LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� Last fall, was sitting in a Manhattan restaurant, talking about a poll. The survey, about sex in movies and television, showed that Gen Z moviegoers were mostly turned off by sex in film.
鈥淭hat broke my heart. I thought, there鈥檚 something wrong here,鈥� said Baker. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e OK with all the violence that鈥檚 out there? Sex is a vital part of existence. Why don鈥檛 you want to see sex in our stories?鈥�
鈥淚 remember being on set and being like: We鈥檙e pushing against that poll.鈥�
When Baker鈥檚 鈥淎nora鈥� on Sunday, its five wins, including best picture, heralded a different kind of Oscar winner. 鈥淎nora,鈥� about an erotic dancer (Mikey Madison, ) who marries the son of a Russian oligarch, is atypically sexually explicit for a best picture winner 鈥� a class that includes more staid movies like 鈥淭he King鈥檚 Speech鈥� and 鈥淒riving Miss Daisy.鈥� A young woman鈥檚 relationship to her own sexuality has not been, historically speaking, in the Oscars' wheelhouse.
But that鈥檚 just one quality that makes 鈥淎nora鈥� unique as a best picture winner. The film, made for $6 million and distributed by Neon, was made with little interest in the mainstream. If anything, 鈥淎nora鈥� was more oriented to the Cannes Film Festival, the French citadel of cinema, where 鈥� a prize that Baker said meant the most to him.
But, increasingly, these are converging movie worlds. In the last five years, four Palme d鈥橭r winners have been nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards, including Bong Joon Ho鈥檚 鈥淧arasite鈥� (also distributed by Neon), which to win Hollywood鈥檚 top prize.
鈥淎nora,鈥� a film that inverts a Hollywood fairy tale like 鈥淧retty Woman,鈥� is 鈥� like many of the winners on Sunday 鈥� an unabashedly modern movie and a film comfortable, even proud of the label of 鈥渃inema.鈥� In a movie industry where manufactured franchise stewardship rules the day, 鈥淎nora鈥� was celebrated, in part, because it's the real deal.
It's also a more traditional choice than it might seem. Baker, a filmmaker who has sworn off making a series, a studio film or anything for streaming, is an apostle of '70s cinema. At an Oscars that host Conan O鈥橞rien called 鈥渢he 97th Longform Content Awards,鈥� 鈥淎nora鈥� 鈥� which shared some of the same Brooklyn streets as 鈥淭he French Connection鈥� 鈥� stood for upholding an increasingly threatened theatrical legacy, with Baker ardently defending a very old-fashioned thing: the big screen.
鈥淔ilmmakers, keep making films for the big screen. I know I will,鈥� Baker said from the Dolby Theatre stage. 鈥淒istributors, please focus first and foremost on the theatrical releases of your films. Parents, introduce your children to feature films in movie theaters and you will be molding the next generation of movie lovers and filmmakers. And for all of us, when we can please watch movies in a theater and let鈥檚 keep the great tradition of the moviegoing experience alive and well.鈥�
The coronation of 鈥淎nora鈥� was a triumph for independent moviemaking, but that鈥檚 also been a battle waged and won before. We鈥檝e seen 鈥淭he Hurt Locker鈥� best 鈥淎vatar鈥� and 鈥淢oonlight鈥� defeat 鈥淟a La Land.鈥� Last year鈥檚 crowning of 鈥淥ppenheimer鈥� was, if anything, an exception in a string of smaller best pictures that haven't fit the Oscar mold. 鈥淓verything Everywhere All at Once,鈥� the 2023 winner, was antic, lewd and about
What was different this year was that the stiffest competition for 鈥淎nora鈥� wasn鈥檛 or or any other studio product. It was and All of the major award winners on Sunday hailed from movies made independently. At the Oscars, the studios are out of the picture.
That trend has been developing for years, but the 97th Academy Awards showed just how much things have changed. In the best animated category, where Universal and DreamWorks鈥� was the heavy favorite, a wordless Latvian movie made with open-source software, triumphed instead.
鈥淎ny kid now has tools that are used to make these now Academy-winning films,鈥� 鈥淔low鈥� director Gints Zilbalodis said backstage. 鈥淪o I think we鈥檙e going to see all kinds of exciting films being made from kids who might not have had a chance to do this before.鈥�
That win, like those for 鈥淎nora,鈥� suggested the academy鈥檚 international voters have emerged as a dominant bloc. When the academy, reacting to pressure to diversify its ranks, brought in new members in recent years, it cast a wide net overseas. Hundreds of new international voters 鈥� people more likely to favor what succeeds in Cannes or Venice 鈥� now significantly sway the Oscars.
What does that mean for the Academy Awards going forward? A further tilt toward indie and arthouse cinema will surely alienate some viewers. 鈥淎nora,鈥� with $16 million in domestic ticket sales, is one of the lowest-grossing best picture winners ever. Oscar producers did everything they could to lean into bigger films, opening with by 鈥淲颈肠办别诲鈥� stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, cutting repeatedly to a mascot sandworm from 鈥淒une: Part Two鈥� and even paying James Bond tribute.
The 007 musical number was oddly timed, coming on the heels of after decades of Broccoli family stewardship. It seemed to only highlight how much of Hollywood鈥檚 regular, day-to-day business of brand management lay outside the new Oscar landscape.
But just as assuredly as an 鈥淎nora鈥� Academy Awards might turn some away, it could also inspire a new generation of cinephiles. 鈥淎nora鈥� is at turns screwball farce, neorealistic drama, capitalism satire and devastating tragicomedy. It鈥檚 arguably one of the best best picture winners of recent years, a movie that tries on nearly every genre before concluding in an unforgettable scene that catapults 鈥淎nora鈥� into something classic and outside of time.
What aftershocks will follow Baker's Oscar romp remains to be seen. But shortly after the Academy Awards concluded, 3.9 magnitude tremors were felt in nearby Burbank 鈥� a fitting coda for the small quake of 鈥淎nora.鈥�
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
