The Ups and Downs of Oscar Night

The Academy Awards seems to be getting in touch with the times. For the first time in 20 years, they gave the Best Picture award to a thriller. But not just any thriller--this one had a cannibal and suits made from human skin. We were beginning to think that, for a film to win, it would have to be based on a true story (Amadeus, Out of Africa, Gandhi). For a while there, it seemed that the Academy had abandoned fiction altogether. And then, they suddenly raised Silence of the Lambs to the level of a Best Picture, in the sweet company of other Best Pictures with less sordid subjects. The Academy also awarded Indian filmmaker Satyavit Ray with an honorary Oscar, showing their somewhat broader vision (although in presenting the award, Audrey Hepburn tagged India with that ancient stereotype "mysterious"). It was a year for fiction, but for outrageous and shocking fiction. It wasn't a year for the sweet and docile fiction of Fried Green Tomatoes. Of course, the Academy may flip-flop next year and nominate a remake of the Sound of Music, but this year will go down as a fairly radical one in the history of Oscar.