“All Quiet on the Western Front” snatched the Oscar from “Argentina, 1985”

The German film “All Quiet on the Western Front”, by Edward Berger, received this Sunday the Oscar for best international film, in front of the Argentine film by Santiago Mitre “Argentina, 1985”, in a ceremony where the Chilean actor Pedro Pascal served as one of the presenters.
“I want to thank my team, especially Felix Kammerer (the protagonist) this is his first film and he had a great weight on his shoulders, without him we would not be here,” said Berger upon receiving the statuette from Mexican Salma Hayek and Spaniard Antonio Banderas.
In addition to defeating the Argentines, the other favorites of the contest, Berger beat the Irish film “The Quiet Girl”, by Colm Bairéad, the Polish “EO”, by Jerzy Skolimowski, and the Belgian “Close”, by Lukas Dhont.
Nine nominations have had this film that follows the story of a young man who, influenced by the nationalist ideas of his country, enlists enthusiastically to fight in the First World War.
With no heroes or sides representing the good and the bad, Berger shows how German and French soldiers are torn between life and death because of political decisions.
Since the awards nominations were announced in January, “All Quiet on the Western Front” has emerged as one of the favorites of the gala, being the second most nominated film.
In addition, she was the big winner of the BAFTAs, where she won the award for best international film, best director and best film, this last award also fights tonight.
This is not the first adaptation of the story based on the book by German writer Erich Maria Remarque, but it is the first time that a German director has told his own version of events.
“All Quiet on the Western Front” was first adapted into a film in the 30s by American director Lewis Mileston, who won the Oscar for his work.
Other winners
Meanwhile, the film “Everywhere All at Once”, by directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, swept by pocketing seven awards, including best film, best director and best actress, which went to Malaysian Michelle Yeoh.
He only needed to take the Oscar for best actor to round out the full in the three main categories, but the Hollywood Academy opted for the American Brendan Fraser, for “The Whale”, in the season of his return to the elite of the industry.
Kwan and Scheinert dedicated the best director award to “all the mothers of the world” because they are the “true heroines”, in a clear allusion to the plot of the film, which is about a mother with the ability to travel to parallel universes and dimensions.
“This is proof that, with hope, dreams come true. Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t. Thanks to my mother, she is the true superhero,” agreed Yeoh, who became the first Asian to be recognized in this section.
Fraser winner
For the men’s category of this award, Fraser took the stage completely excited, with nervous laughter and stating that “this must be something like the multiverse”, in another nod to the movie of the night.
In addition, the phenomenon “Everything Everywhere All at Once” won in four other sections: best original screenplay, editing, best supporting actor and best supporting actress.
Ke Huy Quan, who returned to Hollywood almost four decades later, and Jamie Lee Curtis, who took the first Oscar to which she has been nominated since jumping to the big screen with “Halloween” (1978), triumphed in the categories of best actor and best supporting actress.
The two big disappointments of the night were “The Fabelmans” and “The Banshees of Inisherin,” which had seven and nine nominations, respectively, and didn’t even get to release their locker.
In an edition whose nominations combined successful independent films and auteur films sponsored by streaming platforms, there was hardly room for the Hollywood blockbusters “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Top Gun: Maverick”, which opted for various technical awards and best film.
Both films were gratefully received by the industry for bringing relief to the post-pandemic box office, but only captured their name in the category of best special effects, in the case of James Cameron’s work; and best sound for the film directed by Joseph Kosinski.
Among other technical sections, the Academy recognized the makeup work of “The Whale”, a film in which Fraser, winner of the Oscar for best actor, became aa morbidly obese person; and the costume design for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which consecrated Ruth. E. Carter as the first African-American with two Oscars.
Another of the most anticipated moments was the performance of Rihanna, who interpreted the theme “Lift Me Up” from this same film, nominated for best song, and who saw how the statuette escaped her and fell back on the composition “Naatu Naatu”, from the Indian film “RRR”.
Only Latin Winner
Guillermo del Toro won the Oscar for best animated film for “Pinocchio” (Netflix) in which it was the first award that was delivered at the ceremony.
“Animation is ready to be taken to another dimension and to be taken more into account,” said the filmmaker after collecting what is his third golden statuette after the two he garnered – best film and best director – for “The Shape of Water” (2017).
His compatriot Alfonso Cuarón did not enjoy the same fate because the short film he co-produced, “Le Pupille,” was not chosen by the Hollywood Academy.
The timid Latin representation this year was completed by Ana de Armas, who could not prevail in the category of best actress, and the film “Argentina, 1985”, which did not win the award for best international film.
The defeat of “Argentina, 1985” avoided a predictable speech in favor of democracy by its director, Santiago Mitre, but the references in political key came with “Navalny”, which prevailed in the section of best documentary film.
Yulia Navalnya, wife of Russian opponent Alexei Navalny imprisoned by Vladimir Putin, wanted to take advantage of the Oscar window to encourage her husband to stay “strong” and to send a message of hope to her country: “I dream of the day when we are free again,” she said.

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Original source in Spanish