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Most are pleasant, even lovely.
Few are particularly memorable.
But the ones that stand out have a way of lingering.
He hangs his head, takes a big exhale.
He shakes his head in a way that seems cutely boyish.
His big speech is only six words: It was my privilege, thank you.
A lot of Oscar speeches are, frankly, super-boring.
Sometimes theres some self-effacing gloating, which is insufferable, or an extremely studied surprise, which is worse.
The Pesci speech has a different intimacy.
Its so …regular.
Its not that he couldnt find the right words.
Maybe its that thereareno right words what can you say, genuinely, when you win an Oscar?
What can you say when youve done work youre really proud of?
It was my privilege, thank you.
Yet somehow he manages to compose himself and deliver an articulate, multifaceted speech.
That speech is funny.
(There comes a time in life when everything seems to make sense, Brody says.
This is not one of those times.)
Its filled with a sense of gratitude and emotion.
(Berry hassince suggestedshe didnt necessarily appreciate it so much.)
Brody is in no way responsible for Polanskis behavior.
Adrien Brodys speech contained problematic moments, and a great deal of pure, unfiltered loveliness and grace.
In other words, it was a lot like the business the Oscars are designed to celebrate.
and it was the most Italian thing that has ever happened at the Academy Awards.
First, he ran backwards.
Then he finally went forward, and he started his speech by saying, This is a terrible mistake!
He might as well have been yelling it in Meryl Streeps face while sitting in her lap.
He then thanked his belovedItalia, but also America, because There are a lot of things here.
His whole beautiful night was a mountain of snow so delicate!
Long live Benigni-esque sincerity!
The first time I didnt feel it, but this time I feel it.
And I cant deny the fact that you like me, right now.
But what she actual says is more poignant.
Fields happy to be liked, but she knows she can only speak forright now.
Apparently, she still does.
(Much of his family, including his mother, would perish in the Holocaust.)
Wilder responds, I write movies.
I was 14 at the time, and had already been in the U.S. for seven years.
Id just gotten my green card a couple of years earlier.
While my circumstances werent anything like Wilders, his anecdote at the time resonated with me.
Elsewhere, Wilder spoke often of this hospitable, inclusive attitude among Americans.
Was it all an illusion, a dream?
Id like to think not.
As Jamie (Jolie?)
And listen: I love this demented sibling lust performed on an international stage as much as anyone else.
But the reason I really love this Oscar speech is because the rest of it is so completely unmemorable.
Nowadays, were lucky if we get a single word out of Jolie that doesnt feel shellacked.
My point is: I miss this Angelina!
I love this freaky bitch with messy hair who was maybe having sex with her family.
(The manipulative cruelty involving Tippi Hedren came out much later.)
And he leaned back.
Then he turned and walked offstage, seemingly impassive.
As every film buff knows, Hitchcock himself makes a brief background appearance in each of his films.
In one hes waiting for a bus; in another he shows up on a sign in a window.
His appearance at the Oscars is about as long as any of those, and involves more dialogue.
And the awards-show audience reacted as youd expect: an explosive guffaw.
Everyone immediately got the joke.
On top of that and need this even be said?
it was the definitive solution to the two problems of the Oscar speech.
He didnt accidentally leave out someone who ought to have been thanked.
And he didnt bore everyone.
Columnist Louella Parsons called it one of the finest speeches ever given on the Academy floor.
Since then, there have been 72 Oscar nominations for black actors and 14 wins.
The phrase credit to my race was supposedly forced on her by MGM.
McDaniel was never able to transform her win into more diverse and lucrative roles.
Matt Zoller Seitz
