Winning night for Asians
‘Everything Everywhere’ and ‘Naatu Naatu’ make Oscars history
LOS ANGELES: Everything Everywhere All at Once won the coveted best picture trophy at the Academy Awards as Hollywood embraced an off-kilter story about a Chinese-american family working out their problems across multiple dimensions.
The movie claimed seven awards overall, including three of the four acting Oscars for stars Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis. Yeoh played the lead role of a stressed-out laundromat owner who finds she has superpowers in alternate universes.
“For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities,” the 60-year-old Malaysian actress said on stage.
“And ladies, don’t let anybody ever tell you you are ever past your prime.”
Everything Everywhere was an improbable winner as a film that strayed far from traditional storytelling to spin a tale about a family at odds. The kung fu adventure was filled with oddities such as people with hot dogs for fingers and a chef with a raccoon under his hat. Plastic googly eyes and a giant everything bagel also played important roles.
Quan, a one-time child star who gave up acting for two decades, won best supporting actor for his portrayal of Yeoh’s disgruntled husband in a family grappling with a tax audit that threatens their business.
A weeping Quan, who was born in Vietnam, kissed his gold Oscar statuette as he held it on stage in front of the biggest names in show business.
“My journey started on a boat,” Quan said. “I spent a year in a refugee camp. Somehow I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage.”
Yeoh is the first Asian to win for lead actress while Quan is the first Asian to win best supporting actor in 38 years
Curtis won best supporting actress for playing a frumpy tax agent named Deirdre Beaubeirdre.
The 64-year-old Curtis looked upward and addressed her late parents, actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. “I just won an Oscar,” she said through tears.
The Whale star Brendan Fraser won best actor for playing a severely obese man trying to reconnect with his daughter.
A German remake of World War One epic All Quiet on the Western Front was named best international feature. It also won four Oscars, the second highest after Everything Everywhere. Naatu Naatu, the breakout hit from the action movie RRR, won the Academy Award for best original song, making history as the first movie from India to win the honour while Indian short documentary The Elephant Whisperers won best documentary short film.