'Gladiator' Wins Tight Oscar Race
Roberts, Crowe Win Top Acting Honors
Tim Lammers, Staff WriterMarch 27, 2001, 5:20 p.m. EST
LOS ANGELES -- The Roman epic "Gladiator" won best picture at Sunday night's Academy Award ceremony, seizing victory over its competitors with five Oscars, including a best actor win for Russell Crowe.
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The victory, however, was bittersweet for director Ridley Scott. While his film won the top honor, he lost the best director statuette to Steven Soderbergh. Ironically, Soderbergh lost the director's race, too -- to himself. The double nominee won for directing "Traffic," while losing out for helming "Erin Brockovich."
Soderbergh said that he would make his "thank-yous" to specific individuals in private, instead opting for a generalized, yet ultimately profound statement.
"I want to thank anyone who spends part of their day creating," said Soderbergh. "I don't care if it's a book, a film, a painting, a dance, a piece of theater, a piece of music--anybody who spends part of their day sharing their experience with us--I think this world would be unlivable without art and I thank you."
"Traffic" won four Oscars in total, including best supporting actor for Benicio Del Toro and best adapted screenplay.
Julia Roberts' modern-day crusader "Erin Brockovich" and Crowe's "Gladiator" were too tough to beat for the best actress and actor Oscars.
Roberts was playfully feisty the minute she hit the podium.
"I have a television, so I am going to spend some time here telling you some things," a teary-eyed Roberts told the crowd, in a direct jab at Oscar producer Gil Cates' short-speech HDTV offer. The $2,500 set was an incentive to actors in an effort to shorten the ceremonies (the winner, by the way, was best animated short film winner Michael Dudok de Wit, with an 18 second speech).
Like Roberts, Crowe thanked many, including "dreamers" like his "Gladiator" director Ridley Scott and "Billy Elliot" actor Jamie Bell.
"When you grow up in the suburbs of Sydney, Auckland or Newcastle like Ridley or Jamie Bell, or the suburbs of anywhere, a dream like this seems vaguely ludicrous and completely unattainable," said Crowe. "But this moment is directly connected to those childhood imaginings. And for anybody who is on the downside of advantage and relies purely on courage--it's possible."
Also winning four Oscars Sunday night was the martial arts epic "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," which won a best foreign film Oscar for director Ang Lee. The film also won three major technical awards, including best art direction, cinematography and musical score.
While the Oscar ceremony is traditionally long, it was a short wait for victory for Del Toro.
Del Toro won the second major award of the evening, the best supporting actor Oscar for his role as a conflicted undercover cop in the drug war epic "Traffic."
Aside from Roberts, Del Toro perhaps had the strongest momentum going into the ceremony, winning several major film honors, including the Screen Actors Guild award for best actor in early March. The win came with Del Toro's first nomination.
Marcia Gay Harden won the best supporting actress Oscar for her role in "Pollock." The victory was a major upset, considering that Judi Dench ("Chocolat") and Kate Hudson ("Almost Famous") were considered to be the front runners in the category. Like Del Toro, it was Harden's first-ever Oscar nomination.
"Thank you for even taking the time to view the tape and considering our film," said Harden. "Ed Harris, thank you for inviting me to share your passion." Harris, who is nominated in the best actor category, also directed the film.
Bob Dylan won the best original song Oscar for "Things Have Changed" from "Wonder Boys." Dylan performed the song and accepted the award via satellite from Australia.
"I want to thank the members of the Academy who, who were bold enough to, to give me this award for this song, which obviously, a song that doesn't pussyfoot around nor turn a blind eye to human nature," said Dylan.
Dylan wasn't the only person to appear at the Oscars via satellite. "2001: A Space Odyssey" author Sir Arthur C. Clarke presented the screenplay Oscars from his home in Sri Lanka, positioned before his "2001" mural. Stephen Gaghan won best adapted screenplay for "Traffic," while Cameron Crowe won the best original screenplay Oscar for "Almost Famous."
Oscar winner Julie Andrews presented a lifetime achievement award for her "Sound of Music" screenwriter Ernest Lehman. The scribe behind such classics as "The King and I" and "West Side Story" gave a poignant speech on the importance of scriptwriters, an obvious response to the possibility of a Writers Guild of America strike this summer.
"We have suffered anonymity far too often," Lehman said to the Oscar crowd. "I appeal to all movie critics and feature writers to please always bear in mind that a film production begins and ends with a screenplay."
Two-time Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman was on hand to reward legendary filmmaker Jack Cardiff, marking the first time that an honorary Oscar has been given to a cinematographer.
Cardiff was responsible for the look of such films as "The African Queen" and "War and Peace." His first official cinematography credit came in 1936, with the Sir Laurence Olivier drama, "As You Like It."
Oscar winner Sir Anthony Hopkins presented the other honorary award for the night, the Irving H. Thalberg Award, to producer Dino DeLaurentis.
DeLaurentis has spent over 60 years in the film industry, and his films have earned 33 Oscar nominations. DeLaurentis won Oscars for two foreign films, for the Federico Fellini films "La Strada" (1954) and "Nights of Cabiria" (1957).
Comedian Steve Martin made his debut as Oscar host in grand style. Keeping in the tradition of the opening theme of the show -- based on "2001: A Space Odyssey " --Martin was "beamed" to the Oscar stage at the Shrine Auditorium from the Space Station Alpha.
"That introduction cost $1 trillion – so there goes your tax cut," Martin deadpanned. His monologue drew huge laughs from the crowd.
"Hosting the Oscars is like making love to a beautiful woman," he said to Oscar attendees. "It's something I only get to do when Billy Crystal is out of town."
Sunday night marked the end of an era for the Oscars, as it is the last ceremony to be held at the Shrine Auditorium. The Oscars have been held at several different venues since the awards began in 1928, and for the past 31 years, have been celebrated at either the Shrine or Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. A permanent home built specifically for the Oscars--the Kodak Theater--will be ready in time for the 2002 ceremonies.
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