EGN NEWS DESK
On March 23, 2003, as the remainder of the world watched televised pictures of captives and corpses recognized as American troopers, limos carrying high-fashion-clad celebrities rolled up exterior what was then referred to as the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles.
The United States had invaded Iraq simply three days earlier than, and, till that morning, there was nonetheless the chance that the Oscars wouldn’t go on.
As A-listers like Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry and Steve Martin — the host — have been herded via steel detectors amid a big legislation enforcement presence, a number of blocks away, cops holding golf equipment confronted off with demonstrators attempting to get nearer to the theater (none did).
This yr, one other battle is within the headlines because the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences mounts one other Oscars. So far, nearly nobody has spoken out at precursor awards exhibits, however it was very completely different in 2003.
“It felt bizarre to decorate up and go to this factor whereas our fellow Americans have been all abroad about to get entangled in one thing that was very harmful,” the director Chris Sanders recalled in a current interview. Sanders was nominated that yr for greatest animated function movie for guiding and writing “Lilo & Stitch” with Dean DeBlois.
In the weeks main as much as the ceremony, greater than 100 performers, together with Matt Damon, Jessica Lange, Helen Hunt, George Clooney and Danny Glover, signed a letter urging President George W. Bush to not assault Iraq. The day earlier than, the actors Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, and the Oscar-nominated director Pedro Almodóvar, have been amongst hundreds who marched in Hollywood to protest the battle.
And hours after the battle began, a number of presenters, together with Cate Blanchett and Jim Carrey, bowed out, citing security considerations and respect for navy households. Peter Jackson, whose movie “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” was nominated for greatest image, additionally determined to skip the present.
“It was a little bit little bit of ‘Are they going to occur?’” Sanders mentioned. “And in the event that they do, who will present up?”
The Academy Awards, which shall be handed out for the 96th yr on Sunday, have by no means been canceled outright. During the pandemic, they passed off partly remotely, with some nominees and presenters showing from hubs in London and Paris. During World War II, after an preliminary cancellation, the Oscars went on as scheduled, however with formal apparel banned and the ceremony labeled a “dinner” slightly than a “banquet.”
In 2003, the present’s broadcaster, ABC, pleaded with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to take an identical course, however the academy refused, partially as a result of the Kodak Theater wouldn’t be accessible later. Instead, the academy determined to carry the ceremony as deliberate however with a number of adjustments: Arriving nominees and their friends wouldn’t parade alongside a crimson carpet — a primary — and as a substitute could be requested to put on darker colours and extra subdued outfits.
Sanders mentioned he knew “Lilo & Stitch” was a protracted shot to win. “We have been up towards Miyazaki, for ‘Spirited Away,’” he mentioned. But different nominees needed to grapple with whether or not to deal with the battle in the event that they gained.
“Stars was extra reticent about saying something that may alienate ticket patrons,” mentioned Jules Dixon-Green, a professor on the University of North Carolina who teaches a course on leisure public relations. “But as social media platforms have grow to be extra vibrant and sturdy, celebrities are realizing that persons are actually searching for genuine factors of view from the individuals they admire, respect and observe.”
In 2003, the front-runner going into the night was “Chicago,” with 13 nominations, together with greatest image, greatest director for Rob Marshall and greatest actress and supporting actress for Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Martin Scorsese’s historic crime story “Gangs of New York” was sizzling on its heels with 10 nominations, and the psychological drama “The Hours” had 9, together with greatest actress for Nicole Kidman’s fake-nose-assisted flip as the author Virginia Woolf.
The first award of the night time went to “Spirited Away.” The filmmaker, Hayao Miyazaki, was not in attendance and supplied no clarification on the time. In a 2009 interview with The Los Angeles Times, he mentioned he had boycotted the awards due to the invasion.
“I didn’t wish to go to a rustic that was bombing Iraq,” he mentioned. “At the time, my producer shut me up and didn’t permit me to say that, however I don’t see him round right this moment.”
The first winner to check with the battle was Chris Cooper, who gained greatest supporting actor for his efficiency as a near-toothless orchid thief in “Adaptation.”
“In mild of all the difficulty on this world, I want us peace,” he mentioned.
Then issues went off the rails.
After Zeta-Jones, who was practically 9 months pregnant, gained for her efficiency because the villainous vaudevillian Velma Kelly in “Chicago,” Michael Moore went onstage to simply accept greatest documentary for “Bowling for Columbine.”
With the opposite documentary nominees becoming a member of him onstage, he mentioned that they have been making a joint assertion: “We are towards this battle,” he declared and was met with a refrain of loud boos. (“Music, music!” the Oscars broadcast director, Louis J. Horvitz, was heard yelling.)
“It was so candy backstage,” Steve Martin mentioned a couple of minutes later. “You ought to have seen it. The Teamsters are serving to Michael Moore into the trunk of his limo.”
And then got here one of many largest shocks of the night time: Halle Berry introduced that Adrien Brody had gained greatest actor for his efficiency as an unlikely Holocaust survivor in Roman Polanski’s “The Pianist,” beating out Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine, Daniel Day-Lewis and Jack Nicholson.
An exuberant Brody — who, at 29, grew to become the youngest actor ever to win the class — walked onstage in a daze, kissed a shocked Berry (she later mentioned the episode made her uncomfortable) and used his speech to attraction for peace and the protected return of American troopers.
“Whether you imagine in Allah or God, could he watch over you, and pray for a peaceable and swift decision to this battle,” he mentioned.
A couple of minutes later, one of the best actress award went to Kidman, who in accepting her award, requested: “Why do you come to the Academy Awards when the world is in such turmoil? Because artwork is necessary.”
Momentum appeared to be selecting up for a “Pianist” best-picture upset after Brody gained greatest actor and Ronald Harwood gained greatest tailored screenplay for the movie. Then Polanski, who has not returned to the United States since fleeing whereas awaiting sentencing for statutory rape, was named greatest director over the favorites, Marshall and Scorsese.
The night time concluded as anticipated, although, with “Chicago” profitable its sixth statuette, for greatest image, making it the primary musical to win since “Oliver!” (1968).
Ratings for the ceremony, which lasted three and a half hours and was the primary Academy Awards to be broadcast in high-definition, confirmed it drew 33 million viewers, making it the least-watched and lowest-rated televised Oscar ceremony to that time. A major variety of viewers had tuned into protection of the Iraq War as a substitute.
The references to Iraq pervading the night time have been in marked distinction to the awards exhibits to this point this season, when — after two years by which the battle in Ukraine was acknowledged at practically each ceremony — the battle between Israel and Hamas has gone principally unmentioned.
“It’s too fraught,” a studio govt advised The New York Times’s awards season columnist, Kyle Buchanan, final week. “People are fearful about their careers.”
Outside the United States, nevertheless, actors and filmmakers have been extra outspoken. At the BAFTA awards final month in London, the producer James Wilson, accepting the prize for greatest movie not within the English language for his Holocaust movie, “The Zone of Interest,” urged an finish to “selective empathy,” drawing parallels between his movie and Israel’s bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip in current months.
It’s unlikely, Dixon-Green mentioned, that we’ll see such daring rhetoric on the Oscars on Sunday. But she mentioned she anticipated no less than one winner to check with both the battle or the election.
“There’s simply one thing completely different about Oscar night time,” she mentioned. “The winners — even when it’s only a transient point out or two — really feel a duty to say one thing about no matter is going on in our nation or world.”
