The 5 Best Oscar speeches from Sunday night...

Wednesday, March 30, 2022 at 3:30PM
Cláudio Alves in Acceptance Speeches, Ahmir Questlove Thompson, Ariana DeBose, Cruella, Jenny Beavan, Jessica Chastain, Oscar Ceremonies, Oscars (21), Summer of Soul, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Troy Kotsur, West Side Story 2021

by Cláudio Alves

When it comes to the 94th Academy Awards, the exclusion of eight categories from the live ceremony will always cast a dark shadow over the proceedings. This is especially true when considering the evening's best speeches. As it happens, a good percentage of them are unavailable to us, existing only in the edited versions that ABC aired. Riz Ahmed gave a powerful speech, but it's hard not to notice that Aneil Karia's words were utterly excised from the final edit. Other highlights include Joe Walker with the night's funniest acceptance and Alberto Mielgo's loving tribute to the art of animation… 

For brevity's sake, this will be a listing of the top five best speeches. Indeed, even with Twitter sleuthing, it's hard to find the unedited version of those eight disrespected categories, so a complete ranking was impossible. With all that being said, some people deserve honorable mentions despite not making the final selection. I'm mostly thinking of Jessica Chastain's touching plea for love and understanding upon receiving her Best Actress trophy. Following Kevin Costner's reverent presentation, Jane Campion's speech also deserves kudos. In any case, the top five speeches... 

5) Jenny Beavan
Best Costume Design for CRUELLA

Team CRUELLA.  Go team CRUELLA.  Now if you heard a really embarrassing noise, it's probably my family who's somewhere up there who supported me through this extraordinary experience which had massive amounts of fun, as you can see.  But also, it was slightly stressful.  The only one I'm missing is my darling son‑in‑law, David, who used to give me good advice at the end of every day but is no longer with us. 

Anyway, I just thought I should explain.  I obviously didn't go down well last time.  I'm honoring my inner Cruella.  A little bit of Matthew Marksom, random lapel; Tom Davies, eyewear; Tom Botsford, graffiti.   

And I have to tell, when Kristen Barr and Craig Gillespie asked me to do this movie, I truly didn't think we had the time.  I mean, I actually nearly said no.  Glad I didn't.  The only reason I didn't was because Clare Spragge, who's sitting just there sparkling, said she would come on board as costume supervisor and bring the team.  The team of the most phenomenal, creative, clever, generous, amazing people, I mean, without whom obviously it wouldn't have happened.  

And I also need to thank Nadia and Naomi and Julia, our makeup and hair team, because they complete the looks.  And it's a little sad putting a CRUELLA costume in my hair.  But also, the actors who just brought such life.  I think Emma Thompson hyperventilating over some of her fittings with joy was one of the highlights of my career. 

Anyway, I think that's all.  I kind of course left the thing in the car.  I could write it around here.  I think I ‑‑ people have made such wonderful speeches.  But the lovely thing I think about a film like CRUELLA is it does bring a bit of fun and joy in these terrible times, which others have mentioned.  But, you know, it ‑‑ it was great to do.  

Thank you to the Academy.  Thank you.

For all that one might complain about Disney's influence over the Academy Awards ceremony, at least they're the likely cause of Beavan's speech running as long as it did. It's easy to imagine the costume designer being played off much earlier if hers wasn't one of the few Disney victories of the night. It was a delight, from the mention of her dear departed son-in-law to a show of gratitude for the team that helped her get the Cruella wardrobe ready in little time. I especially loved the bit about her outfit, a cheeky reminder of how much her Mad Max: Fury Road getup was criticized the last time she was up there accepting an Oscar.

 

4) Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent, and David Dinerstein
Best Documentary Feature for SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED) 

Just like the Moonlight Best Picture kerfuffle, Summer of Soul's victory was obscured by the nonsense preceding its announcement.

Even so, Questlove delivered one of the night's great speeches, paying homage to his late father with tears in his eyes. Moreover, he acknowledged his competition in this year's beautiful Best Documentary lineup and how this victory isn't all about him. Instead, it's "about marginalized people in Harlem that needed to heal from pain." Though overwhelmed, this was a beautiful genuine speech.

 

3) Ariana DeBose
Best Supporting Actress for WEST SIDE STORY

Oh, my God.  Yikes.  Okay.  Oh, my word.  You know what?  What is this?  You know, now you see why Anita says "I want to live in America" ‑‑ because even in this weary world that we live in, dreams do come true.  And that's really the heartening thing right now. 

If I took the time to say thank you to every single beautiful person who has lifted me up on this stage, you'd find people would be sitting here till next Oscars.  So, I'm not going to do that.  Just allow me to say it was a summer of a lifetime, and I am the most privileged and grateful to have spent it with all of you.  

My God.  Thank you, Steven Spielberg.  You're stuck with me now.  Yay. 

Thank you Kristie Macosko Krieger, Tony Kushner, and the divine inspiration that is Rita Moreno.  You're staring at me right now.  And I am so grateful.  Your Anita paved the way for tons of Anitas like me, and I love so much. 

