could have made history by bestowing best picture on Netflix (Roma) or Marvel (Black Panther), the motion picture academy instead threw its weight behind a traditional interracial buddy tale.

Peter Farrelly’s portrayal of the real-life friendship of African American pianist Don Shirley and his white driver/body guard Tony Vallelonga weathered criticism that it was retrograde and inauthentic, to triumph over more acclaimed films.

It was an unexpected finale to a brisk, host-less ceremony awash in historic wins for diversity, including a first competitive Oscar for Spike Lee. But the African American director, whose Do the Right Thing came out the same year that Driving Miss Daisy won best picture, was among those most visibly upset by the award handed to Green Book. After presenter Julia Roberts announced it, he stood up, waved his hands in disgust and appeared to try to leave the Dolby Theatre before returning.

This was the largest ever wins for women and individual black nominees. Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther, Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma and the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody lifted the statuettes. Green Book won best supporting actor for Mahershala Ali and best original screenplay.

Lee’s win for best adapted screenplay for his white supremacist drama Blackkklansman, shared with three co-writers, gave the ceremony its signature moment. The crowd rose in a standing ovation, Lee leapt into the arms of presenter Samuel L Jackson and even the backstage press room burst into applause.

One of the biggest surprises of the night was in the best actress category. Olivia Colman won for her Queen Anne in the royal romp The Favourite, denying Glenn Close her first Oscar.

The night that kicked off with a performance by Queen saw Bohemian Rhapsody, the biopic on Freddie Mercury, win four awards. Rami Malek, adjudged best actor for his powerful performance in Bohemian Rhapsody, gave everyone a bit of a scare when he fell off the stage, only to emerge uninjured moments later.

Though A Star Is Born saw its chances flame out, it won for the song Shallow, which Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper performed during the ceremony.