The famous Oscars are known all over the world. There probably is not a figure of cinema who would not dream of a treasured gilded figurine. Such dreams are fully justified, because the Hollywood Prize was originally conceived as the highest mark of work, the ultimate dream of any filmmaker, the highest award and praise for the director and actor. And although the procedure for determining the winners is still being called into question by many media and film critics, the Oscar ceremony remains the most prestigious and expected not only in the world of cinema, but also on the other side of the blue screen. What is the story of the institution of the award? And which films, as well as persons, have received grand prix over the past 15 years?
Oscar Award: Institutional History
The Oscar is an award given on behalf of the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is considered one of the most respected and ancient, because the ceremony has been over 80 years old.
It all began in 1926, when the head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer seriously thought about combining American cinema artists into one kind of organization. Now it’s hard to say whether he really cares for the development of American cinema or if he simply tried to expand his sphere of influence, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was created, and Louis B. Mayer headed the committee that was involved in the selection of members for the organization. Well, which academy will do without a personal award?
And so the Merit Awards were developed - figurines-knights reigning in a thoughtful pose on the film. The Oscar, or rather a statuette, is cast from an alloy of tin and copper, and then plated with gold.
Voting for winners in the nominations was carried out in two stages:
- At first, the academy members selected five nominees each in their field - producers - in the field of production, actors - in acting, etc.
- The main council of the Academy, formed from representatives of 5 professional departments (directors, actors, screenwriters, producers and technicians), chose the final winners in all nominations by voting.
The procedure for determining the laureates has not changed over time, only 24 nominations, and 15 professional guilds that vote.
How is the presentation ceremony?
The Oscar in 1929, the first in history, was rather modest: at the Roosevelt Hotel (Los Angeles) in the form of a banquet for 270 people. But modern ceremonies are unprecedented pomp and scope.
It all starts with a procession of invited guests along the red carpet to the building where the presentation will take place. Stars in dazzling evening toilets walk past crowds of jubilant fans and camera flashes, and are housed in a huge hall that seats several thousand spectators.
The leading ceremonies change from year to year - these are famous comedians, popular actors or presenters of TV shows.
Famous persons are invited to voice the names of applicants in each nomination - the list is also large: producers, directors, actors and actresses, TV hosts, etc. Periodically, musical and choreographic performances are performed on stage. Well, and, of course, the winners take the return word, in which they thank relatives, friends, etc.
Films won in the nomination "Best film"
Over the 86 years of the existence of the award, many film works have become its laureates. Since the list is very long, we will only consider films nominated for an Oscar in the 21st century. and those who won the Best Movie category.
The new century was marked by victory in the nomination “Best Film” by Sam Mendes's film “American Beauty”: the story of how a 40-year-old man has a passion for his daughter’s young girlfriend.
In 2001, the Grand Prix was won by Ridley Scott’s historical drama “The Gladiator” - a spectacular costumed film about the times of Ancient Rome, and in 2002, the thriller “Mind Games” by Ron Howard was most struck by the Academy jury.
The musical Chicago won in 2003, and in 2004 Oscar was awarded the fantasy film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (directed by Peter Jackson).
In 2005, the Oscar went to Clint Eastwood’s drama “Million Dollar Baby”, in 2006 to Paul Haggis’s Clash, and in 2007 to Martin Scorsese's The Departed thriller.
2008 brought the award to the film “The Old Men Can't Come Here” (dir. The Cohen Brothers), 2009 - the drama “Slumdog Millionaire” (dir. Danny Boyle), 2010 - the thriller “The Lord of the Storm” (dir. Katherine Bigelow), 2011 - the tragicomedy “The King Speaks!” (dir. Tom Hooper).
In 2012, Michelle Hazanavicius won the “Artist” movie award, in 2013, Operation Argo, by Ben Affleck, and in 2014, 12 Years of Slavery by Steve McQueen.
The Oscar films listed above have always been distinguished by good box office fees and high IMDb ratings.
Oscar-winning directors
So, the winners of the Oscar for the last 15 years in the category "Best Director":
- 2000 - Sam Mendes (for the film "American Beauty");
- 2001 - Stephen Soderbergh (for the film "Traffic");
- 2002 - Ron Howard (for the film "Mind Games");
- 2003 - Roman Polanski (for the film "The Pianist");
- 2004 - Peter Jackson (for the film “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”);
- 2005 - Clint Eastwood (for the film "Baby in a Million");
- 2006 - Ang Lee (for the film "Brokeback Mountain");
- 2007 - Martin Scorsese (for the film “The Departed”);
- 2008 - Joel Cohen (for the film "Old Men Have No Place");
- 2009 - Danny Boyle (for the film "Slumdog Millionaire");
- 2010 - Katherine Bigelow (for the film "The Lord of the Storm");
- 2011 - Tom Hooper (for the film "The King Speaks!");
- 2012 - Michel Hazanavicius (for the film work “Artist”);
- 2013 - Ang Lee (for the film Life of Pi);
- 2014 - Alfonso Cuaron (for the film "Gravity").
