  Best motion picture winners Mark Boal (left), Kathryn Bigelow (centre) and Greg Shapiro of the film "The Hurt Locker," display their Oscars at the 82nd Academy Awards in Hollywood March 7, 2010. (LUCY NICHOLSON/Reuters)
|
LOS ANGELES — David beat Goliath at the Oscars on Sunday night, as Kathryn Bigelow’s modest war film The Hurt Locker slayed James Cameron’s mighty Avatar.
The night played out exactly as many experts had predicted. The Hurt Locker took the best-picture Oscar after a series of skirmishes at other awards shows and keen battles throughout Oscar night in many key categories. In the end, The Hurt Locker won most of those battles, taking six Oscars to the three won by Avatar.
The Hurt Locker also made history by becoming the film with the most modest box office in the race to beat the film with the all-time box-office record.
For that matter, Hurt Locker has the lowest box office of any best-picture winner over the past 41 years.
In another unique twist, Bigelow became the first woman in Oscar’s 82 years to win as best director.
“Well, the time has come!” presenter Barbra Streisand said in revealing her name. Bigelow beat her ex-husband in the process. Bigelow was Cameron’s third wife, of five.
The Hurt Locker won one other key category — best original screenplay for Mark Boal — and took the craft categories of film editing, sound editing and sound mixing.
For all its swagger, Avatar’s three wins were craft awards: best cinematography, visual effects and art direction. But Cameron seemed happy when the Hurt Locker won the top prize, cheering and hugging members of the Hurt Locker team.
Otherwise, the Academy Awards were spread far and wide, except among Canadians. The 13 Canadian-born filmmakers, actors and craftspeople who were nominated for 17 Oscars won none, including Cameron.
The 20 categories reserved for features films saw nine different films take at least one Oscar. Crazy Heart, Up and Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire took two each, while singles went to Inglourious Basterds, Star Trek, The Blind Side and The Young Victoria.
The Secret in Their Eyes earned Argentina its second win for best foreign language film.
Jeff Bridges was an enormously popular choice as best actor for Crazy Heart and he went ga-ga in accepting the Oscar, while the overflow audience in the Kodak Theatre applauded wildly. Bridges, the offspring of actors, thanked his parents for inspiration.
Bridges said backstage that it is strange that his Oscar came for a picture that did not make it as a best picture contender, especially with the category increased to 10 for the first time since 1943. But he admitted, while holding his Oscar, that complaining about the fate of Crazy Heart would just sound like, “Bitch, bitch, bitch!” and Oscar night was not the time for it. And he was too happy to really complain.
Sandra Bullock was another popular choice, in her case as best actress for The Blind Side. She amused the Kodak crowd by joking: “Did I really earn this, or did I just wear you all down?” And she showed grace and class by giving shout-outs to all her rivals as best actress, especially Meryl Streep.
Precious became the first double winner of the night when Mo’Nique — as expected — took the trophy as best supporting actress. Mo’Nique, deeply moved, thanked the Academy Award voters for demonstrating “it can be about the performance and not the politics.” She gave credit to Hattie McDaniels, the first African-American to be nominated and to win an Oscar in an acting category. McDaniels, who faced prejudice in where she entered the hall and where she was allowed to sit, was honoured for Gone With the Wind and she wore blue. Mo’Nique said she also wore the same blue shade to honour the pioneering McDaniels.
And she gave credit to her actor-producer husband Sidney Hicks for giving her the “Push” into Precious, a film that is tough slogging emotionally. His advice, she said, was “to forgo doing what is popular in order to do what is right.” Precious, she said, proved to be what is right.
The first winner of the night was Christoph Waltz as best supporting actor.
Waltz played the notorious Jew hunter who propels the action throughout Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino’s acclaimed Second World War picture. Just as he was in Cannes, when this journey started and he won the best-actor prize, the Austrian actor was excited but gracious and humble.
The filmmakers chose to enter Waltz in the support category and he has steamrolled through almost every awards show there is — as the winner.
Waltz was still keyed up backstage. “It’s mind-boggling,” he said of getting on the awards show circuit for Inglourious Basterds. “It’s fantastic. It’s very intense. And it takes along time. And I couldn’t imagine it would be like that!”
