Peter Farrelly’s civil rights movie wins Oscars gold while Mexican filmmaker Cuaron named best director for Roma.
Green Book, the tale of a celebrated black pianist who befriends his white driver as they tour the segregated American South in the 1960s, has overcome controversy to win Oscars gold.
The critically acclaimed film on Sunday secured the coveted Best Picture Oscar to wrap up the Academy Awards – a bit of an upset over Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, which had been the heavy favourite.
The top prize was the third statuette of the night for Green Book, which earned a total of five nominations.
Mahershala Ali won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of pianist Don Shirley, who strikes up an unlikely friendship with driver Tony “Lip” Vallelonga – Best Actor nominee Viggo Mortensen.
The film also won for Best Original Screenplay.
“The whole story is about love. It’s about loving each other, despite our differences, and finding out the truth about who we are – we’re the same people,” said director Peter Farrelly.
Green Book beat seven other films for top honours: Roma, superhero flick Black Panther, Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, offbeat royal romp The Favourite, musical romance A Star Is Born, and Dick Cheney biopic Vice.
Cuaron won the Best Director Oscar for Roma, which also won awards for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Cinematography.
In his acceptance speech, Cuaron paid tribute to the 70 million domestic workers around the world and to indigenous women in his acceptance speech.
“I want to thank the Academy for recognising a film centred around an indigenous woman,” he said.
“A character that has historically been relegated to the background of cinema.”
In an upset, Britain’s Olivia Colman won the Best Actress Oscar for The Favourite, beating presumed frontrunner Glenn Close, who starred in The Wife.
“Glenn Close – you have been my idol for so long, and this is not how I wanted it to be,” a delighted but shocked Colman told her fellow actress, sitting in the audience.
Rami Malek won for his role as late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in 21st Century Fox musical Bohemian Rhapsody. The film won three other Academy Awards.
“I may not have been the obvious choice, but I guess it worked out,” said Malek, who had been favoured to win the award.
Regina King won her first Oscar for her supporting role as a mother fighting for justice in If Beale Street Could Talk.
BlacKkKlansman meanwhile won the Best Adapted Screenplay award, delivering Spike Lee his first competitive Oscar.
‘White saviour movie’
Green Book – co-written by Vallelonga’s son, Nick – explores race relations and identity as Shirley embarks on the tour and is forced to rely on his initially racist, ill-mannered Italian-American driver.
The feel-good movie is named after The Negro Motorist Green Book, an annual guidebook that provided African Americans advice on safe places to eat and sleep while travelling during segregation.
It racked up a number of accolades in the run-up to the Oscars, including a best musical/comedy film award at the Golden Globes and the top prize from the Producers Guild of America.
But while the film has proven a crowd-pleaser, it has been embroiled in controversy since its premiere.
Shirley’s relatives, including his brother, have objected to the storyline, saying they were never consulted and have denounced the film as a “symphony of lies”.
Shirley’s niece, Carol Shirley Kimble, blasted the movie as a “depiction of a white man’s version of a black man’s life.”
The film also became part of a wider debate in the United States about race, with many describing it as yet another “white saviour movie” told through the lens of its white protagonist.
“The Green Book is a black story, and for a white man to steal that legacy and name for a film that has little or nothing to do with The Green Book is unacceptable,” Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams said in a Facebook post.
“We have always had our stories and our history stolen from us and told through the lens of whiteness and this film is Hollywood’s latest example.”
Vallelonga has defended his work, saying it was based on stories his father told him about the tour. He also says Shirley advised him before his death not to speak to anyone else about his project.
“We were aware of the certain tropes, like the white savior trope – the white guy saves the black guy — as well as the black savior trope – the black guy saves the white guy,” Farrelly told Newsweek in November.
“We were careful not to make this film either of those.”
Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga had both attracted negative headlines themselves – the director for an apparent dirty practical joke he used to pull on sets, and Vallelonga for an anti-Muslim tweet. Both later apologised.
Best Picture
Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Green Book – WINNER
Roma
A Star Is Born
Vice
Best Director
BlacKkKlansman, Spike Lee
Cold War, Paweł Pawlikowski
The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos
Roma, Alfonso Cuaron – WINNER
Vice, Adam McKay
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Yalitza Aparicio, Roma
Glenn Close, The Wife
Olivia Colman, The Favourite – WINNER
Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born
Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Christian Bale, Vice
Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born
Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate
Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody – WINNER
Viggo Mortensen, Green Book
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams, Vice
Marina de Tavira, Roma
Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk – WINNER
Emma Stone, The Favourite
Rachel Weisz, The Favourite
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Mahershala Ali, Green Book – WINNER
Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman
Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born
Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Sam Rockwell, Vice
Best Original Screenplay
The Favourite, Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara
First Reformed, Paul Schrader
Green Book, Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, and Peter Farrelly – WINNER
Roma, Alfonso Cuaron
Vice, Adam McKay
Best Adapted Screenplay
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
BlacKkKlansman, Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, and Spike Lee – WINNER
Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
If Beale Street Could Talk, Barry Jenkins
A Star Is Born, Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, and Will Fetters
Best Cinematography
Cold War, Lukasz Zal
The Favourite, Robbie Ryan
Never Look Away, Caleb Deschanel
Roma, Alfonso Cuaron – WINNER
A Star Is Born, Matthew Libatique
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Border
Mary Queen of Scots
Vice – WINNER
Best Documentary Feature
Free Solo – WINNER
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Minding the Gap
Of Fathers and Sons
RBG
Best Costume Design
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Black Panther – WINNER
The Favourite
Mary Poppins Returns
Mary Queen of Scots
Best Film Editing
BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody – WINNER
The Favourite
Green Book
Vice
Best Production Design
Black Panther – WINNER
The Favourite
First Man
Mary Poppins Returns
Roma
Best Sound Editing
Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody – WINNER
First Man
A Quiet Place
Roma
Best Sound Mixing
Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody – WINNER
First Man
Roma
A Star Is Born
Best Foreign Language Film
Capernaum, Lebanon
Cold War, Poland
Never Look Away, Germany
Roma, Mexico – WINNER
Shoplifters, Japan
Best Animated Feature
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Mirai
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – WINNER
Best Live Action Short
Detainment
Fauve
Marguerite
Mother
Skin – WINNER
Best Animated Short Film
Animal Behavior
Bao – WINNER
Late Afternoon
One Small Step
Weekends
Best Documentary Short
Black Sheep
End Game
Lifeboat
A Night at the Garden
Period. End of Sentence. – WINNER
Best Visual Effects
Avengers: Infinity War
Christopher Robin
First Man – WINNER
Ready Player One
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Best Original Score
Black Panther – WINNER
BlacKkKlansman
If Beale Street Could Talk
Isle of Dogs
Mary Poppins Returns
Best Original Song
“All the Stars,” Black Panther
“I’ll Fight,” RBG
“The Place Where Lost Things Go,” Mary Poppins Returns
“Shallow,” A Star Is Born – WINNER
“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings,” The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Source: Read Full Article