The persons and films that the Academy Awards choose to honor with the renowned statuette continue to divide both viewers and critics. Many viewers are taken aback when their favorite movies and artists seem to have been overlooked by the Academy, despite the fact that nearly all of the cinematic masterpieces up for an Oscar undoubtedly deserve the respect and acclaim they earn for all of their hard work.
The Best Picture winners over the years have often astounded many moviegoers with the films that have won the top prize, and Oscar history has shown that there have undoubtedly been a few head scratcher winners. The Academy has a history of surprises and disagreements, from Martin Scorsese being twice wrongly awarded Best Director to contentious Best Director awards. Let’s examine some of the contentious Oscar victories in the past.
1977: Rocky – Best Picture
The Sylvester Stallone-led thriller Rocky, widely regarded as one of the best sports movies ever made, helped revive the rags-to-riches concept and made its charismatic hero (and writer) Sylvester Stallone an overnight phenomenon. While crowds rushed to the movies to watch Rocky Balboa square off against heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver was enthralling audiences as well.
Rocky not only defeated the monumental psychological thriller for Best Picture, but it also defeated the All the President’s Men political drama. There is no question that each of these films deserved to win, but some fans are still resentful of Scorsese for being overlooked for his masterpiece.
1993: Marisa Tomei – Best Supporting Actress for My Cousin Vinny
Many viewers were perplexed by Marisa Tomei’s apparent surprise when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her energetic portrayal of Mona Lisa Vito in the blockbuster comedy My Cousin Vinny. While the actress was praised for her amusing performance with Joe Pesci, some thought it was unfair that she won the prestigious award over actors like Miranda Richardson from Damage and Vanessa Redgrave from Howard’s End.
When he claimed presenter Jack Palance announced the incorrect name after opening the envelope, film critic Rex Reed helped stir up controversy. This was a false assertion that was refuted, and Tomei called it “very cruel.” When The Hollywood Reporter surveyed hundreds of Academy members in 2015 to reexamine previous choices, the actress had the last laugh because Tomei once again received all the votes required to win the prize.
2006: Crash – Best Picture
In the star-studded drama Crash by Paul Haggis, a varied group of Los Angeles citizens experience growing racial tensions as societal problems develop over the course of 36 hours. The movie, which starred Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, and Brendan Fraser, received praise for its engrossing performances and direction but also criticism for how it addressed racial issues within its plot.
Ang Lee’s moving neo-Western romantic film Brokeback Mountain lost out to Crash for the Best Picture Oscar, despite the latter’s widespread acclaim and the high praise that newcomers Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal got for their captivating performances.
1955: Grace Kelly – Best Actress for The Country Girl
The reigning queen of cinema in the 1950s was legendary screen star Grace Kelly, who starred in classic Alfred Hitchcock films like Rear Window and Dial M for Murder. The actress managed to make her mark on the business even though she eventually gave up performing and left Hollywood at age 26 to wed Prince Rainier III and become the Princess of Monaco. There is no denying Kelly’s commanding presence on screen, and her work in the 1954 drama The Country Girl led to a nomination for Best Actress at the Oscars.
Many people, including Judy Garland herself, thought she was a lock to win the award for her performance in A Star Is Born, so her eventual victory shocked Hollywood. Before Kelly even took the stage to accept the prize, the camera team at the event was packing up. Legendary comedian Groucho Marx is known for sending Garland a telegram following the incident and calling her loss “the worst theft since Brinks.”
1995: Forrest Gump – Best Picture
Many fans and reviewers were shocked that Forrest Gump won the Oscar for Best Picture over Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption, despite the fact that it continues to be a beloved and famous classic with a standout performance by the great Tom Hanks.
Quentin Tarantino’s magnificent Pulp Fiction, starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson as two mob hitmen, revolutionized cinema in 1994, while the renowned Stephen King adaption received high praise from reviewers. Even while Forrest Gump is a remarkable accomplishment in and of itself, some movie lovers are still resentful that it won Best Picture over its equally deserving rivals.
