28 Feb Telluride Wins Big (Again) at Oscars
The title of my review of the 42nd annual Telluride Film Festival was pilfered from a line in Lenny Abrahamson’s dark drama “Room.”
Actress Brie Larson accepts the Best Actress award for ‘Room’ during the 88th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre on February 28, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
“Telluride Film Festival #42: Giving Its Strong– Again,” explaining:
“In director Lenny Abrahamson’s caring, careful adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s taut novel “Room,” a five-year-old boy named Jack (eight-year-old Jacob Trembley, in a preternaturally intelligent performance) follows the voice in his heart and cuts off his long hair, an obvious reference to the biblical hero Samson. He, or his grandmother to be exact, gives the ponytail to his suffering mother or Ma (Brie Larson, in what has to be one of the best – read restrained and believable –performances by an actress this year) because the boy intuitively knows ‘his strong’ will ease her suffering and help her move on. After all, Jack is not just a little boy. He represents Ma’s inner child and lost youth, stolen by a vicious, if lackluster, predator– which only makes the story creepier.”
Tonight, when she accepted her well-deserved Oscar for Best Actress, the very first words out of her mouth were a thank-you to the Telluride Film Festival, which premiered the film.
Deadline.com weighs in with some interesting details about how Brie prepared for the role:
…Once Larson came aboard, the actress started researching and even living the role. She spoke to a trauma specialist and isolated herself almost completely to understand the mindset. She cut down on the amount of calories that she took in to look more malnourished. The character was an athlete before being kidnapped so Larson kept that in mind. She learned about PTSD and how that affects behavior and thoughts to help her through the second half of the film – a transition from victim to survivor. The performance was one that many victims of crime could relate to.
She has said that the trust that she and her young co-star Jacob Tremblay built was key to her performance. It was a special relationship, not unlike one between mother and son, as she tended to his every need on the set as a strong bond was formed. In her acceptance speech, she called Tremblay “my partner through this in every way possible.” He was was only seven years old when the movie was shot…
“Spotlight,” another Telluride Film Fest premiere, won over “The Revenant,” believed to be a shoe-in, for Best Picture.
Cast and crew of “Spotlight” accept the award for best picture at the Oscars.
And “Son of Saul,” another Telluride North American premiere, won Best Foreign Film.
In this image released by NBC, Laszlo Nemes accepts the award for best foreign language film for “Son of Saul.”
Below is the list of winners from the New York Times:
Best Picture: “Spotlight”
Direction: “The Revenant,” Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant”
Actress: Brie Larson, “Room”
Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies”
Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, “The Danish Girl”
Adapted Screenplay: “The Big Short,” Charles Randolph and Adam McKay
Original Screenplay: “Spotlight,” Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy
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