OSCARS 2024: HISTORY NEVER TEACHES

The 2024 Oscars have been awarded in Hollywood. Few surprises and a sad repetition: History never teaches us anything.

In a Hollywood where the hierarchies of the protagonists change very little from season to season, there were no great news on the most important night of the year. In fact, the most coveted statuettes went to two more historical films, "Oppenheimer" and "The Zone of Interest." Both films, well-made and accurate in their reconstruction of historical reality, paradoxically demonstrate once again that there are some subjects that, despite being talked about again and again, teach us nothing. Never more necessary than in these days of the terrible conflict in the Middle East, "The Zone of Interest" highlights the indifference of the soul that, while laughing and celebrating the night of the Oscars in Hollywood, watches without suffering the death of tens of thousands of innocent children. First the Israeli ones and then, in unbelievably greater numbers, the Palestinian ones. Nor does the recollection of the terrible history that preceded the dropping of the atomic bomb serve to move the spirits of those who govern us.

 
Christopher Nolan by Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

States and societies are silent about what is happening, not only in the Middle East, of course. And so, in an attempt to reward what will serve little purpose, films more directly related to other kinds of conflicts and tragedies of the human soul are relegated to the second row: loneliness, the reading of life and of the days that pass us by so quickly, in the fascinating journey that Wim Wenders takes us on hand in hand with his "Perfect Days." And the story of the physical weakness of women in relation to men, in the splendid vision of "Poor Things," which skewers the condition of women in so many countries of the world. The prisons we sometimes create for others out of unbelievable absurdities (prisons that are nothing in the face of the meaning of life), such as the absurdity of wanting to dominate the female universe, are as frightening as the hardness of the soul of the German gendarme in "The Zone of Interest." One feels a little sorry for Paul Giamatti, the magnificent male lead in "The Holdovers," who also tells the lives of so many people in the world in one. An amazing performance in every facial nuance, which we will remember even though it was not awarded: the Oscar goes to Cillian Murphy instead.

Emma Stone, https://www.flickr.com/photos/marinsd, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The most colorful tones of the evening came once again from "Barbie," with a stunning performance in pink by Ryan Gosling, who livened up a rather cold and dull theater and ceremony. Now for next year's work. May 2025 bring us something more artistic and more moving. Oh, I forgot, Emma Stone and Da'Vine Joy Randolph are always good, though, and the quality of the films playing "the finals" was yes, really good.

Below is the full list of 2024 winners:

Best Picture

“American Fiction,” Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson and Jermaine Johnson, producers

“Anatomy of a Fall,” Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion, producers

“Barbie,” David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, producers

“The Holdovers,” Mark Johnson, producer

“Killers of the Flower Moon,” Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese and Daniel Lupi, producers

“Maestro,” Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Kristie Macosko Krieger, producers

“Oppenheimer,” Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan, producers (WINNER)

“Past Lives,” David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, producers

“Poor Things,” Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, producers

“The Zone of Interest,” James Wilson, producer

Best Director

Justine Triet — “Anatomy of a Fall”

Martin Scorsese — “Killers of the Flower Moon”

Christopher Nolan — “Oppenheimer” (WINNER)

Yorgos Lanthimos — “Poor Things”

Jonathan Glazer — “The Zone of Interest”

Actor in a Leading Role

Bradley Cooper — “Maestro”

Colman Domingo — “Rustin”

Paul Giamatti — “The Holdovers”

Cillian Murphy — “Oppenheimer” (WINNER)

Jeffrey Wright — “American Fiction”

Actress in a Leading Role

Annette Bening — “Nyad”

Lily Gladstone — “Killers of the Flower Moon”

Sandra Hüller — “Anatomy of a Fall”

Carey Mulligan — “Maestro”

Emma Stone — “Poor Things” (WINNER)

Actor in a Supporting Role

Sterling K. Brown — “American Fiction”

Robert De Niro – “Killers of the Flower Moon”

Robert Downey Jr. — “Oppenheimer” (WINNER)

Ryan Gosling — “Barbie”

Mark Ruffalo — “Poor Things”

Actress in a Supporting Role

Emily Blunt — “Oppenheimer”

Danielle Brooks — “The Color Purple”

America Ferrera – “Barbie”

Jodie Foster — “Nyad”

Da’Vine Joy Randolph — “The Holdovers” (WINNER)

Adapted Screenplay

“American Fiction,” written for the screen by Cord Jefferson (WINNER)

“Barbie,” written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach

“Oppenheimer,” written for the screen by Christopher Nolan

“Poor Things,” screenplay by Tony McNamara

“The Zone of Interest,” written by Jonathan Glazer

Original Screenplay

“Anatomy of a Fall,” screenplay by Justine Triet and Arthur Harari (WINNER)

