Making history
Parasite is first foreign-language film to win Oscars’ best picture.
LOS ANGELES — Parasite won the best picture Oscar on Sunday night, becoming the first foreign-language film to take home the biggest honor in film.
Bong Joon Ho’s South Korean class satire has been one of the season’s darlings, despite failing to garner any Academy Award nominations for its cast. Bong’s acumen in creating his tale of a grifter family that ingratiates itself into the lives of a wealthy family has been widely recognized.
The film won four Oscars on Sunday, including best director for Bong. Bong and co-writer Han Jin Won became the first Asian writers to take the screenplay prize. Parasite also won the best international film prize.
The Dolby Theatre broke out in raucous applause after the best picture win was announced.
A standing ovation greeted Bong’s win for international film. “I am ready to drink tonight,” said Bong to roars from the crowd. Unexpectedly called up again for best director, Bong saluted his fellow nominees, particularly Martin Scorsese, and concluded: “Now I’m ready to drink until tomorrow.”
Joaquin Phoenix’s visceral portrayal of a troubled man’s descent into villainy in Joker earned him his first Oscar, winning the best actor award.
Renee Zellweger completed a Hollywood comeback, winning as best actress for her role as Judy Garland in Judy.
Written off during a sixyear hiatus from acting that ended in 2016, Zellweger returned to claim her second Oscar after 16 years.
Few categories were more certain coming into Sunday’s Oscars than best supporting actor, which Brad Pitt has had locked down all awards season for his performance in Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.
Laura Dern won best supporting actress for her performance as a divorce attorney in Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story. Accepting her first Oscar, Dern thanked her in-attendance parents, “my legends, Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern.”
For the 87th time, no women were nominated for best director this year, a subject that was woven into the entire ceremony — and even into some attendees’ clothing. Natalie Portman wore a cape lined with the names of female filmmakers who weren’t nominated for best director, including Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Greta Gerwig (Little Women) and Mati Diop (Atlantics).
Some of the musical performances, such as Eminem’s performance of “Lose Yourself,” were unexpected. All of the song nominees performed, including Elton John who won with his longtime songwriting partner Bernie Taupin for their Rocketman tune.
There were also milestones. In winning best adapted screenplay for his Nazi satire Jojo Rabbit, the New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi became the first indigenous director to win an Oscar. He dedicated the award to “all the indigenous kids in the world who want to do art, dance and write stories.”
Joker composer Hildur Gudnadottir became only the third woman to win best original score.
Awards were spread around to all of the best-picture nominees, with the lone exception being Scorsese’s 10-time nominee The Irishman.
1917, acclaimed for its technical virtuosity, took awards for Roger Deakins’ cinematography, visual effects and sound mixing. The car racing throwback Ford v Ferrari was also honored for its craft, winning both editing and sound editing. Gerwig’s adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women won for Jacqueline Durran’s costume design. Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood won for Barbara Ling’s production design.
Netflix came in with a leading 24 nominations. Along with the win for Marriage Story, the streamer’s American Factory won best documentary. The film is the first release from Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions.
Pixar extended its domination of the best animated film category, winning for Toy Story 4. It’s the 10th Pixar film to win the award and second Toy Story film to do so, following the previous 2010 installment.