"Best Actors" according to the Oscar
The Academy Award films bring worldwide recognition to the actors involved. For example, in 2000, Kevin Spacey became an Oscar winner for winning American Beauty in several other categories. In 2001, the story repeated itself, and took home the statuette of Russell Crowe for the lead role in Gladiator.
The year 2002 brought victory to Denzel Washington for his work on the “Training Day” project, and the year 2003 to Adrien Brody for the film “The Pianist”.
In 2004, Sean Penn received the Grand Prix for the film “Mysterious River”, in 2005 - Jamie Foxx for shooting in the film “Ray”, in 2006 - Philip Seymour Hoffman, in 2007 - Forest Whitaker, in 2008 - Daniel Day-Lewis, and in 2009 - again Sean Penn for shooting in the film "Harvey Milk".
In 2010, actor Jeff Bridges was recognized as "best", and in 2011,
Colin Firth received the award for best actor in the movie "The King Says!" In 2012, Jean Dujardin, the leading actor in the Artist, won the nomination; in 2013, Daniel Day-Lewis, who performed the role of US President Lincoln, received the second statuette; in 2014, Matthew McConaughey distinguished himself by his talented work at the Dallas Buyers Club.
"Best Actresses" according to the Oscar
The Academy Award was awarded in the nomination "Best Actress" to such performers as:
- Hilary Swank (for work in the project “Guys Don't Cry” (2000) and “Million Dollar Baby” (2005));
- Julia Roberts (for work in the Erin Brockovich project, 2001);
- Halle Barry (for work in the Monster Ball project, 2002);
- Nicole Kidman (for work in the 2003 Watch project);
- Charlize Theron (for work in the Monster project, 2004);
- Reese Witherspoon (for his work on the Cross the Line project, 2006);
- Helen Mirren (for work in the Queen project, 2007);
- Marion Cotillard (for work in the project “Life in Pink”, 2008);
- Kate Winslet (for work in the Reader project, 2009);
- Sandra Bullock (for work in the “Invisible Party” project, 2010);
- Natalie Portman (for work in the Black Swan project, 2011);
- Meryl Streep (for work in the Iron Lady project, 2012);
- Jennifer Lawrence (for work in the project “My Boyfriend is Crazy”, 2013);
- Cate Blanchett (for work in the Jasmine project, 2014).
Oscar-winning foreign films - list from 2000 to 2014
Foreign films are winners:
- 2000 - “Everything about my mother” (Spain);
- 2001 - “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (China);
- 2002 - Nobody’s Land (Bosnia-Herzegovina);
- 2003 - “Nowhere in Africa” (Germany);
- 2004 - “Invasion of the Barbarians” (Canada);
- 2005 - “Sea inside” (Spain);
- 2006 - “Tsotsi” (Great Britain);
- 2007 - “The Life of Others” (Germany);
- 2008 - "Counterfeiters" (Austria);
- 2009 - “Departed” (Japan);
- 2010 - “The Secret in His Eyes” (Argentina);
- 2011 - “Revenge” (Denmark);
- 2012 - “The divorce of Nader and Simin” (Iran);
- 2013 - “Love” (France);
- 2014 - "Great Beauty" (Italy).
Winning screenwriters
The Academy Award was also awarded in the nomination for "Best Screenplay" to the following screenwriters:
- 2000 - Alan Ball ("American Beauty");
- 2001 - Cameron Crowe (“Almost Famous”);
- 2002 - Julian Fellows (Gosford Park);
- 2003 - Pedro Almodovaru (“Talk to her”);
- 2004 - Sofia Coppole (“Translation Difficulties”);
- 2005 - Charlie Kaufman (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”);
- 2006 - Paul Haggis (“Clash”);
- 2007 - to Michael Arndt ("Little Miss Happiness");
- 2008 - Diablo Cody (“Juneau”);
- 2009 - Dustin Lance Black ("Harvey Milk");
- 2010 - Marc Boalu (“Lord of the Storm”);
- 2011 - to David Seidler (“The King Speaks!”);
- 2012 - Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris);
- 2013 - Quentin Tarantino (“Django Unchained”);
- 2014 - Spike Jones (“She”).
Critique of the ceremony
Recently, the impartiality of the judgments of the jury of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts has been increasingly questioned. Critics are perplexed, because the Oscar films and their quality deteriorate every year, tapes with an art-house bias, which had never collected such huge amounts at the box office, after becoming Oscar winners, increased revenue from screenings order of $ 12 million.
But, despite all the gossip and speculation, the Oscar ceremony does not give up and remains an interesting and important event in the world of cinema.