The most popular films that won an Oscar

The 2024 Oscars are just around the corner to celebrate cinema having once again survived a difficult period. While less than five years ago the pandemic health emergency caused projects to be delayed and even canceled, the writers’ strike did the same.. A difficult moment that the film world had to face when it was just recovering from an unexpected situation like COVID.

But ultimately, both box office success in 2022 and a return to auteur cinema last year showed that the industry is recovering. Especially when this process involves saving what the seventh art can be. Also remember that great Oscar winners often represent changes and moments in cinema as a whole. One point is that delivery Oscar 2024made this clear, paying tribute to the long tradition of films that have gone down in history. Both as elements of mass culture and as a heritage of audiovisual language.

To explore the awards’ ability to become mainstream success, we leave you with 7 of our favorite Oscar-winning films. From the conclusion of an epic saga to the journey through the life of a musician who is an integral part of the culture. The choice makes it clear that cinema is an art capable of summarizing collective expectations. At the same time, to show the best of the originality of the era. One of his greatest qualities.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

In 2003, Peter Jackson’s epic film adaptation was released. ended with the apotheosis of everything he had done before the bell rang Rings Trilogyevent. Under the director’s watchful eye J. R. R. Tolkien’s work has achieved the scale of a unique cinematic event in its visual scope, attention to detail and casting.. To complete the journey, Jackson used the premise of a final confrontation between the forces of good and evil in a setting that raised the stakes of everything that had come before to its highest point. And all thanks to the excellent production and script, which managed to tell the story without losing a single detail of the literary original.

It was also an effort that went beyond anything that had been covered in the previous two films. With the final part, which went down in the history of cinema as an example of deepening into fantastic plots, the film surpassed the previous ones in technical and conceptual achievements. This is despite the fact that Lord of the rings, Brotherhood of the ring And The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers They were works of art in themselves.. However, the ending of the story showed that Jackson could take significant risks in his use of on-screen language to achieve success.

The film not only won the 2004 Academy Award for Best Picture, but also ten other awards, highlighting the feature as the culmination of an unforgettable film journey. So it is still remembered as one of the most beloved films that accomplished this feat.

brave heart

Although Mel Gibson is currently experiencing a series of back-to-back scandals that have somewhat derailed his film career, in 1990 he was an up-and-coming director. More than that, one that demonstrated his ambition, his love of cinema and, especially, his ability to execute his vision in challenging terrain. brave heart, was biographical film it had little history and, yes, a lot of elaborate reflections on time, faith and hope. This is epitomized by William Wallace, a beloved figure in medieval Scottish chronicles, famous for having confronted – and died in the attempt – Edward I of England.

But Gibson was not content with telling the story of a life that had already raised eyebrows in historical research. In an act of awe that would become one of the film’s worst moments, the director turned his hero into a martyr. Moreover, in a tragic legend that undermines not only the British line of succession.but dies in a bloody and vivid manner on screen.

The feature film caused a stir and opened a wide discussion on the biographical topic in the film world. Despite this, Mel Gibson overcame the controversy and won Best Picture for his work in 1996.

Forrest Gump

Another hero, but from pop culture, became an Oscar favorite in 1995. The story of a man who He looked at life through the glass of his mother’s teachings and captivated the public with his impossible love for a woman..

But Robert Zemeckis’s work was much more than just a game of references and winks. It was also a massive event in the collective memory of North America. which ultimately charmed specialist critics.

The result is a film that pays tribute to the extraordinary changes of the 20th century, using cutting-edge digital effects and a moving soundtrack. Little by little, Tom Hanks’ performance as the title character also showed that he was a great actor of his generation and far removed from the college comedies that made him famous. At the 1995 Oscars, both events came together to give the film and the performer the Academy’s highest honor.

Schindler’s list

Director Steven Spielberg has an ambivalent attitude towards big Hollywood awards. It’s the same in awards season, where he was once ignored, both for not being included in their lists of nominees and for not giving him awards. So, despite his great successes between 1970 and 1980, by the beginning of the last decade of the 20th century he had not received Oscar recognition.

In 1994, the situation changed when the director abandoned his delicate entreaties and tributes to pop culture and completely immersed himself in auteur cinema. Schindler’s list The story of the Nazi genocide of the Jews was told in a tragic, elegant and ruthless tone. A topic that Spielberg deliberately avoided due to his family heritage. But thanks to the film, he not only came to terms with this part of his life. At the same time, he achieved his masterpiece, which took him to a new stylistic and discursive level. Which earned him the Oscar for Best Picture in 1994.

Silence of the Lambs

Thomas Harris became famous in the American literary field thanks to his saga based on the world of the FBI and serial killers. But, despite previous attempts (they all failed), it was only in 1991 that his stories found a place in cinema. And they did it, making history. Silence of the Lambs surprises with its aesthetically striking cruelty. At the same time, for placing the great Hollywood villains on the throne Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins for 15 precious minutes..

But it was Jodie Foster, known for her roles as a child actress and her traumatic performances in Accused Jonathan Kaplan, the one who made history. Her Clarice Starling was fragile, tough, and yet full of trauma and vulnerable humanity. That didn’t stop him from putting all his efforts into catching a ruthless serial killer, while simultaneously negotiating with another cannibal. The performance elevated her to the Olympus of great actresses in the Mecca of cinema and brought her a second Oscar.

In the end, Silence of the LambHe managed to overcome the Academy’s natural distrust of genre films and won all the awards in the main categories. However, the most important was the award for best film in 1992. A real triumph for a film that features a scene with an artistically disemboweled corpse.

The last Emperor

The history of the last Chinese emperor in power fell into the hands of Bernardo Bertolucci. in a baroque meditation on evil, privilege and, ultimately, collective pain. All, in the midst of a dazzling scenery and with the persistent feeling that the figure Pu Yi (John Lone) as a tragic prisoner of circumstance. And also as a person who represented China during the period of decline that turned it into a myth.

The director managed to build an epic based on contrast. In the first part of the film, the narrative shows how Pu Yi was destined for power as a child. What turned him into a manipulated political figure who suffered the worst defeat and destruction during World War II and later, during the Chinese ideological revolution.

However, the most difficult moment is the last episodes of the story, when the emperor, stripped of all luxury and importance, becomes a shadow of his former self. By then, the film also becomes a bleak observation of emotional and cultural pain. The combination surprised critics and audiences, earning her an Oscar for Best Picture in 1988.

Amadeus

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the most famous and beloved musicians in world history. Milos Forman took this worship and turned it into biographical film, who remembers his legacy as a pop culture figure. Tom Hulse embodied the musical prodigy with an overflowing joy and childlike charm that touched the audience. However, this was much more than a tribute, so he attributed his analysis of Mozart to his excesses, heartache and, ultimately, disappointment.

All of the above turned the film into a look at the world of music, its pains and regrets. Also a historical rivalry. This gave the film a timeless tone that is still celebrated today, and earned it the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1985.