The crazy comedy "Everything Everywhere All At Once" raided the Oscars on Sunday, winning seven major awards including Best Picture and Best Actress for its heroine Michelle Yeoh, the first actress of Asian origin to receive the award supreme.
Only the German film "In the West, nothing new" has managed to exist against this stamped feature film, where a black hole in the shape of a bagel and sex toys used as nunchakus intersect. The adaptation of the famous pacifist novel on the First World War won four Oscars, including that of the best international film.
The wave "Everything Everywhere" had been announced for weeks. The film, which tells the adventures of Evelyn, an overworked laundromat owner suddenly summoned to save a multitude of parallel universes from an evil force, had dominated all the award shows organized before the Oscars.
With its mostly Asian cast, this wacky feature film stands out as a symbol for Hollywood, often criticized in recent years for its lack of diversity.
"Thanks to the Academy, this is History in motion", launched the Malaysian Michelle Yeoh, heroine of the film and the first actress of Asian origin to win the Oscar for best actress.
In the film, her character as a Chinese immigrant must fight against her depressed daughter's alter ego, which threatens the entire "multiverse". To achieve this, Evelyn must use the powers of her various alternative lives, visiting often completely crazy worlds, where some humans, for example, have fingers in the shape of hot dogs.
The zany creative duo behind the film, Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, shared the Oscar for best director.
On stage, the first thanked his parents for having always supported his crazy side.
"Thank you for not crushing my creativity when I was doing disturbing horror movies or evil comedies, or dressing up as a drag queen as a kid," he said.
The other stars of the film, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis, got their hands on the statuettes of the best supporting roles. They each broke down in tears on stage.
The Vietnamese-born actor, who plays Evelyn's clumsy husband in the film, notably takes resounding revenge on an industry that had completely forgotten about him. Revealed at the age of 12 by "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" in 1984, he had given up his acting career in the 90s, faced with the lack of opportunities for Asian actors.
"I can't believe this is happening to me. It's the American dream," he said.
Alongside this steamroller, also awarded the Oscar for best original screenplay and best editing, the German film "In the West, nothing new" imposed itself as the other revelation of the evening with four Oscars .
This new version of the famous novel about the great butchery of 14-18 was voted best international film and won various technical awards (photography, sets, soundtrack).
"Thank you, it means so much to us," said director Edward Berger, who helmed this third adaptation of German Erich Maria Remarque's masterpiece, the first in Goethe's language.
The evening's awards also saw Brendan Fraser take home the Oscar for best actor, for his role as an obese professor reclusive at home in "The Whale", and Mexican director Guillermo del Toro win the Oscar for best animated film thanks to to his dark version of Pinocchio.
The evening obviously did not ignore the slap inflicted last year by Will Smith on comedian Chris Rock, after a joke about his wife's alopecia. It still resonated on stage, thanks to the many jokes of this year's presenter, Jimmy Kimmel.
"If anyone in this theater commits a violent act, (...) you will be rewarded with the Oscar for best actor and authorized to give a 19-minute speech", launched with mischief the comedian.
The Academy had indeed been criticized for letting Mr. Smith receive his award for best actor on stage after his attack. He has since been banned from performing for 10 years.
The show went off without a hitch and started out strong, with two US Navy fighter jets flying over Hollywood in a nod to the blockbuster 'Top Gun: Maverick', which brought the general public back. in the cinema after the pandemic.
Among other highlights, stars Lady Gaga and Rihanna each performed the songs they were nominated for. The public also enjoyed the exuberance of Indian cinema, thanks to a troupe of dancers who set the stage on fire to "Naatu Naatu", the song from the Oscar-winning film "RRR".
It remains to be seen whether this unforeseen ceremony brought viewers back to their television sets.
Despite a rebound, thanks in part to the infamous slap, last year's audience was the second-worst in the history of the ceremony. Like the cinema, the Hollywood high mass therefore seeks to prove that it still has its place in the post-pandemic world.
03/13/2023 05:37:49 - Hollywood (United States) (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
