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Round-up: Oscar Awarding Ceremony Anti-climax
Another carnival party of the shinning stars and entertainment millionaires or billionaires was over Sunday night, but once again the race for the top honors of international film was anti-climax.
Steven Soderberg, Russell Crowe, Julia Roberts and the Roman epic Gladiator as well as the oriental eye-opener Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon were among the big winners as expected at the grand ceremony held at the Shrine Auditorium in Hollywood.
The closest race at the night was fought in the category for Best Picture between the Roman epic Gladiator and Chinese-language martial arts fantasy Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, with the former became the winner bagging five awards including the best actor, best sound, best costume and best visual effects.
It was not a big surprise that Gladiator won the Oscar for Best Picture, since it is a film in the true Hollywood tradition that caters for the needs of the Hollywood society.
But don't discard the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as a loser since it still grabbed four Oscars for best foreign film, best art direction, best original score and best cinematography.
The film, directed by Taiwan-born Ang Lee, made history by becoming the first Chinese film to strike such success in the traditionally exclusive elite club of Hollywood. It won 10 nominations for the Oscar awards and several awards from the Directors Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Golden Globes and Independent Spirit Awards.
With smart combination of dazzling Chinese martial arts and beautiful scenery in China, the film won high acclaim from Hollywood film experts and critics as well, even though it is a film spoken in Chinese with only English captions.
The film sets another record by becoming the first foreign- language film to break the 100 million-dollar barrier at the North American box office.
More importantly, the Asian faces among the short list of Oscar winners could somewhat ease the criticism against Hollywood for its racial discrimination and white homogeneous.
As expected, Julia Roberts reaffirmed her superstar status by winning Oscar for best actress for her role in Erin Brockovich, as a sexy single mother who became a heroine in winning a legal battle against pollution corporation for a small community.
"I love the world. I am so happy," apparently overwhelmed Roberts said at the star-studded awarding ceremony. Wearing a black velvet dress, she laughed and smiled for the prize in recognition of her superstar status after she became famous in 1990 with "Pretty Woman".
Roberts described the Oscar-winning director Steven Soderberg as "my own personal God," although he won a best director's Oscar for the drug drama "Traffic" that won four awards for the best director, adapted screenplay, editing and for best supporting actor.
"I think I looked pretty surprised I really didn't anticipate this. I didn't see it coming. I was having a great time but this is going to take a while to process," said Soderberg,who had to beat off the fierce competition with Ang Lee.
Australian actor Russel Crowe was very moved by winning the Oscar for best actor for his brooding performance as the general turned slave in Gladiator, beating Hollywood favorite Tom Hanks for the prestigious film acting award.
"Really folks, I owe this to one bloke and his name is Ridley Scott," Crowe said as the normally tough British director sat in the audience smilingly.
Marcia Gay Harden, an actress admired by peers for her dedication, was named best supporting actress for her role in Pollock, a film biography directed by Ed Harris. "I wish I could have thanked all the waiters who covered for me when I used to run out for auditions," she told the audience.
Meanwhile, Puerto Rican-born Del Toro, who played the heroic Mexican cop in Traffic, was named best supporting actor and received a huge roar of approval.
About 800 million views tuned in to watch the gala party,according to the first-time host Steven Martin.
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