The opening of every Academy Awards show is a highly anticipated event in and of itself. At the 83rd Academy Awards, Anne Hathaway and James Franco, two of the youngest Oscar hosts in history, kicked off the evening with a comic journey through some of the year’s nominated films. A climactic spin through “Back to the Future” brought them onto the Kodak Theatre stage, where the dramatic projection-focused stage design later featured tributes to some of Hollywood’s most enduring productions. The high-tech backdrops included a fire-drenched homage to “Gone with the Wind,” a trip to the site of the first Academy Awards in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel's Blossom Room, and lavish tableaux from “Titanic” and “Shrek.”
Two-time Best Actor winner Tom Hanks presented the first two awards, for Art Direction and Cinematography. Upon receiving his award for the production design of “Alice in Wonderland,” Robert Stromberg adorned his Oscar with a miniature Mad Hatter’s hat, a whimsical touch that led into Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas appearing to present Best Supporting Actress to Melissa Leo for “The Fighter.” The excited actress asked Douglas to pinch her to make sure she wasn’t dreaming and exclaimed, “I’m just shakin’ in my boots here!”
In accepting the Best Animated Feature award, “Toy Story 3” director Lee Unkrich said of successfully making the third film in a series, “Somehow we thought we could pull it off. Does this mean we did it?”
Aaron Sorkin won the Adapted Screenplay award for “The Social Network.” While taking questions from the press after exiting the stage, he said he had developed a sort of “romance” over awards season via e-mails with David Seidler, writer of “The King’s Speech,” who quickly followed him onto the Kodak stage as winner of Original Screenplay. A real-life stutterer himself, Seidler said he felt the award would inspire confidence among others who had felt ashamed of their speech difficulties.
Trent Reznor (known to music fans as founder of Nine Inch Nails) and Atticus Ross won the Original Score honor for their first work in the field, for “The Social Network.” In another story of new friendship, Reznor described to the backstage press a bond he had formed in recent months with fellow nominee Hans Zimmer, who hoped that the Reznor/Ross win would signal greater possibilities for film music to experiment with textures and arrangements outside of the usual orchestral sound.
Presenter Hugh Jackman was humorously targeted by a tuxedo-wearing Hathaway (his onstage musical partner at the Oscars two years earlier) in a comedic rendition of “On My Own” from the stage musical, “Les Miserables.” In another of the evening’s surprises, popular past host Billy Crystal appeared on stage and presented a trip back in time to the first televised ceremony (the 25th Academy Awards in 1953), with Bob Hope making a virtual appearance at the podium.
All of the Original Song nominees were performed live on stage. Gwyneth Paltrow sang “Coming Home” from “Country Strong,” Florence Welch (of Florence + the Machine) and composer A.R. Rahman performed “If I Rise” from “127 Hours,” Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi joined for a duet of “I See the Light” from “Tangled,” with accompaniment by songwriter Alan Menken, and Randy Newman took to the piano for “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3.” A 20-time nominee, Newman won the award for the evening, his second overall.
Celine Dion appeared for the annual “In Memoriam” segment, which pays tribute to some of the beloved industry members who passed away during the previous year. Dion performed “Smile,” originally written by silent film legend Charlie Chaplin for the film “Modern Times,” which, with lyrics added by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons, became a hit for Nat King Cole in 1954. Halle Berry also appeared for a special tribute to the late Lena Horne, legendary actress, singer, and civil rights activist.
The Directing category was introduced by two-time Best Actress winner Hilary Swank and presented by the previous year’s winning director, Kathryn Bigelow, to Tom Hooper for “The King’s Speech.” He cited his mother as the source for discovering the film’s subject matter and said she was now “under a lot of pressure” to find another film topic for him. The moral of the experience, he said, is “listen to your mother.”
The previous year’s Best Actor winner, Jeff Bridges, presented the Best Actress Oscar to Natalie Portman for “Black Swan.” The actress and expectant mother thanked both that film’s director, Darren Aronofsky, and her previous directors Luc Besson and Mike Nichols. The 2009 Best Actress winner Sandra Bullock made the Best Actor award presentation to Colin Firth for “The King’s Speech.” Upon reaching the stage, Firth quipped “I’ve a feeling my career just peaked”; he later described and praised to the media the demanding first day of shooting with Hooper.
For the final award, Steven Spielberg presented Best Picture to “The King’s Speech,” with producers Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin accepting the honor. Backstage, Sherman said, “The buildup of this award is… like none of the others…There’s just something about it that left us absolutely speechless, in a sense, and to have won this award, I don’t think there’s anywhere else we can go.” The evening closed on a poignant musical note as the PS22 chorus from Staten Island, New York performed “Over the Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz.” The young singers charmed the entire audience with a performance that encapsulated Hollywood's rich and vibrant history of imaginative, timeless filmmaking.
Video Highlights
Videos from the 83rd Academy Awards
