A long and dazzling Oscar night, in which the film industry celebrated its greatest works and, to a certain extent, itself, is over. As with the 91st edition last year, the Academy spared the search for a host again in 2020 and distributed the responsibility to many prominent shoulders. That certainly helped to reduce the sweat of fear among the organizers to a minimum – just think of the coarse, ingenious tirades of Ricky Gervais (58) at the Golden Globes. But if you want to avoid controversy at all costs, you are blocking your chance for an unforgettable piece of TV history. Or not?
In any case, they did not do themselves a great favor right from the start with their la-la-la-la-singing entry. A Leonardo DiCaprio (45) looked a little embarrassed and hoped that the microphone would not be held under the celebrity's nose for a chirp. Chris Rock (55) and Steve Martin (74) did a better job in their task of NOT moderating the Oscars. Not an easy task for the two experienced hosts.
Criticism of the lack of women
What ran through the evening was the overwhelming criticism of the fact that the Academy had once again given too few women for their work. For their merits on the director's chair, for example. At least that was the basic tenor of the Oscars 2020. In some cases, however, it was strange if the mere mention of the word "women" caused cheers in the hall. Some gentlemen's guilty conscience also applauded.
When the acceptance speech for "Bombshell – The End of Silence" (make-up) prevented two women from making their acceptance speech by the orchestra and only their male colleague was involved, that was highly significant.
What sticks
On one evening when the (English-speaking) mainstream cinema caused the exact opposite of tension, it was only South Korean Bong Joon Ho (50) and his film "Parasite" that should have ruined the betting slips of all Oscar tipsters. With a total of four Oscars (each a premiere for South Korea), the social drama can be described as the clearer of the evening. No other film, like "Joker" (eleven nominations, two wins) or "1917" (ten nominations, three wins) could keep up.
Martin Scorsese's (77) gangster epic "The Irishman" impressively demonstrated that the Academy still has resentment towards streaming platform productions. The film could not win a single out of ten nominations and may well be called the loser of the event.
The bottom line is: The 2020 Academy Awards offered the usual fare at many prices and basically throughout the entire show. If, yes, if not a certain "parasite" in Hollywood would have settled to end the evening on the left rotate.
The most important winners at a glance
Best film: "Parasite"
Best Director: Bong Joon Ho, "Parasite"
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix, "Joker"
Best Actress: Renée Zellweger, "Judy"
Best Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt, "Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood"
Best Supporting Actress: Laura Dern, "Marriage Story"
Best original screenplay: Bong Joon Ho, "Parasite"
Best adapted script: Taika Waititi, "Jojo Rabbit"
Best animated film: "A Toy Story: Everything does not stop at a command"
Best international film: "Parasite"