Just under a year ago, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” was only launched in ten copies in US cinemas – compared to more than 4300 copies for the classic blockbusters. The science fiction adventure comedy by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert about an Asian heroine nevertheless managed to develop from an insider tip to a critic and audience favorite – and became the same when the Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday morning (local time) in Los Angeles named eleven times, including best film and best actress.
60-year-old Michelle Yeoh is the first actress of Asian origin to be nominated for Best Female Lead. In the film, Yeoh plays a Chinese launderette owner who, in addition to the chaotic everyday life and family problems – the lesbian daughter causes trouble, her husband (Ke Huy Quan) wants to get a divorce – also has trouble with taxes (as a strict tax consultant: Jamie Lee curtis).
And at the same time, the martial arts multiverse is calling: in the offbeat film trip about identity and family ties, Yoeh is suddenly kidnapped into a parallel universe, where she develops into a secret martial arts expert.
Nine nominations for “Nothing New in the West”
The German production “Nothing New in the West” can also look forward to nine Oscar nominations, including for best film and the foreign Oscar. The film, starring Viennese actor Felix Kammerer and based on the book by Erich Maria Remarque from 1929, shows the horror of World War I from the perspective of a young soldier and has been available on Netflix since last year.
The Austrian contribution, Marie Kreutzer’s Sisi drama “Corsage”, on the other hand, did not make it onto the list of the last five works in the race for the foreign Oscar. Most observers had expected this decision after the Florian Teichtmeister scandal became known. Teichtmeister plays Emperor Franz Joseph in “Corsage” and has to answer in court at the beginning of February for possession of depictions of sexual abuse of minors.
Innsbruck resident Monika Willi nominated with “Tar”.
With the nomination of the editor Monika Willi for an Oscar for the editing of the film “Tar” there is a surprise from an Austrian point of view. “I’m speechless. I didn’t expect that,” Monika Willi told the “Kurier” on the occasion of her Oscar nomination for the editing of “Tar”. Willi worked with Michael Haneke for many years. “Tar” by Todd Field, who has been nominated seven times, tells the story of a fictional chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic.
Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, a black humorous breakup film about two stubborn friends who have been together for decades on a remote Irish island, received nine nominations. It was followed by Baz Luhrmann’s biopic “Elvis” with eight chances to win.
Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical drama The Fabelmans, in which the 76-year-old filmmaker looks back on his childhood and the life of his parents, has received seven nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Top Gun: Maverick received six nominations. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever made the list five times, and James Cameron’s Avatar 2 four times.
Corsage debate continues
The fact that the discussion about Kreutzer’s Sisi film will continue seems certain even after “Corsage” has left the Oscar race: in recent weeks, the domestic film scene had been debating whether Kreutzer would already have the allegations in 2021 after the first rumors about Teichtmeister became known should take more seriously.
The actor, who embodies Emperor Franz Joseph in “Corsage”, has to answer in court in February for possessing files of sexual abuse of minors. Teichtmeister admitted to downloading 58,000 child abuse images from the dark web between 2008 and 2021.
In interviews in “ORF III Live” and in “kulturMontag”, among others, the director, who seemed visibly concerned, had always defended the film project and emphasized the basic feminist tone of “Corsage”. A self-chosen withdrawal of the film from the Oscar race would have been out of the question for her: “We would give him (Teichtmeister, note) tremendous power if we said: ‘You can no longer see this film.’ I’m not ready for that,” Kreuzer argued in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
Planned film project about pedophile crime
“Years of work and a lot of love from many people have gone into ‘Corsage’. That’s why it hurts so much that the film will always be afflicted with these horrific acts,” says Kreutzer. A second, unnamed “Corsage” actor is now facing allegations of sexual harassment.
“That’s my greatest misfortune,” she said, “trusted the two men, maybe that wasn’t right.” Since September 2020, Kreutzer has been working on a new film that deals with a topic similar to the Teichtmeister case. Whether this project with the working title “Johnny Maccaroni” will come about is uncertain.