1942: How Green Was My Valley – Best Picture
Even though it is now largely regarded as one of the best movies ever produced, John Ford’s drama How Green Was My Valley defeated The Maltese Falcon and Orson Welles’ cinematic masterpiece Citizen Kane to win the coveted Academy Award for Best Picture. Although it is difficult to understand in retrospect how Welles’ highly regarded classic lost such a distinction, the politics at play suggest a possible explanation.
William Randolph Hurst, a business and newspaper mogul, used his enormous power to stop the distribution of the movie Citizen Kane after learning that Welles had heavily modeled his main character after himself. In order to harm the movie’s box office performance and Welles’ career chances, Hearst lobbied against the filmmaker and was successful in securing a film’s limited release. All of this opposition contributed to Citizen Kane’s Oscar loss.
2003: Roman Polanski – Best Director for The Pianist
Roman Polanski has a divisive and tainted reputation in Hollywood and has been dogged by scandals throughout his career, which culminated in the filmmaker running away to Paris in 1978 after being accused of sexually assaulting a youngster. Despite these challenges, he directed Adrien Brody’s World War II biographical thriller The Pianist, which received a lot of praise and took home the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
When Polanksi won the Oscar for Best Director, he was not there at the ceremony (as he would have been arrested), and he even received a standing ovation, which seems inconceivable now that it has been 20 years. Even though The Pianist is an indisputably gorgeous movie, Polanksi’s winning such a major award damaged some people’s perceptions of the movie.
1999: Shakespeare in Love – Best Picture
Shakespeare in Love, directed by John Madden, is a romantic period comedy that depicts a fictitious relationship between the “Bard of Avon” and the daughter of a wealthy merchant while the famous playwright was working on Romeo and Juliet. It won seven Academy Awards at the ceremony, including Best Actress (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Best Supporting Actress.
Many were startled and thought the victory was a true upset when it beat Steven Spielberg’s epic war film Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture, not to mention the poetic masterpiece The Thin Red Line. According to critics, Spielberg and Malick were cheated out of the top prize because of Harvey Weinstein’s aggressive and pricey distribution campaign for the historical drama.
2019: Green Book – Best Picture
Moviegoers and critics alike were taken aback when the dramedy Green Book defeated Alfonso Cuarón’s drama modern black-and-white drama Roma to win the Oscar for Best Picture. The biographical Green Book had already received some criticism prior to the prestigious ceremony.
The Peter Farrelly movie, which was based on the life of Black classical pianist Don Shirley and his relationship with his bodyguard/chauffeur Frank Vallelonga, received harsh criticism from Shirley’s family for how it portrayed the musician’s relationship with his family and for its “white savior” narrative. Many thought Roma or perhaps The Favourite were much more deserving, and Spike Lee, the director of another Best Picture candidate, BlacKkKlansman, even tried to leave when the result was revealed. For Lee, the controversy surrounding Driving Miss Daisy from three decades previously was repeated in many ways here.
1990: Driving Miss Daisy – Best Picture
Driving Miss Daisy winning the Best Picture Oscar over other nominees like My Left Foot and Born on the Fourth of July created considerable controversy after the presentation, but not being as contentious as some of the other cases on this list.
Although critics lauded Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy for their performances, the story’s handling of racism has come under harsh scrutiny. The Academy chose Driving Miss Daisy over Spike Lee’s acclaimed dramedy Do the Right Thing, much to the famous director’s chagrin. He later pondered on the decision and said that Do the Right Thing “is being taught in cinema schools all over the world like Driving Miss Daisy is.”
1997: The English Patient – Best Picture
There is no denying the brilliance of Anthony Minghella’s slow-burn romantic war drama The English Patient, which stars Ralph Fiennes in a standout performance as a horribly burnt World War II soldier who muses on his epic love from a hospital bed.
Its Best Picture win over Mike Leigh’s fantastic Secrets & Lies and particularly the Coen brothers’ masterpiece Fargo is scandalous, there is no denying that, especially in light of the fact that the Coens’ crime comedy has been hailed as one of the greatest movies ever made and has since sparked a critically acclaimed TV series adaptation. The English Patient has a considerably greater legacy than Fargo, and many fans think that because it was Oscar bait, it won the award instead of the dark comedy.
