The Oscar road to the top of "Driving for Miss Daisy" is not hurried, just like driving to the outing on the weekend, starting with a horse flat river, looking at the scenery, so uncomfortable, followed by dangerous mountains and bad waters, bumps along the way, and a tire on the way, and finally reached the destination unconsciously.
With the National Critics Awards announced on December 13, it became the first film in 1989 to be crowned with the aura of best picture. The Variety newspaper commented that the film "recreates the transformation of race relations in the American South over the past 25 years through the friendship between an elderly Jewish woman (Jessica Tandy) and her loyal black driver (Morgan Freeman), which is "calm and touching" in the American South. Freeman won the Award for Best Actor and previously won an Obi Award for his role on Broadway.
Tandy, on the other hand, lost to Michelle Pfeiffer, who was nearly 50 years younger. Pfeiffer, who won best actress for "A Song of Love", was regarded by the Los Angeles Times as "a rising cash cow star in Hollywood". Bruce Beresford showed a "delicate and sensitive" approach to directing in "Driving for Miss Daisy", but the Americans ignored the Australian director's efforts, and he was excluded from subsequent awards from major institutions, so some people jokingly called "Miss Daisy in a driverless car".
Three days later, the Los Angeles Film Critics Awards announced the results, and the best picture award was won by another film that focused on race relations. Spike Lee's "Do What You Should" recently broke the pitch at the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or, losing to last year's Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner "Sex, Lies and Videotape." This time, it beat its strongest rival, "Psychedelic Cowboy", and in addition to winning best picture, it also won the best director award from Oliver Stone of "Born on the Fourth of July", and Danny Airro, who played the pizza shop owner, beat Martin Landau of "Crime and Mistake" to win the best supporting actor award.
At the ceremony, Spike Lee first thanked the Los Angeles film critics for their discernment, and then said ambitiously, "This award will help us get straight to the Oscar nominations, because 85% of the academy's voting judges are in Los Angeles." ”
Due to the difficult voting results, Andy McDowell of Sex, Lies and Videotape tied for Best Actress. For Best Actor, Morgan Freeman lost to Daniel Day-Lewis, who played The Irish writer and painter Christie Brown with cerebral palsy in My Left Foot, which Variety called his performance "brilliant."
This year's New York Film Critics Awards have changed significantly, and the New York Times film critics have withdrawn en masse, because the newspaper does not want the New York Film Critics Association to impact the newspaper's annual top ten films of the year. At the top 10 of this year's New York Times is the French film Chocolate, which tells the story of a young girl growing up in French West Africa in the late 1950s. In retaliation, the New York Film Critics Awards excluded "Chocolate" from the shortlist, and even did not qualify for the best foreign language film award. Not only that, the second place of the top ten" "Sin and Wrong" and the fourth place "False Love Half Life" were also treated coldly.
"Do What You Should" is the third of the top ten, it tied "My Left Foot" in the first three rounds of voting for the Best Picture Awards, and the situation suddenly changed in the fourth round, "My Left Foot" was far ahead with 36 votes, while "Do What You Should" received only 24 votes.
It took six rounds for the Best Director Award to decide the winner, with Spike Lee ultimately losing to Paul Mazursky of "Half a Life in Disguise."
Daniel Day-Lewis, by contrast, easily won the Award for Best Actor, and it took just one round of voting to defeat his main rival, Tom Cruise, who also played a role in a wheelchair. Born on the 4th of July, based on Ron Kowick's National Book Award-winning memoir of the same name, tells the story of how a disabled Vietnam Veteran became an anti-combatant. Morgan Freeman ran for Best Actor for "Driving for Miss Daisy" and "The Iron Fist Principal, and Best Supporting Actor for Glory," but he didn't get a single vote in both awards.
Freeman's partner in "Glory," Denzel Washington, had a chance to win Best Supporting Actor, but lost by one vote to Alan Arda of Crime and Wrong in the fourth round of voting. Joggia Brown, a film critic for Village Voice magazine who voted, told reporters: "Denzel Washington has given a great performance, but please forgive me, I can't tell you what really happened, I just feel chills." ”
As a woman, Georgia Brown feels resentful not only about racism. Since 21 of the 29 voters were men
Sex, in the selection of women's performance awards, they may pay more attention to appearance and body shape than to acting. As a result, Best Actress, 80-year-old Tandy, lost to the delicate Pfeiffer; Best Supporting Actress, middle-aged woman Brenda Fleck ("My Left Foot") lost to the charming Lena Orrin ("Pseudo Love Half a Life").
