Oscars flashback: Javier Bardem leads Spain to victory

The Oscars ceremonial whitethorn look similar a batch of glitter and glam connected the surface, but beneath the glossy aboveground lurks a conflict of worldwide proportions! Or possibly it’s conscionable the contention for the overseas connection movie award, which since 2020 has been called the planetary diagnostic movie award. And connected Feb. 27, 2005, successful Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre the conflict royale was fought by Spain, Sweden, France, Germany and South Africa … with Spain emerging arsenic the victor.

A oversea of gratitude

Gwyneth Paltrow presented the grant to Alejandro Amenábar, the manager and co-screenwriter (with Mateo Gil) of “The Sea Inside” (“Mar adentro”). The Javier Bardem-starring movie followed the real-life communicative of Ramón Sampedro, who became quadriplegic aft a diving mishap and spent astir 30 years warring for his ain close to die. The movie was besides nominated successful the constitution category, but Jo Allen and Manolo García did not win.

This grant is not fixed to immoderate of the filmmakers, though the manager accepts it onstage. Instead, the state that submits the movie to the academy is considered the winner. This was the archetypal clip Spain had won the Oscar since 2000, erstwhile Pedro Almodóvar won for “All About My Mother.”

As Amenábar said from the stage, “This movie is based connected a antheral who, contempt his tendency for death, dispersed truthful overmuch beingness astir him. So, the archetypal 3rd of this grant belongs to him, wherever helium is. The 2nd 3rd is for Javier Bardem for his outstanding show and his generosity. And different 3rd portion goes to, of course, my person and producer, Fernando Bovaira, to the fabulous formed and unit for being truthful focused connected this movie since the precise beginning. And arsenic for me, I’m conscionable truthful pleased due to the fact that it seems that I’m successful complaint of keeping it successful 1 portion for the remainder of my life.”

Spain has won the Oscar 4 times retired of 21 nominations; it’s the fourth-most-winning country, down Japan (five), France (12) and Italy (14).

Around the world

“As It Is successful Heaven,”from Sweden, directed and co-written by Kay Pollak, was besides nominated. It was astir an internationally celebrated conductor who retires to his Swedish hometown lone to assistance retired with the religion choir. Sweden past won an Oscar successful 1983, for Ingmar Bergman’s “Fanny and Alexander.”

France besides enactment guardant a chorus-focused nominee called, rightfully enough, “The Chorus,” directed and written by Christophe Barratier. In it, Pierre is the orchestra conductor who goes location aft his parent dies, past reminsices astir his ain euphony teacher. The movie was besides nominated (as was Barratier) for the archetypal opus Oscar, for “Look to Your Path” (“Vos sur ton chemin”). Barratier wrote the lyrics, Bruno Coulais composed the music. France past won the class successful 1993, with Régis Wargnier‘s “Indochine.”

Germany’s “Downfall,” directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, didn’t triumph the Oscar, but it did spell viral — astatine slightest 1 scene. The movie focuses connected Adolf Hitler’s last days successful his Berlin bunker, and the country features Bruno Ganz (as Hitler) having a meltdown, a show truthful powerfully off-the-wall it was parodied astir the internet. All of agreed Germany’s Oscar wins person travel since 2000, with the astir caller successful 2023 (“All Quiet connected the Western Front”).

“Yesterday,” directed and written by Darrell Roodt, represented South Africa and was the archetypal commercialized feature-length accumulation told successful Zulu. In the film, the rubric quality learns she has HIV and struggles to unrecorded agelong capable truthful that her kid tin be school. South Africa would triumph the Oscar the pursuing twelvemonth for Gavin Hood’s “Tsotsi.”