I'm going to wrap this up and talk about my family.  My mother who is here tonight.  Mama, I love you with my whole heart, and this as much yours as it is mine.  Some of my tribesmen:  My family, my love, Sue; Jonathan, Diana, Anthony Calamita.  I wouldn't do what I do without each and every one of you.  

So lastly:  Imagine this little girl in the backseat of a white Ford focus.  Look into her eyes.  You see queer – an openly queer woman of color, an Afro‑Latina, who found her strength in life through art.  And that's what I believe we're here to celebrate.  Yeah. 

So, to anybody who has ever questioned your identity, ever, ever, or you find yourself living in the gray spaces, I promise you this:  There is indeed a place for us.  

Thank you to the Academy and thank you all.

This could be held as the platonic ideal of an Oscar speech. One can tell DeBose thought for a long time about what she'd say at this moment, preparing a pitch-perfect mix of inspiration and thankful emotionality. And yet, the moment doesn't feel too calculated for its own good, brimming with earnestness. The gratitude towards Rita Moreno, the acknowledgment of this historical win as an Afro-Latina queer woman, the canny references to West Side Story's message and lyrics make this speech a winner, just as glorious as DeBose herself.

 

2) Stephanie Ingram, Linda Dowds, and Justin Raleigh
Best Makeup and Hairstyling for THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE

I want to thank the Academy.  Our biggest and most dedicated collaborators:  Jessica Chastain, Freckle Films, Searchlight Pictures.  It does take a village.  

Thank you so much everybody.  This means so much.  Thank you.

On a night where the so-called "below the line" artists were nakedly disrespected by the Academy, The Eyes of Tammy Faye makeup team delivered a spectacular speech that reminded the room that everyone deserves their moment in the sun and how cinema is a team effort. But of course, you might not know this was a great acceptance speech from the snippet shown in the telecast and transcribed above by the Academy. Shame on ABC for denying us one of the best moments of the night, forcing Oscar obsessives to go to Twitter in seach of a phone recording. Shame on everyone involved with the decision to cut eight categories from the live telecast.

The full speech:

First of all you just saw that we are in a group of incredible nominees. And everybody took a moment to celebrate all of us and each of us before we stepped up here. I so love that. It's the true spirit of what these awards are about. I want to thank the Academy, our branch managers. Our biggest and most dedicated collaborators:  Jessica Chastain, Freckle Films, Searchlight Pictures. It does take a village. 

We had incredible teams. We'd like to thank our North Carolina team. Fractured Effects, their entire team which is all of the effects makeup through Justin. I also want to say that there are 10,000 crafts people just like us who are below the line and who come in to work every day and work long and hard and never get the opportunity to have this kind of recognition. And I just hope that each and every day, on set,  everyone takes a moment to look around and look at those all those talented people who work so hard to [unintelligible due to clapping] 

Thank you so much everybody.  This means so much.  Thank you.

 

1) Troy Kotsur
Best Supporting Actor for CODA

This is amazing to be here on this journey.  I cannot believe I'm here.  Thank you so much to all the members of the Academy for recognizing my work.  It's really amazing that our film, CODA, has reached out worldwide.  It even reached all the way to the White House, and they invited the cast of CODA to visit and have a tour of the White House, and we met President Joe and Dr. Jill, and I was planning on teaching them some dirty sign language, but Marlee Matlin told me to behave myself.  So don't worry, Marlee, I won't drop any F-bombs in my speech today.  Instead I want to thank all of the deaf theater stages where I was allowed and given the opportunity to develop my craft as an actor.  Thank you. 

I read one of Spielberg's books recently, and he said that the best director, the definition of the best director was a skilled communicator.  Siân Heder, you are the best communicator.  And the reason why is you brought the deaf world and the hearing world together, and you are our bridge.  And your name will forever be on that bridge, Siân Heder Bridge here in Hollywood, and that was supported by Apple, Sundance, all our cast, our crew, our producers and the community of Gloucester, Massachusetts.  So I just want to say, hey, fisherman, hey, Popeyes, don't forget to eat your spinach.

My dad, he was the best signer in our family, but he was in a car accident, and he became paralyzed from the neck down, and he no longer was able to sign.  Dad, I learned so much from you.  I'll always love you.  You are my hero.  Thank you to my biggest fans, my wife and my daughter Kyra and my hometown of Mesa, Arizona, and Mark Finley, our manager and our team.  I just wanted to say that this is dedicated to the deaf community, the CODA community and the disabled community.  This is our moment.  To my mom, my dad and my brother Mark.  They're not here today, but look at me now.  I did it.  I love you.  Thank you.

I'm no fan of CODA. Even so, I couldn't object to Kotsur's win, both on the grounds of his achievement and the incredible speech he delivered. It was the best of the night, from spellbinding start to glorious finish. The image of the entire room silently clapping for the new Best Supporting Actor champion was an emotional vision all in itself, as was Youn Yuh-Jung's lovely presence throughout the presentation. Still, nothing could top Kotsur's heartfelt speech, delivered with utmost charisma and a blinding smile. As he held his Oscar high, I couldn't help but give the actor a standing ovation. I'm sure I wasn't the only one.

 

What were your favorite acceptance speeches from this year's Oscars?

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).