The 84th annual Academy Awards aired on Feb. 26 in all its pomp and ridiculousness. But pomp aside, it was still a relatively entertaining show that had its share of surprises.
The first and most welcome surprise was that Billy Crystal once again obliged to host. While Crystal is certainly not at the top of his game, he performed his hosting duties admirably and was such a welcome sight to anyone who watched last year’s hosting fiasco with the impossibly unfunny Anne Hathaway and James Franco.
The awards presentations itself was watchable, although nobody really pays attention until the last hour when all the “important” awards are announced.
Another big surprise that night should really have come as no surprise at all: Meryl Streep won the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her role in “The Iron Lady,” which might not seem extremely remarkable given her acting history. But in fact, the last time Streep won the award was 29 years ago, and Sunday’s Oscar was only her third win of 17 total nominations.
But perhaps the biggest surprise of the night came from a silent, unassuming film called “The Artist.” A film that had next to no dialogue took home top honors at the Academy Awards. “The Artist” took five Oscars in total, including Best Picture, which is remarkable considering that the last silent film to win that award was released back in 1929.
Jean Dujardin, who plays the lead role of George Valentin in “The Artist,” took home the award for Best Actor despite speaking only two words in the entire film. Of course, there is much more to an on-screen performance than the mere reciting of dialogue, but for an actor to win the award only having spoken two words is unprecedented.
“The Artist” rounded it out by winning Best Director for Michel Hazanavicius’s homage to the origins of film, as well as Best Original Score for Ludovic Bource’s haunting compositions, and lastly Best Costume Design for the wonderful wardrobe that helped recreate the 1920s Hollywood scene.
The Academy Awards are always unpredictable, and there’s always disagreement among viewers. But that’s more than half the fun.
