For those of you who spent spring break on some remote beach, far from the crass clutches of American culture-for those of you who missed the broadcast of the Oscars ceremony on Mar. 21-here is a brief summary.
Laugh all you like; the Academy Awards ceremony, Hollywood's annual pat on the back, is generally cheesy and predictable. And with "Schindler's List" as the big film of the year, the show was especially somber. But the proceedings avoided past pitfalls and raised the standard for the show's future.
Billy Crystal relinquished emcee duties to Whoopi Goldberg, who moved the show along with her signature humor and occasional hilarity.
"So they went and gave me a live microphone for three hours. There haven't been this many show business executives so nervous, sweating over one woman since Heidi Fleiss, honey," she joked.
This year the nominated films represented a fine standard of film making and a wide array of social issues, from the Holocaust and the AIDS crisis to feminism and the war in Northern Ireland.
"The movies this year covered oppression, abuse, revolution, people being wrongly accused, people being tortured, people fleeing for their lives-and that's just 'What's Love Got to Do With It?'" Goldberg kidded.
The program might have been subtitled, "A Celebration of 'Schindler's List.'" The epic film about the Holocaust swept the awards with seven Oscars. "In the Name of the Father" and "The Remains of the Day," though widely nominated, received none.
The evening's news was made by Tom Hanks' emotional acceptance of the Best Actor Oscar for "Philadelphia." Hanks won over four other stupendous performances, by Daniel Day-Lewis in "In the Name of the Father," Anthony Hopkins in "The Remains of the Day," Liam Neeson in "Schindler's List" and Laurence Fishburne in "What's Love Got to Do With It?"
Hanks praised Antonio Banderas, who played his character's lover in the film, and Denzel Washington, who played his lawyer. Hanks also credited his high school drama teacher and one of his classmates, calling them "two of the finest gay Americans."
He finished with a moving eulogy to AIDS victims: "I know that my work in this case is magnified by the fact that the streets of heaven are too crowded with angels. We know their names. They number a thousand for each red ribbon we wear here tonight."
Holly Hunter won for Best Actress for her performance of a mute in "The Piano," over Angela Bassett in "What's Love Got to Do With It?", Stockard Channing in "Six Degrees of Separation," Emma Thompson in "The Remains of the Day" and Debra Winger in "Shadowlands." Hunter thanked her first piano teacher and Jane Campion, the film's director, "For giving me a character and an experience that was so difficult to say goodbye to."
Clint Eastwood, last year's Best Director, presented this year's honor to Steven Spielberg for "Schindler's List." Spielberg, who through his enormously successful career had never won the elusive Best Director honor, thanked his mother, his wife and the screenplay author Steven Zaillian. He also expressed a debt of gratitude "To the six million who can't be among the one billion watching this telecast tonight."
As a producer of "Schindler's List," Spielberg picked up a second Oscar when the film won the Best Picture award. He used his second acceptance speech to "implore all the educators watching this program tonight... please, do not allow the Holocaust to remain a footnote in history."
Another touching speech was given by Deborah Kerr, whom the Academy honored with a career achievement award. After a montage of clips from her numerous films, including "From Here to Eternity," "An Affair to Remember" and "The King and I" and a lengthy standing ovation, Kerr thanked the film industry.
"You have all made my life truly a happy one. Thank you from the bottom of my heart," she said.
Paul Newman received a standing ovation as well as Tom Cruise presented him with the honorary Jean Hersholt award for his humanitarian efforts. His popular line of "Newman's Own" products donates all its profits to charities.
One of the evening's biggest surprises occurred when 11-year old Anna Paquin won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in "The Piano," upsetting Emma Thompson, Holly Hunter, Rosie Perez and Winona Ryder. Her childlike amazement was a delight to watch.
Although most of the presenters read woodenly from the teleprompter and appeared utterly unethusiastic about their duties, Nicole Kidman, Christian Slater, Gene Hackman, Rosie O'Donnell, Whitney Houston and Kirk Douglas brought some life to their presentations.
As she presented the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film, O'Donnell quipped, "I have one word to say about animation. Yabba dabba do."
The ceremony couldn't escape some near disasters, however. The opening pastiche of clips set to Bernadette Peters' rendition of "Putting It Together" was uninspiring.
Perhaps the evening's saddest lapse was the decision to assemble ballet dancers from all over the world to dance to the nominated best original scores. They didn't fare too well with the music from "The Fugitive."
In terms of attire, which for some viewers is the main attraction of Oscar night, the rule for tuxedoes seemed to be black on black (Liam Neeson, Christian Slater); tieless (Antonio Banderas, Jane Campion) and the open collar (Bruce Springsteen). The men tended to sport scruffy goatees.
Slip dresses were quite unflattering on Geena Davis and Goldie Hawn. Sharon Stone exuded glamor in a sparkling '20s style gown and hairstyle, and Nicole Kidman, Janet Jackson and Holly Hunter looked great in original, stylish ensembles.
Whether one agrees or disagrees with the results of the Oscars, the show itself was a genuine improvement on previous broadcasts. Its rough spots weren't quite so glaring since the show moved along at a rapid pace and emphasized clips of the performances over onstage activity.
"When I was a student, which doesn't feel like so very long ago, I used to feel deeply cynical about awards nights like this," said Jane Campion as she accepted the Best Original Screenplay award for "The Piano." It's quite easy to be cynical about the Oscars, but with the high quality of this year's films, it's not too difficult to pay homage where it's due.
