Contrary to what the title suggests, perhaps the most shocking aspect of this year’s Academy Awards telecast wasn’t the surprise wins or unpredictable twists and turns the ceremony often expresses to its viewers, rather it was the opposite. Nothing entirely shocking happened outside of a few categories, what was most noticeable though, was how natural the international shift in preference has been for the voting body and the winners overall. Let’s get into it and analyze the big talking points.
Anora dominates
What started off as a season with a seemingly undeniable frontrunner in Sean Baker’s film, that quickly transformed into an entirely unpredictable one with numerous frontrunners and an unknown final result, ended up being a coronation for Sean Baker, and the act of honoring him for his commitment to American cinema, became the defining narrative of the night. Making speech after speech focusing on the importance of the cinematic and theater experience and stressing how universal Anora, plus his entire filmography, truly is, was something that academy voters could not resist voting for. Winning four Oscars (the most of any filmmaker for one single project in the history of the Academy Awards), producing, directing, writing and editing, signifies IMMENSE passion for him as a filmmaker with this voting body, and gives evidence to the idea that one narrative or person can win over a large chunk of Academy voters recently, with the recent winners of Oppenheimer, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Coda, and Nomadland having a similar sense of undeniability as reflected in their awards.
What makes Sean Baker’s film such a fascinating winner is that it feels both old and new. A familiar, timeless story of what is truly valuable in life, told with a cinematic perspective that feels entirely original, a “modern classic” in every sense of that phrase. Winning the Palme D’or, placing at TIFF, and having a consistent presence throughout the season helped Anora completely, and going forward, this sense of consistency and undeniability, is what we need to look for in a Best Picture and Best Director winner.
Mikey Madison and Adrien Brody prevail
Going against the SAG wins is not an easy task, but Madison (winning for the BP winner over Demi Moore) and Adrien Brody prevailing for a much more well-liked film in the academy over Timothee Chalamet are another sign of the Oscars rejecting the classical norms (narrative and biopic) and recognizing performances or films that have a distinctly new, artistic, and internationally coded appeal.
BAFTA Reigned Supreme for Tech Categories (For the Most Part)
When it comes to the below-the-line crafts, outside of Editing (which now seems to default to the Best Picture winner), it is BAFTA that seems to determine what wins and does not. The Brutalist took three in Actor, Cinematography, and Original Score after losing several guilds, while films like A Complete Unknown which did better with American voters, went home empty-handed. A sign of classic Oscar bait struggling compared to projects that feel distinctly new.
Flow and I’m Still Here prevail over The Wild Robot and Emilia Perez while No Other Land pulls off an unprecedented Grass Roots campaign
The two biggest surprises of the night, ones that signify grassroots campaigning and true passion prevailing over projects that have the marketing behind them, were when Gints Zilbalodis’ experimental Flow prevailed over the populist DreamWorks film The Wild Robot and Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here prevailed over the 13 nominated Emilia Perez. Whether it was controversy for Audiard’s film, or a sense of “been there done that” regarding Chris Sanders’s populist project, it’s a clear sign of how passion often can determine races with this growing international Academy. No Other Land winning without a US distributor also suggests immense passion can carry a film to a win even when the stats are against it. Outside of these shocking wins (which did make or break peoples’ pools in addition to the shorts), the night wasn’t all that shocking except the utter dominance of Sean Baker’s film.
The Main Take Away Going Forward
Despite whatever flaws the ceremony and voting body have (evidenced by the anonymous ballots), The Oscars have a place in culture that not only honors devoted followers but shines a spotlight on films that have an impact on people, or CAN have an impact on people when they discover them.
It’s a New Academy, one that is naturally getting bigger and more international. We are just living in it.