“The Holdovers,” written by David Hemingson

“Maestro,” written by Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer

“May December,” screenplay by Samy Burch; story by Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik

“Past Lives,” written by Celine Song

Cinematography

“El Conde” – Edward Lachman

“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Rodrigo Prieto

“Maestro” – Matthew Libatique

“Oppenheimer” – Hoyte van Hoytema (WINNER)

“Poor Things” – Robbie Ryan

Original Song

“The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot,” music and lyric by Diane Warren

“I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie,” music and lyric by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt

“It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony,” music and lyric by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson

“Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)” from “Killers of the Flower Moon,” music and lyric by Scott George

“What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie,” music and lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell (WINNER)

Costume Design

“Barbie” – Jacqueline Durran

“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Jacqueline West

“Napoleon” – Janty Yates and Dave Crossman

“Oppenheimer” – Ellen Mirojnick

“Poor Things” – Holly Waddington (WINNER)

Sound

“The Creator,” Ian Voigt, Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic

“Maestro,” Steven A. Morrow, Richard King, Jason Ruder, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” Chris Munro, James H. Mather, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor

“Oppenheimer,” Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo and Kevin O’Connell

“The Zone of Interest,” Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn (WINNER)

Original Score

“American Fiction” – Laura Karpman

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” John Williams

“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Robbie Robertson

“Oppenheimer” – Ludwig Göransson (WINNER)

“Poor Things” – Jerskin Fendrix

Live Action Short Film

“The After,” Misan Harriman and Nicky Bentham

“Invincible,” Vincent René-Lortie and Samuel Caron

“Knight of Fortune,” Lasse Lyskjær Noer and Christian Norlyk

“Red, White and Blue,” Nazrin Choudhury and Sara McFarlane

“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” Wes Anderson and Steven Rales (WINNER)

Animated Short Film

“Letter to a Pig,” Tal Kantor and Amit R. Gicelter

“Ninety-Five Senses,” Jerusha Hess and Jared Hess

“Our Uniform,” Yegane Moghaddam

“Pachyderme,” Stéphanie Clément and Marc Rius

“War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko,” Dave Mullins and Brad Booker (WINNER)

Documentary Feature Film

“Bobi Wine: The People’s President,” Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp and John Battsek

“The Eternal Memory”

“Four Daughters,” Kaouther Ben Hania and Nadim Cheikhrouha

“To Kill a Tiger,” Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe and David Oppenheim

“20 Days in Mariupol,” Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath (WINNER)

Documentary Short Film

“The ABCs of Book Banning,” Sheila Nevins and Trish Adlesic

“The Barber of Little Rock,” John Hoffman and Christine Turner

“Island in Between,” S. Leo Chiang and Jean Tsien

“The Last Repair Shop,” Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers (WINNER)

“Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó,” Sean Wang and Sam Davis

International Feature Film

“Io Capitano” (Italy)

“Perfect Days” (Japan)

“Society of the Snow” (Spain)

“The Teachers’ Lounge” (Germany)

“The Zone of Interest” (United Kingdom) (WINNER)

Animated Feature Film

“The Boy and the Heron,” Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki (WINNER)

“Elemental,” Peter Sohn and Denise Ream

“Nimona,” Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary

“Robot Dreams,” Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz

“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal

Makeup and Hairstyling

“Golda,” Karen Hartley Thomas, Suzi Battersby and Ashra Kelly-Blue

“Maestro,” Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou and Lori McCoy-Bell

“Oppenheimer,” Luisa Abel

“Poor Things,” Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston (WINNER)

“Society of the Snow,” Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí and Montse Ribé

Production Design

“Barbie,” production design: Sarah Greenwood; set decoration: Katie Spencer

“Killers of the Flower Moon,” production design: Jack Fisk; set decoration: Adam Willis

“Napoleon,” production design: Arthur Max; set decoration: Elli Griff

“Oppenheimer,” production design: Ruth De Jong; set decoration: Claire Kaufman

“Poor Things,” production design: James Price and Shona Heath; set decoration: Zsuzsa Mihalek (WINNER)

Film Editing

“Anatomy of a Fall” – Laurent Sénéchal

“The Holdovers” – Kevin Tent

“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Thelma Schoonmaker

“Oppenheimer” – Jennifer Lame (WINNER)

“Poor Things” – Yorgos Mavropsaridis

Visual Effects

“The Creator,” Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould

“Godzilla Minus One,” Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima (WINNER)

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould

“Napoleon,” Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco and Neil Corbould