Leonardo DiCaprio and ‘Spotlight’ shine at politically-charged Oscar ceremony

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com): In an upset victory, newspaper drama ‘Spotlight’ won best picture at the 88th Academy Awards over heavily favoured survival epic ‘The Revenant’. The drama about the Boston Globe’s investigation into the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal also nabbed a statue for its screenplay, while ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ picked up a leading six Oscars exclusively in technical categories.

Though it missed out on best picture, ‘The Revenant’ didn’t go home empty-handed, winning best director for Alejandro G. Inarritu, best actor for star Leonardo DiCaprio and best cinematography.

It was a politically charged evening, one in which winners and presenters used their moment on stage to shine a light on issues ranging from global warming to campus rape. Sunday’s ceremony also unfolded in the wake of perhaps the biggest controversy the celebration of filmmaking excellence has faced. A backlash over the lack of nominations for actors of colour for the second straight year threatened to overshadow the broadcast itself, leading to boycotts from top figures such as Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith, a viral hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, and a protest outside the Dolby Theater led by Rev. Al Sharpton.

Returning for a second stint as the broadcast’s host, Chris Rock lost no time dispensing with the elephant in the room. In a monologue that took on the issue of race head-on, Rock went on to note that he considered quitting the hosting gig, before saying he reconsidered.

“The last thing I need is to lose another job to Kevin Hart,” said Rock. He added, “If they nominated hosts, I wouldn’t even get this job. You all would be watching Neil Patrick Harris right now.”

That wasn’t his only zinger. The comedian called the Oscars the ‘the White People’s Choice Awards’, dubbed Hollywood ‘sorority racist’, and said that black performers want more ‘opportunity’ to loud applause. 

Race was a subject that Rock returned to throughout the program with gags that included imagining nominated films such as ‘The Revenant’ and ‘The Martian’ recast with African-American actors like Whoopi Goldberg and Tracy Morgan, and a bit that found him interviewing moviegoers outside an urban L.A. theatre about the diversity controversy. A year after scoring a filmmaking Oscar for ‘Birdman’, Inarritu became only the third person in history to win back-to-back Oscars, joining an exclusive group that also includes John Ford and Joseph L. Mankiewicz. In an evening where race dominated the conversation, Inarritu urged this generation to ‘liberate ourself from all prejudice’ and looked forward to a day when ‘the colour of the skin becomes as irrelevant as the length of our hair’.

As expected, DiCaprio earned his first Oscar after five previous nominations for pushing himself to physical extremes as a hunter left for dead in the wilderness. His victory came at the expense of Michael Fassbender (Jobs), Matt Damon (The Martian), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), and last year’s winner for ‘Theory of Everything’, Eddie Redmayne, nominated for ‘The Danish Girl’. Accepting his statue, DiCaprio, who is active in environmental causes, noted that the production had to leave Canada for Argentina in search of snow.

Brie Larson nabbed the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of an abducted woman in ‘Room’. The first-time nominee prevailed over past winners Cate Blanchett (Carol) and Jennifer Lawrence (Joy), as well as Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn) and Charlotte Rampling (45 Years).

“Spotlight’s” victory wasn’t the only unexpected twist at the Oscars. Mark Rylance scored a best supporting actor win for his portrayal of a Soviet agent in “Bridge of Spies” over heavily favoured ‘Creed’ star Sylvester Stallone. Best known as a theatre actor, the Steven Spielberg drama marks Rylance’s highest-profile film to date. He will reteam with the director in next summer’s ‘The B.F.G’.

Alicia Vikander, a Swedish actress, who had head-turning roles this year in the likes of ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’ and ‘Ex Machina’, scored a best supporting actress statue for her portrayal of an artist whose husband undergoes gender reassignment surgery in ‘The Danish Girl’. Vikander thanked director Tom Hooper, co-star Eddie Redmayne, and her parents for “giving me the belief that anything can happen; even though I never would have believed this.”

Best song winner Sam Smith, honoured for the ‘Spectre’ theme ‘The Writing’s on the Wall’, used his moment at the microphone to dedicate his award to the LGBT community.

The political appeals extended to technical categories, where ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ dominated, winning six statues for sound editing, sound mixing, film editing, costumes, makeup and hair, and production design in the early awards.

‘The Revenant’ made history nabbing a third consecutive cinematography Oscar for Emmanuel Lubezki, whose swirling camera and lengthy tracking shots were previously honoured with ‘Birdman’ and ‘Gravity’.

Among other major awards, Hungarian Holocaust drama ‘Son of Saul’ won best foreign language film, while ‘Inside Out’ scored best animated feature.

Despite ranking as the highest-grossing film of 2015 and the third highest-grossing film in history, ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ was shut out in each of the five categories in which it was nominated. Its presence was felt, however. C3P0, BB-8, and R2-D2 were called on to present an award, while J.J. Abrams, credited with recapturing the initial trilogy’s sense of adventure in the latest instalment, presented best director.

Presenters Priyanka Chopra (L) and Liev Schreiber (R) pose with Margaret Sixel after she won Best Film Editing for “Mad Max Fury Road”. REUTERS/Mike Blake

From left: Producers Steve Golin, Blye Pagon Faust, Nicole Rocklin and Michael Sugar of the Best Picture winning film ‘Spotlight’ pose with their Oscars backstage at the 88th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California – REUTERS