Reflection of reality
THE 96TH ACADEMY AWARDS, PRESENTED BY THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES AT THE DOLBY THEATRE IN HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, ON SUNDAY HONOURED FILMS RELEASED IN 2023 ACROSS 23 DIFFERENT CATEGORIES, MANY OF WHICH MIRRORED THE CURRENT BANE OF GLOB
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer - an unsettling look at the dawn of the atomic era - dominated the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday, winning seven prizes, including best picture and best director.
The film, which took on an added resonance at a time of international conflicts, also scored Oscars for Cillian Murphy’s haunted lead performance as J Robert Oppenheimer and Robert Downey Jr’s supporting turn as a vengeful bureaucrat.
Blocks away from the Oscars red carpet, several hundred protesters called for a ceasefire to the IsraelHamas war in Gaza, while winners used their speeches to decry the humanitarian crisis in that region, along with the one sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The proPalestinian demonstrations in the heart of Hollywood snarled traffic around the Dolby Theatre, the venue where the show is held, resulting in a late start for the ceremony as A-listers scrambled to make it to their seats.
The ceremony, which was televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Raj Kapoor, Molly Mcnearney, and Katy Mullan, with Hamish Hamilton serving as director. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel hosted the show for the fourth time – he had done so previously at 95th edition in 2023, 90th edition in 2018, as well as the 89th edition in 2017.
For Nolan, the honours came after a tangled history with the Oscars. He had been nominated several times before, including for directing 2017’s Dunkirk, as well as for his work on movies like 2001’s Memento and 2010’s Inception.
But the Academy snubbed his biggest hit, 2008’s Thedarkknight, for best picture and director, an omission that provoked outrage and helped prompt the organisation to increase the number of films nominated for best of the year from five to 10. Finally given an Oscar of his own, Nolan, who has been a passionate advocate for the big screen experience, paid tribute to the art form he loves.
“Movies are just a little bit over 100 years old,” he said, adding, “We don’t know where this incredible journey is going from here, but to know that you think that I’m a meaningful part of it means the world to me.”
Seven years after winning for La Laland, Emma Stone earned her second best actress Oscar for Poor Things. Stone played a child-like woman who embarks on a journey of self-discovery in the steampunk fantasy.
“The best part about making movies is all of us together,” she said. “I am so deeply honoured to share this with every cast member, with every crew member, with every single person who poured their love and their care and their brilliance into the making of this film.”
Da’vine Joy Randolph earned best supporting actress for her role as a grieving cafeteria manager grappling with the death of her son in Theholdovers. Tearing up, Randolph thanked voters for ‘ seeing me’, adding, “For so long, I’ve always wanted to be different, and now, I realise, I just need to be myself.”
Like Randolph, Cord Jefferson and Justine Triet won on their first nominations. Jefferson was lauded for adapted screenplay for Americanfiction, a satire that explores race and art, while Triet won for original screenplay for her courtroom drama Anatomyofafall.
Other winners used their time on stage to make political statements.
Jonathan Glazer, director of the best international feature winner Thezoneofinterest, a drama set in Auschwitz, spoke out about the ongoing violence in the Middle East. He cited the message of his searing look at the Holocaust in condemning Israel’s military response, as well as the terrorist attacks launched by Hamas last fall.
“Our film shows where dehumanisation leads at its worst,” Glazer said. “It shaped all of our past and present. Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. Whether the victims of October 7 in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanisation — how do we resist?”
20Daysinmariupol, a harrowing report from a besieged Ukrainian city, won best documentary. Its director, Mstyslav Chernov, drew attention to the human costs of Russia’s invasion — a message that comes as US support for Ukraine is wavering. “Russians are killing tens of thousands of my fellow Ukrainians,” he said. “I wish I had never made this film. I wish to be able to exchange this to Russia (for) never attacking Ukraine, never occupying our cities.”
Billie Eilish made history, becoming the youngest two-time Oscar recipient at age 22 after winning best song for her Barbie ballad ‘ What
Wasimadefor?’ She co-wrote the song with her brother, Finneas O’Connell - the pair previously won for penning the theme to 2021’s ‘ No Timetodie’.
On the other end of the age divide, Hayao Miyazaki became the oldest winner of best animated feature for Theboyandtheheron. The 83-year-old Japanese animation maestro previously won for 2002’s Spiritedaway.
The Oscars, which have been suffering from declining ratings, also face questions about their relevance. Last year, an audience of 18.75 million tuned in to watch Everythingeverywhereallatonce sweep the major prizes. That was a bump from the 16.62 million viewers from the 2022 show, but it’s a far cry from the record 57.25 million viewers who witnessed Titanic capture best picture in 1998.
The hope is that with popular films such as Oppenheimer andbarbie nominated for top honours, ratings will improve.
French officials have called on artists to submit designs for six new windows to be installed in the south aisle of Notre-dame Cathedral. When a fire raged through Notre-dame Cathedral in 2019, it didn’t destroy the structure’s stained-glass windows, which were created by the architect Eugène Viollet-le-duc in 1859. Last month, however, French President Emmanuel Macron proposed replacing them with contemporary designs.
Spirited backlash followed, with critics arguing that the change would disrupt the ‘architectural unit of the famous landmark. Now, more than 125,000 people have signed a petition against the new windows’ installation.
“What sense does it make to restore the cathedral to its last known historical state (before April 15, 2019), that of Viollet-leDuc, only to deprive the building of an essential element that Viollet-le-duc wanted?” the petition reads, per a translation by Artnet’s Jo Lawson-tancred. “Who gave the head of state a mandate to alter a cathedral that does not belong to him, but to everyone?”
Laurent Ulrich, the archbishop of Paris, first suggested the idea, reports the Guardian’s Kim Willsher. When announcing the plan, Macron invited contemporary French artists to submit designs for six new windows, which would ultimately be installed in the cathedral’s south aisle. The current windows would likely be housed in a new museum dedicated to the cathedral and the restoration process.
Just how faithful the restorations should be to historic designs has been a matter of debate ever since the fire. In the aftermath of the disaster,
Macron suggested replacing Notre-dame’s iconic spire (also designed by Viollet-le-duc) with a modern version to symbolize the cathedral’s endurance. That idea was swiftly shut down. Workers eventually replaced the spire with a design that was identical to the original.
“Emmanuel Macron wants to put the mark of the 21st century on Notre-dame. … A little modesty might be best,” reads the petition, per Google Translate. “We will not be cruel enough to remind you that this mark already exists: fire.”
If the French government moves forward with the plan, it won’t be the first time the cathedral’s windows have been updated. Only a small portion of the current glass dates back to the 12th century, while the majority was added much later in the 17th, 19th and 20th centuries, as Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, the rector-archbishop of Notre-dame, tells the French newspaper La Croix, per El País’ Sara González.
Didier Rykner, the founder and editor of La Tribune de l’art, has a suggestion of his own: He thinks that the updated stainedglass windows should be added to Notre-dame’s north tower, which currently has regular windows rather than stained glass.
Replacing the north tower windows would “enrich the cathedral” and have “magnificent symbolic” value, writes Rykner in the magazine. “It was in the north tower, when they fought the fire that threatened to bring down the bells and, in turn, the cathedral, that the firefighters risked their lives to save the monument. Paying tribute to the firemen, bringing new stainedglass windows to Notre-dame without vandalizing Viollet-leDuc’s work, giving future visitors more to see—this commonsense solution could suit everyone.”
The reconstructed cathedral is scheduled to reopen on December 8, 2024.
Plans to install contemporary stained-glass windows in Notre-dame Cathedral spark severe backlash