In a year in which movies of the past year have been hailed as being of a higher quality than usual, “Oppenheimer” won seven awards: best picture, best actor (Cillian Murphy), best director (Christopher Nolan), best supporting actor (Robert Downey Jr.), best film editing, best cinematography, and best original score.
“Oppenheimer” is a biopic about the creator of the first atomic bomb.
“Poor Things”, a postmodern revision of Frankenstein that replaces the traditional monster with a beautiful young erotomaniac brought back to life with the brain of an infant, won four Oscars, including best actress for Emma Stone, best production design, best costume design, best hair and makeup.
Jonathan Glazer’s Holocaust drama, “The Zone of Interest”, has been an unexpected hit this season with two Oscars: best international film feature and best sound. The film is about the life of the family of the commander of Auschwitz living right next to the death camp. Auschwitz is only evident in the film through use of sound.
“Maestro”, the biopic of legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein, produced and directed by Bradley Cooper, who played Bernstein, did not win anything.
[Photo: Atomic Cloud Rises Over Nagasaki, Japan by Lieutenant Charles Levy, 1945, via Wikimedia Commons]