Pfeiffer has a crowd phobia, and when she received the award, she spoke incoherently, and the only sentence that could be heard was: "I can't speak, but I can act." ”
Despite being empty-handed, Spike Lee took the stage to receive the Best Newcomer Award for Director for Kenneth Burano, who was unable to show up (Henry V). "I'm glad to be here," he said curtly, completely devoid of his previous ambitions.
The National Film Critics Originally vowed to come up with a new list of awards, but the final result was like copying the New York Film Critics Awards. Daniel Day-Lewis and Michelle Pfeiffer are the unchanging queens.
The biggest differences are in the two most critical awards. "Psychedelic Cowboy" won the Best Picture Award with a 35-20 vote victory over "False Love Half Life". Best Director was also produced in both films, with Gus van Sant having 11 more votes than Paul Mazusky. "Psychedelic Cowboy" also won the best screenplay award.
Just when everyone thought Miss Daisy's car had broken down halfway, the Golden Globe Award gave it 3 nominations at once. Born on the 4th of July, Glory and When Harry Meets Sally received five nominations. Variety was particularly bullish on "When Harry Met Sally," "We don't believe the Golden Globes will bear to watch Billy Kristol and Meg Ryan's 11-year love run without a perfect ending." "Do What You Should Have Received received four nominations. The screenplay for "Driving for Miss Daisy" won a Pulitzer Prize but was not even nominated for Best Screenplay, and Bruce Beresford was once again not nominated for Best Director.
Although "Driving for Miss Daisy" is back in the judging circle, expectations of it are not high. The Los Angeles Monitor Observer said: "Miss Tandy finally saw hope at this time, at least this time without Michelle Pfeiffer above her head." ”
Sure enough, Tandy won the Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy category, and she trembled and took to the podium, saying to the audience: "I am proud and grateful." ”
Minutes later, there was a roar of surprise at the Beverly Hilton, which hosted the awards ceremony, and "Drive for Miss Daisy" won the highest-profile "When Harry Meets Sally" and the box office hits "War of the Roses" and the Disney musical "The Little Mermaid", which were awarded best picture in the musical/comedy category.
Morgan Freeman then won the award for Best Actor in this category, with Billy Kristol, Michael Douglas (Wars of the Roses), Steve Martin (Parenting) and Jack Niko Ninkoson, who played Joker in Batman, as the guests of the night. So far, the 3 nominations for "Driving for Miss Daisy" have all been fulfilled.
Freeman gave his acceptance speech with a serious look, telling the audience, "My mother always encouraged me, 'Son, you're going to make a difference in Hollywood.'" He raised the golden ball in his hand and shouted to the sky, "See? Mom, they gave me this! ”
Although there was a discordant discord in the previous New York Film Critics Awards that discriminated against black people, this scene did not occur at the Golden Globes. When he took the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, Denzel Washington said he had a hunch he would win.
"I came here a few years ago for Crying Freedom. I'm calm and I don't think I'm going to win," he said. "But this year I have a belief in victory."
The biggest winner of the night was Born on the Fourth of July, which received four of the five nominations, the most notable of which was the Best Screenplay Award, which was won by director and producer Oliver Stone and original author Ron Kowick.
Kowick, who was pushed onto stage in a wheelchair, said: "24 years ago today, I was injured in Vietnam. Lying alone in the field, I could never have imagined that I would appear before you tonight. This proves that even if you are in a wheelchair, you can be tall. ”
Born on the 4th of July, it also won best picture in the drama category. Backstage, reporters asked Stone to talk about how the film's success was different from "Field Platoon," which swept the U.S. awards scene in 1986.
"This time it's like I married off my second daughter," he replied.
The dramatic victory took place in the competition for Best Actor in a Drama Series, with Tom Cruise winning the three major film awards daniel Day-Lewis. Cruise believes that Kowick's "tireless pursuit of truth made the film." The Observer of Proverbs reported the next day, "Back in the background, he was bouncing wildly, like a chimpanzee." ”
Backstage, Stone also gave Spike Lee a bear hug, who had no grain on the night. "Lee's face was embarrassed," Newsweek said.
Just a day later, the Monitor Observer announced that "the votes for the Oscar nominations have been sent out today." Tom Cruise is now the hottest movie star candidate, leaving The British and Irishman Daniel Day-Lewis overnight, and it's clear that Hollywood loves its boys more. The winner of the Best Picture Award is now only possible in "Born on the Fourth of July" and "Driving for Miss Daisy." ”
But Miss Daisy's car soon hit a rock on the side of the road, and Bruce Beresford didn't even make it to the Director's Guild Award nomination. It's a red flag that only three Directors Guild Award winners in history have failed to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, and the city that Beresford lost may be an ominous sign.
