IN a rather predictable 96th edition of the Oscars, ‘Oppenheimer’ won Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and four other awards. Here’s the lowdown of the evening (scroll down for the five viral moments of the night and our full liveblog of the whole red carpet and ceremony).
Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic Oppenheimer has triumphed at this year’s Oscars, taking home seven awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Cillian Murphy.
Murphy beat Paul Giamatti to the coveted Best Actor Award, while Robert Downey Jr. was named Best Supporting Actor for his role in Oppenheimer. Murphy, winning his first Oscar from his first nomination, is also the first ever Irish-born winner in his category.
“I’m a very proud Irish man standing here tonight,” he said. “For better or for worse, we’re living in Oppenheimer’s world. I would like to dedicate this to all the peacemakers out there.”
Nolan picked up his first Best Director Oscar, after being nominated previously for Dunkirk, beating out Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Glazer.
When speaking about cinema, he said: “We don’t know where this incredible journey is going from here but to know that you think I’m a meaningful part of it means the world to me.”
The film also won for Best Editing, Best Cinematography and Best Score.
Elsewhere, Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things tallied four wins, including Best Actress for Emma Stone, who beat out favourite Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon). It’s the actress’ second Best Actress Oscar after previously winning for La La Land.
The film also picked up awards for Best Production Design, Best Hairstyling and Make-up and Costume Design.
Jonathan Glazer’s German-language Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest was named Best International Feature, the first ever British film to win in this category. The film also won for Best Sound.
In his speech, Glazer addressed the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, calling out the “dehumanisation” shown both in his film and in reality. “Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has lead to conflict for so many innocent people,” he said, “whether the victims of 7 October in Israel or the ongoing attack in Gaza.”
France’s Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet took home one award – Best Original Screenplay. She won the award with her partner and co-writer Arthur Harari. Triet becomes the first woman to ever win in this writing category.
Other films to also just take just one award in the 10 Best Picture nominees are The Holdovers (Best Supporting Actress for Da’vine Joy Randolph), American Fiction (Best Adapted Screenplay), and Barbie (Best Original Song for Billie Eilish’s ‘What Was I Made For?). By winning the award, Eilish, 22, becomes the youngest two-time Oscar winner in history -having previously picked up an award for her James Bond anthem ‘No Time to Die’ in 2022. Euro News
