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By Daniel Arkin
The feel-good road-trip drama “Green Book” drove through a cloud of controversy to score a surprise best picture victory at the 91st Academy Awards on Sunday, edging out top competitors like Netflix’s “Roma” and Marvel’s “Black Panther.” The film’s big win came as a shock at the end of a brisk, host-free night filled with historic wins for diversity and representation.
Spike Lee, a 33-year veteran of the film industry, won his first competitive Oscar — best adapted screenplay — for his fiery docudrama “BlacKkKlansman.” Two technical artists behind the culture-conquering Marvel epic “Black Panther” — costume designer Ruth Carter, production designer Hannah Beachler — became just the second and third black women to win non-acting Oscars.
But the triumph of “Green Book,” co-starring Mahershala Ali as a black pianist and Viggo Mortensen as an Italian-American chauffeur who guides him through the segregation-era Deep South, was sure to trouble its detractors. The film, which also won best supporting actor for Ali and best original screenplay, has been criticized by some as a retrograde and simplistic take on American race relations.
“Roma,” Alfonso Cuaron’s sweeping portrait of 1970s Mexico City, earned awards for Cuaron’s direction and cinematography; it also claimed the best foreign-language film prize. Cuaron and his fellow Mexican auteurs Alejandro Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro have monopolized the best director category for five of the last six years. “Roma” represented a milestone for its distributor, Netflix, giving the streaming giant its first-ever best picture nomination.
“Bohemian Rhapsody,” a rollicking biopic of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, conquered a trio of technical categories — editing, sound mixing and sound editing — and won a best actor trophy for its star, Rami Malek. The show kicked off with an anthemic medley of tunes by Queen, with pop star Adam Lambert subbing for the late Mercury.
“We made a film about a gay man, an immigrant who lived his life unapologetically himself,” said Malek. “We’re longing for stories like this. I am the son of immigrants from Egypt. I’m a first-generation American, and part of my story is being written right now.”
“Rhapsody” pulled off its win despite the recent scrutiny on its original director, Bryan Singer, who was fired in the middle of production. Singer, best known for helming some installments in the “X-Men” franchise, faces multiple allegations of sexual assault, which he has denied.
The emotional climax of the night may have been Lee’s moments on the main stage of the Dolby Theatre. The celebrated filmmaker, clad in his signature purple suit, seemed to jump into the arms of the presenter (and his long-time collaborator) Samuel L. Jackson. In his speech, he called on the audience to “mobilize” ahead of the next presidential election.
“The 2020 election is around the corner. Let’s all mobilize. Let’s be on the right side of history. Let’s do the right thing! You knew I had to get that in there,” Lee said, referring to the title of his era-defining 1989 race relations drama.
In one of the biggest surprises of the ceremony, veteran English actress Olivia Colman landed the best actress award for her portrayal of the mercurial Queen Anne in the off-kilter royalty farce “The Favourite.” Colman’s unpredicted win denied seven-time nominee Glenn Close (“The Wife”) her first Oscar.
“It’s genuinely quite stressful,” a visibly shocked Colman said in her acceptance speech. She then gave joyful shout-outs to Close and Lady Gaga (“A Star Is Born”), another top contender in the category.
