“Oppenheimer,” the atomic bomb biopic that captivated audiences, detonated at the Oscars, winning a whopping seven awards including the coveted Best Picture. The ceremony capped a triumphant year in film. Irish powerhouse Cillian Murphy delivered an explosive performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who spearheaded the U.S. atomic bomb project during World War II, and was rewarded with the Best Actor trophy. The three-hour historical drama earned 13 nominations and smashed the box office record for an Oscar nominee, grossing over $1 billion worldwide. “Oppenheimer” director Christopher Nolan took home the directing Oscar, ending a 22-year wait for his first statuette.
The win for the film that starred Michael Caine and Liam Neeson as top atomic scientists marked a decisive win for Universal, which dominates the awards season with a string of significant wins. The studio collected four other prizes for costume design, production design, and editing, as well as a nod for its score. Yorgos Lanthimos’ Frankenstein riff, “Poor Things,” was next with a haul of three awards, including trophies for makeup, hairstyling, and costume design. The film also won a nod for its script.
American actress Emma Stone joined an illustrious group of women who had won two or more Oscars when she picked up the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “La La Land.” She joins Katharine Hepburn, Frances McDorman, and Ingrid Bergman. Stone’s win for the second time in a row confirmed her status as one of the greatest dramatic actors of her generation.
Among the evening’s surprises, the 83-year-old Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki won the Best Animated Feature award for “The Boy and the Heron.” The film was a surprise winner over the favored “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”
The ceremony unfolded against a backdrop of violence in Gaza and Ukraine, with a potentially meaningful presidential election on the horizon. Outside the Dolby Theatre, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters angry about the Israel-Gaza conflict shouted and slowed traffic in the streets surrounding the theater. The protests turned the Oscar show into a political event, with some winners addressing the issue. British filmmaker Jonathan Glazer, whose drama about the family of a German officer who lived next door to an Auschwitz extermination camp won best international film, drew connections between the dehumanization depicted in his film and the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. Other winners included director Peter Jackson for “Boy Erased” and filmmaker Damien Chazelle for the musical “La La Land.” The 96th Academy Awards were held in Los Angeles.