Five years ago, on February 9th, 2020, Director Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite did what no international film had done, winning the biggest award on the biggest stage in film. A historic night following a year where film was seemingly back at the top of the pop culture landscape. A record nine films made over a billion dollars, and almost every Best Picture nominee found commercial or critical success. Sadly, it all came crashing down a month later due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it felt film was thriving for that one night.
Looking back, this was an incredible Oscars year, with (in my opinion) the strongest Best Picture lineup of the 2010s. Of course, there was the aforementioned Parasite, but also films from directing legends (Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino), rising auteurs (Taika Waititi, Greta Gerwig), and directing veterans finally getting their due (Noah Baumbach, James Mangold). The only Best Picture nominee that hasn’t aged well is Todd Phillips’ Joker, and that’s mostly due to its self-destructive sequel, not because the original didn’t have a massive cultural moment.
With five years of hindsight, it felt like the perfect time to look back on that award show and how well the wins have aged.
The Parasite Wins:
- Best Picture
- Best Director
- Best Original Screenplay
- Best International Feature Film
There’s no need to overanalyze these categories. Five years on, Parasite’s legacy remains as strong as ever. It still stands as the defining filmmaking achievement of 2019. It would have been close to the international feature if France bothered to submit Portrait of a Lady on Fire, but alas.
Best Actor
Original Nominees:
- Antonio Banderas — Pain and Glory
- Leonardo DiCaprio — Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
- Adam Driver — Marriage Story
- Joaquin Phoenix — Joker (Winner)
- Jonathan Pryce — The Two Popes
Should Have Won: Adam Driver — Marriage Story
The enigmatic Phoenix won his Oscar on his fourth nomination for his intense, unhinged portrayal of Arthur Fleck in Joker. While a powerful performance, it feels more like a culmination of his career rather than the definitive work of the year. In retrospect, it was Adam Driver who delivered the more emotionally resonant and layered performance. His turn in Marriage Story was less showy than Phoenix’s but ultimately more affecting.
Best Actress
Original Nominees:
- Cynthia Erivo — Harriet
- Scarlett Johansson — Marriage Story
- Saoirse Ronan — Little Women
- Charlize Theron — Bombshell
- Renée Zellweger — Judy (Winner)
Should Have Won: Scarlett Johansson — Marriage Story
Hollywood fell in love with the idea of giving Renée Zellweger a second Oscar. Nothing garners votes more than a comeback narrative, and combined with Zellweger portraying Hollywood royalty in Judy Garland, it was an unstoppable awards campaign. But five years later, Judy has faded, and Scarlett Johansson’s raw and wholly original performance in Marriage Story sticks out as the best of this group.
It also would have been the perfect time to reward Johansson with her being only the 9th actor to be double-nominated in a single year and being one of the stars of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, the highest-grossing movie of all time. A win for her would have been much more memorable and fondly remembered.
Best Supporting Actress
Original Nominees:
- Kathy Bates — Richard Jewell
- Laura Dern — Marriage Story (Winner)
- Scarlett Johansson — Jojo Rabbit
- Florence Pugh — Little Women
- Margot Robbie — Bombshell
Should Have Won: Florence Pugh — Little Women
Sorry to the great Laura Dern, who won for her scene-stealing performance as the hard-nosed lawyer Nora Fanshaw in Marriage Story, but five years on, Florence Pugh should have won the gold.
While only 24 at the time, Pugh’s interpretation of Amy March in Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women was original and powerful. Elevating a character that has been sidelined in some of the previous adaptations (cough 1994 cough)
Tasked with playing a 12-year-old in half of the film, somehow, Pugh pulls it off without making the whole idea come off as ridiculous. As an adult, Pugh shines. Perfectly orchestrating the characters’ conflicts around expectation and love. Few moments of acting from 2019 are as iconic as her monologue to Chalamet’s Laurie, expressing a layered frustration and reckoning with her place in the world.
Best Supporting Actor
Original Nominees:
- Tom Hanks — A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
- Anthony Hopkins — The Two Popes
- Al Pacino — The Irishman
- Joe Pesci — The Irishman
- Brad Pitt — Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Winner)
Should Have Won: Brad Pitt — Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
The only acting win I still stand by. Although it would be a different story if Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse) or Song Kang Ho (Parasite) were in the lineup, but for whom was nominated, Pitt is the best.
Pitt’s turn as Cliff Booth was the perfect showcase of his talents. Charismatic with fantastic (and sometimes dorky) comedic timing, Booth was an instantly iconic creation and still stands today (Netflix is reviving the character for Christ’s sake). Yes, some say it was more of a lead role, but either way, he owned it.
Best Animated Feature
Original Nominees:
- How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
- I Lost My Body
- Klaus
- Missing Link
- Toy Story 4 (Winner)
Should Have Won: Klaus
While Toy Story 4 succeeds in creating a heartwarming and satisfactory send-off to its iconic characters, its predecessor did the same thing, arguably better. It just wasn’t the most impressive animated film of the year.
Klaus should have won. It’s beautifully animated, genuinely moving, and just as witty. Over time, it’s become a modern holiday favorite and would’ve made for a more meaningful win than the fourth-best Toy Story.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Original Nominees:
- The Irishman — Steven Zaillian
- Jojo Rabbit — Taika Waititi (Winner)
- Joker — Todd Phillips & Scott Silver
- Little Women — Greta Gerwig
- The Two Popes — Anthony McCarten
Should Have Won: Greta Gerwig — Little Women
Two writer-directors whose careers have gone in two very different directions, quality-wise, since that night. In 2020, it seemed like a battle between the fastest-rising auteurs in Hollywood. In hindsight, the academy picked the wrong horse to back, as Taiki’s directing career has not been as acclaimed, while Greta has only continued to establish herself. Gerwig continuing to be Oscar-less is a disappointing oversight that could have easily been rectified this year.
Taking away the two filmmakers’ subsequent careers from a writing perspective, Gerwig still seems stronger. Taika’s Jojo Rabbit script certainly had a distinct voice and (mostly) pulled off a high-wire act of balancing comedy with Nazi Germany. However, Gerwig’s adaptation was masterful, restructuring a classic that had already been adapted multiple times in a way that felt fresh and reflective of the issues of the time. That’s not easy to pull off, and in hindsight, it’s a miss; she didn’t win her first Oscar here.
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