Two weeks later, the Oscar nominations were announced, and Once again, Beresford was not nominated for Best Director. However, "Driving for Miss Daisy" unexpectedly received the most 9 nominations, ahead of "Born on the Fourth of July" with 8 nominations. As a result, whether "Driving for Miss Daisy" won the award became a matter of question for Oscar archaeologists, who eventually concluded that the vast majority of the most nominated films in history usually got their wishes, but the most recent time when the director did not win the best picture award, it dates back to "The Grand Hotel" in 1931-1932.
As a result, this year's Directors Guild Awards became the most eccentric of all time.
Not only were Beresford unsubstantiated, but the three major film critics and National Critics Awards for Best Director winners Spike Lee, Paul Mazursky, Gus van Sant and Kenneth Burano also failed to make the nominations. Competing are Oliver Stone, Woody Allen (Crime and Error), Rob Reiner (When Harry Meets Sally), Phil Alden Robinson (Dreamlands), and Peter Will (Dead Poetry Society).
In the end, Stone won easily, becoming the successor of Joseph Stone. The seventh director to win the award twice, after L. Mankelitz, George Stevens, David Lane, Robert Wise, Fred Zinaman and Francis Coppola.
"How wonderful, how amazing," Stone told the 1,400 colleagues in attendance. "I dreamed of making movies, and when the opportunity came, I wanted to put my life on the line. Today's night is something I never dreamed of, because it was unexpected, so it is even more worth cherishing. ”
A week later, as "Born on the Fourth of July" was striding toward the Oscars, the Screenwrits Guild Awards gave it the first blow, and Alfred Uri of "Drive for Miss Daisy" took the best adapted screenplay award. When the award emcee read out Uri's name, everyone waited for 5 minutes before he came on stage to receive the award. "Sorry, I had a problem with my leg and my seat was placed at the back again, so I guess I definitely didn't have a chance," he said. "Surely you're not mistaken... I was so lucky, "Driving for Miss Daisy" was the second screenplay I wrote, and I've been in the film for less than two years. ”
Woody Allen won best original screenplay, which he has previously won three times for Annie Hall, Danny Rose and Sister Hannah.
George Gilgo, president of the Writers Guild, said humorously to the audience: "Mr. Woody Allen did not come to collect the award, and now he has four trophies backlogged in our storeroom." Does anyone know Woody? Please give him a word and ask him to come and get these things away as soon as possible, or make room for us. ”
The real star of the awards was Art Buchwald, who had just won a lawsuit with Paramount Pictures. The film "Journey to America" was originally based on his script, and when he was finally signed, his name was replaced by lead actor Eddie Murphy, and the court ruled that Paramount paid him $250,000 and a 19% dividend on profits. However, Buchwald won the case without getting the money, and "Journey to America" sold $250 million at the box office, but Paramount insisted that they did not get a penny of profit. Buchwald's lawyers have applied to the company's account to find out what the truth is.
"Buchwald didn't plan to come to Los Angeles for the Writers Guild Awards, and he was worried because there had just been a magnitude 5.5 earthquake in southern California," Variety reported. Because Paramount said the earthquake was only 2.2 magnitude. ”
On the eve of the Oscars, the Los Angeles Times publicly predicted that the best picture would be "Born on The Fourth of July", the best director would be Oliver Stone, and the best actress would be Jessica Tandy. The newspaper's reporter, Jack Matthews, did not participate in the prediction, "I put a dollar on the table in the newspaper hall and bet on 'Drive for Miss Daisy' for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay." ”
As soon as the Oscars opened, host Billy Kristol first introduced the year's campaign films, and then said: "There are 330 movies in the 5-minute short film just now, and it is shocking that, according to Paramount, none of them have made money." The audience erupted in laughter, and then the laughter grew louder, as Kristol said "Driving for Miss Daisy" is "a film that doesn't require a director to make it yourself."
