Oscars 2021 as it happened: Nomadland wins big at diverse show with flat ending

Last week, legendary fashion designer Giorgio Armani publicly defended one of the industry’s threatened species: the red carpet.

In justifying the parades of excessively expensive frocks and jewellery in a pandemic (one look at India’s daily infection toll should be enough to make any mere mortal rethink that ballgown), Armani told Women’s Wear Daily red carpets were “a moment of escape and dreaming”.

“I understand a momentary lack of interest now that things have gone virtual, but it will matter again, and actually it already does,” he told the publication.

So how did Armani’s mantra play out on the red carpet at Monday’s Oscars? Quite well, in fact.

Amid a ban on Zoom and casual dress designed to elevate the standard (and ratings) of the broadcast, presenters and nominees were forced to either show up at Los Angeles’ Union Station, where the COVID-safe event was held, or take matters into their own hands via social media (there were also modest functions in London and Sydney).

For the most part, those who showed up really showed up (one notable exception: musician Questlove’s gold Crocs, which are never OK), proving the red carpet is most definitely not going the way of the dodo. Here’s how they did it.

Speaking backstage after the ceremony, best original screenplay winner Emerald Fennell said the Oscar felt much heavier in her hand than she had anticipated. “It’s pretty amazing, it’s very heavy but maybe I need to go to the gym, or maybe I can use him as a weight,” she said. “I don’t know what I expected. I think I have only ever held a pretend one. It’s very exciting.”

Winning the Oscar for Promising Young Woman, on a night when a number of high-profile British filmmakers were honoured, was a reflection of the power of the British film industry, she said.

“What an amazing place to come from, it’s so supportive of the arts, there are so many talented people, and it’s so exciting this year to see so many British people in such a huge international forum.”

In making Promising Young Woman, Fennell said, she set out to make “something that people would want to go and see, even if it’s about something difficult and troubling. That it would be a movie you’d go and see with friends and talk about it after it. That it felt glossy and feminine and poppy but also [had] some disgusting and dark and difficult subject matter.”

Speaking backstage, Nomadland producer Peter Spears said the in-person Oscars telecast was the first chance the creative team from Nomadland had to see each other since early last year. “Usually you spend time together on the awards circuit, but [in this case] it was the first time we got to be reunited and to see the other great filmmakers whose films were nominated.”

Commenting on the change of order for the night’s final awards – announcing best picture before best actor and actress – Nomadland producer Dan Janvey said it was a surprise. “A lot of us grew up watching the Oscars and got used to that being the last category,” he said. “It was incredibly fun they shook it up, and I think the producers did an incredible job of making this in-person; we were very appreciative of that.”

But the woman of the house was undoubtedly the film’s director Chloe Zhao who took out the Oscar for directing, in addition to the film taking best picture. “It’s pretty fabulous to be a woman in 2021,” she said.

“I am extremely lucky to do what I love for a living,” Zhao said. “And if it means more people get to live their dreams, I am extremely grateful. For Asian filmmakers, for all filmmakers, we have to stay true to who we are and we have to tell the stories we feel connected to. It’s a way for us to connect to other people. That’s why I love filmmaking.”

The final award goes to Anthony Hopkins for The Father. It’s his second win, and it is absolutely deserved, but he’s not there. Not even on video. That leaves Joaquin Phoenix to say “the Academy accepts this award on his behalf”, and then it’s all over.

Traditionally, the ceremony has ended with the best picture award, but that came a few beats back. Maybe if there had been a boilover, finishing this way might have packed a punch. But there wasn’t – both McDormand and Hopkins were frontrunners – and so the ending has come swiftly, and with little impact.

Steven Soderbergh is a terrific filmmaker, but I’m not convinced he got the last act of this one right. Sure, the awards went to the right performances, but that was a total anticlimax.

Frances McDormand is a freakin’ legend. This is her third win as best actress (her previous wins were for Fargo and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri).

And it’s her fourth Oscar in all because she’s a producer of Nomadland too.

She also knows how to keep it short and sweet.

“I have no words, my voice is in my sword, the sword is in my work, and I like work. Thank you for knowing that, and thank you for this.”

And she’s gone. No howl this time.

The award: best actor in a leading role

The nominees:

Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Gary Oldman, Mank
Steven Yeun, Minari

The winner: Anthony Hopkins, The Father

In The Father, Hopkins’ character Anthony has dementia and is greatly confused by life events big and small. Our film critic Paul Byrnes awarded the film four stars when he reviewed it in March – you can see that review here, and be sure to read our explainer on what it’s like living with dementia.