Thank you, oh great movie god, for Ryan Gosling. Something like that I imagine the producers of the Oscar show are thinking right now. Gosling was behind one of the year’s most exciting role interpretations as Ken in “Barbie”. And last night he was responsible for perhaps the most entertaining moment of the Oscar night when he performed the ballad “I’m Just Ken”, wearing a shocking pink tuxedo and flanked by a flicker of male dancers. It was, of course, the opposite of spontaneous. Many days before the ceremony, it was ensured that everyone knew that this number was in the queue. But Gosling delivered the line “everywhere else I’d be a ten” with customary conviction. And the whole feature served as a kind of distraction from the fact that “Barbie” only took home one Oscar statuette, for best song. A PINK WORLD: Ryan Gosling donned Barbie’s color to perform ‘I Am Ken’ with legendary guitarist Slash. Photo: AFP All in all, the whole evening was really entertaining. The show was tighter and funnier than many times in recent years. The nominated films were consistently good, the acceptance speeches tearful but composed. Robert Downey Jr. won, as expected, the award for best supporting actor, and thanked, among other things, his unhappy childhood when he had to talk about his path to becoming an Oscar winner. Thirty years ago, Downey Jr. one of Hollywood’s most brilliant talents, who was nominated for an Oscar for the lead role in “Chaplin”. There was a lot to lose, and he managed to lose almost everything. He had too many bad habits and a well-known drug problem. In his acceptance speech, he remembered those who had stuck by him, even during the years when he was almost impossible to hire because he was almost impossible to insure. He himself believed that he needed “Oppenheimer” far more than the film needed him. The applause he received explained why. Now he was back where he once was, as a charismatic and diverse actor worth admiring, not just as the superhero Iron Man. CONFIDENT: Robert Downey Jr. won his first Oscar for “Oppenheimer”. In his acceptance speech, he thanked, among other things, his own unhappy childhood. Photo: Reuters The producers also brought up the old tradition of letting all the nominees in the acting categories be presented by a former Oscar winner. This gave a dignity to a moment that might otherwise feel like something of a humiliation for those involved. By all means, there is no shame in Oscar-nominated actors, who are feted and pampered and invited to every party for months. But on Oscar night itself, many of them have traditionally been left to sit there and clap with stiff smiles when a name that isn’t theirs has been called out. Reminding everyone in the room and everyone watching that these are gifted people who often have years and years of hard work behind them was a nice move. So it may be that the veteran Al Pacino, who came out on stage to hand out the award for best film, just as well didn’t read out the other nominees. STRIKE OF WINNING: Cillian Murphy won his first Oscar for the title role in pre-favourite Oppenheimer, which won a number of the evening’s biggest awards. Photo: AFP Instead, a long sentence came out of the legendary film star in which “Oppenheimer” was one of them. In the absence of other scandals, Pacino instantly became the source of several shareable gifs. But the moment appeared mostly as a charming and lovable mess in a professional and groomed show. But back to “Barbie” and, you know, the other movie. The one who won everything. “Oppenheimer”. This summer, the two films were even more than competitors. They premiered at the same time, drew a lot of people to the cinema and were credited with reawakening a dormant interest in cinema in a large audience. Ever since the Oscar nominations became known, “Barbie” fans have been upset that their favorite film was not met with greater recognition. That director Greta Gerwig and title actress Margot Robbie were not nominated disappointed many. It probably also disappointed the Oscar Academy itself, which is, after all, at the mercy of the voting of its members. TWO WINNERS: Robert Downey Jr. and Cillian Murphy won both Oscar statuettes last night for their roles in “Oppenheimer”. Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon “Barbie” was by far the biggest film of the year, having grossed almost 1.5 billion dollars worldwide. Numbers like that are a little incomprehensible. The film was something as rare as a critic’s favorite and an audience winner, just the kind of unifying cinema experience that Hollywood needs. And the Oscar Academy depends on as many people as possible having a relationship with the nominated films and actors. They want least of all for the audience not to feel heard. The solution was to spray paint the ceremony pink. The film’s dance song “Dance the Night” opened the ceremony. Tonight’s host, comedian Jimmy Kimmel, opened with a “Barbie” clip and a “Barbie” joke. “I’m Just Ken” was played when the winners from other films had received their statuettes, even where it might not have been 100% appropriate. A PHENOMENON: “Barbie”, with Margot Robbie in the title role, was by far the most watched film of the summer. Photo: Courtesy Warner Bros. Picture’s “Everywhere else I’d be a ten” is a wonderful line of text when Gosling sings it, but it is questionable whether this particular stanza was suitable as muzak when the team behind the documentary “20 days in Mariupol” walked off the stage. Then the Ukrainian filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov had just given a moving speech about how he would gladly trade his statuette for living in a world where the Russian invasion of his homeland had never taken place. But at the end of the evening, “Barbie” had one statuette, while “Oppenheimer” had collected seven, including the evening’s most significant. It didn’t feel unreasonable. “Oppenheimer” is one of the most self-assured and steady works in the films of Christopher Nolan. The British director has for many years now shown that he is able to combine serious and challenging ideas with spectacular and entertaining film art. Maybe he’s been a bit bigoted at times, but let it go. After all, Nolan has become one of the few modern directors who draw audiences simply by virtue of his own name and reputation. The film industry has a lot to thank him for, and last night they did just that. “Barbie,” for its part, was inventive and sly, but perhaps the year’s pop culture phenomenon rather than the year’s best movie. SOLE AWARD: Billie Eilish received the award for the song “What Was I Made For” from Ariana Grande, the only Oscar statuette “Barbie” received. Photo: Reuters In any case, it is a promising sign for the film industry that so many people were brought up on behalf of the film. That they were surprised to see German Sandra Hüller nominated instead of superstar Margot Robbie, and directors such as French Justine Triet and British Jonathan Glazer nominated for best director instead of pop culture darling Greta Gerwig. But the discussion was characterized by the fact that a thousand million trillion people had seen “Barbie”, while a small fraction of this had seen Triet and Glazer’s films, “Free Fall” and “The Zone of Interest”. These are films that had no global brand or golden childhood memories to lean on. But I would say that a film like the courtroom drama “Free Fall” is more sophisticated than “Barbie”, more thought out. The film then also won the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year. WON PALME D’OR AND OSCAR: French “Free Fall”, a courtroom drama and a family story, has become a surprise hit for director Justine Triet. Photo: Album “Free fall” is about a woman who is accused of killing her husband by pushing him out of a window. It retains the answer. Where “Barbie” captures the zeitgeist and pop culture, “Freefall” asks durable and big questions about what we do with all the situations where we cannot know what has happened. About what happens to reality when it is retold, translated and adapted. About what makes us believe in something, or someone. Triet and her husband, Arthur Harari, won the award for best original screenplay for “Free Fall.” The fact that they and “Barbie” each got their own golden man in their bag doesn’t feel wrong, and representative of a rich film year.
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Created the big moment of the evening. Won almost nothing. – Speech