Denzel Washington was the first to take the stage to receive the Award for Best Supporting Actor, and he paid tribute to countless black soldiers, "who helped this country gain freedom." ”
In an interview, Washington told reporters, "Before starring in Glory, I knew nothing about the history told in the film. I was amazed, what was taught to me when I was in school. ”
As for the attribution of the award for best supporting actress, the Los Angeles Times has previously commented, "According to the usual tastes of the academy judges, Lena Olin and Angelica Houston are the most promising, but because they are both from "Pseudo-Love Half Life", and the academy has no convention of juxtaposing the award, Brenda Fleck has the certainty of winning." ”
Sure enough, the Irish actress, who had previously only acted in BBC fat stills, became the winner of the night. "I can't believe it," Freck was so excited that she certainly didn't forget to share the statue with the archetypal character from My Left Foot, "I want to thank Mrs. Brown." She had 22 children, only 13 of whom survived, and she dedicated her life to one of them. ”
This one is Daniel Day-Lewis playing Christie Brown. During the filming of the film, Daniel refused to leave the wheelchair, and as a result, he overturned the car and broke two ribs when he crossed the obstacle. On the podium, he said to the little golden man in his hand: "It was you who made me spend the most painful days in my hospital bed in Dublin, and now it is time for you to repay me." ”
By coincidence, Beresford, the director of "Drive for Miss Daisy," was also in a car accident on the eve of the Oscars. He and his daughter Tiffany were driving from the Location of Mr. Johnson in Nigeria to Kano Airport when a sudden tire burst occurred on the way, the car overturned several times, fell into a ditch on the side of the road, and fortunately, neither father nor daughter was injured.
Beresford rushed to London that night, but he missed the live broadcast of the awards ceremony because there was no television in the hotel room. Only afterwards did he realize that what he had missed was some of the most celebratory moments of his life.
The first is Jessica Tandy's award for Best Actress. "It's a miracle!" As she took the statue, she said, "Thank you to my lucky stars, and to producers Richard and Lily Zanuk, who gave me this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and what I want to thank most is the forgotten man, my director, Bruce Beresford." ”
The next day's publication of Variety Newspaper unearthed an interesting historical fact: "The 1951 "StreetCar of Desire" was adapted from the stage play of the same name, in which the heroine was played by Tandy, but Vivien Leigh won an Oscar for her film version. "Driving for Miss Daisy" is also adapted from a stage play, and this time Tandy plays someone else's role and takes back what she owes her. ”
Tandy, 80, also became the oldest winner in Oscar history, something she didn't know until she got backstage. "Really?" She said in surprise. "It seems that I did not live so long in vain."
The Best Original Screenplay award broke a hit, with the most popular woody Allen losing out to Tom Shulman of Dead Poetry, a school-themed film that is also expected to compete in the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Robin Williams) units.
The best adapted screenplay was a face-to-face contest between the big hit "Born on the Fourth of July" and "Driving for Miss Daisy". As a result, the winner was Alfred Uri. The organizers placed him in the front seat, and this time he took little time to take the stage to receive the award.
Although he lost the award, Oliver Stone won back a city with the Best Director Award. He thanked the judges for "recognizing that the Vietnam War wasn't over, though some people thought so," and He thanked Kowick for his broad-mindedness and Tom Cruise for making Ron's dream come true.
As the awards ceremony drew to a close, the entire Dorothy Chandler Auditorium was shrouded in a tense air.
The Oscars gave everyone a classic surprise — the best picture was "Driving for Miss Daisy."
Producers Richard and Lily Zanuk almost jumped on stage. Richard Zanuk said: "We came here for one purpose, just to show that Bruce Beresford is a great director. ”
Amy Archer of Variety wrote in her column, "Whenever the venue is applauding a 'forgotten director', no one can help but ask the question, aren't all the people sitting in the room with the right to vote, why did they go earlier?" ”
The Variety reporter was also curious: "If you are in the awards scene, you will even think that Bruce Beresford is a deceased director, he did not get a nomination, did not take the stage to receive the award, it is because he is no longer alive, this is the oscar jury can find the most reasonable reason for directing this scene." 」 ”
Three days before the Oscars, the Independent Spirit Awards summed up the year's films. The National Film Critics Award for Best Picture "Psychedelic Cowboy" won four awards, including Best Screenplay, Cinematography, Actor (Matt Dillon) and Supporting Actress (Max Peric).
Sex, Lies and Videotape won Best Picture, in addition to Steven Soderbergh for Best Director, and Andy McDowell and Laura San Giacomo for Best Actress and Supporting Actress, respectively.
This year's American Film Festival was officially renamed the Sundance Film Festival, and "Chameleon", based on true events, was awarded the Grand Jury Prize. A combination of writer, director and lead actor, Vandal B. Harris searched for almost all the distribution companies to make the film available, and again and again hit a wall, and the Sundance Film Festival was his last hope.
"I'm afraid no one would think that the Sundance Film Awards ceremony is a ceremony of seriousness," the Los Angeles Times reported, "William Dafoe wore jeans and snow boots when he took the stage to present the awards, just a small show during his vacation." However, it's a place to give hope that movie lovers come together and applaud your movie, even if your movie won't have another chance for more people to watch. ”