The Oscars Warfare

 In Rio these days, one must watch one’s mouth because many Cariocas can overreact when the Hollywood Oscar race is mentioned.  The unexpected, best film nomination of Ainda estou aqui (I am Still Here) unleashed media and social media delirium and a novel and unusual patriotic storm.  When speaking of the Oscar nominees, one must choose one’s words carefully.  To date, four million people have seen the film.  It is quite extraordinary that a serious-minded film could surpass popular mass media fares.   For a reason that does not make much sense to me, some Brazilian (toxic) fans have targeted the French movies Emilia Peréz as the mortal rival to their Oscar success and have trashed the performance of its leading “lady” Karla Sofia Gascón.

I’m still here is about a happy middle-class family broken by the military dictatorship which ruled Brazil for twenty years (1964-85).  In 1971, the father Rubens Paiva, a former left-wing politician, was taken away by military thugs and never seen again; vanishing from the face of the earth, his body was never found.  The film centers on his wife Eunice, a mother of five, who kept the family together and reinvented herself from housewife to an accomplished human rights lawyer taking on the causes of Indigenous people.  Thanks to this film, this plucky woman posthumously receives the recognition she deserves.  Actress Fernanda Torres plays Eunice with expressive restraint.

                                                                                         How it should be

The poignant film particularly resonates with a Brazilian audience because the crimes committed during the dictatorship have still not been punished.  Right-wing social media accounts linked to former president Jair Bolsonaro have urged a boycott of the film. In 1979, the military issued an Amnesty Law, conditions they set for relinquishing power and easing democracy.  In the 2000s, a National Truth Commission modeled on similar commissions in Argentina and Chile was set up.  A stop and go initiative which led to nowhere.  Crimes and violations were identified but punitive justice was prevented by the Amnesty Law.  The goons are dying in their beds. 

After receiving the Jury Prize in Cannes, Emilia Peréz started a successful and controversial run, raking several prizes which climaxed with 13 nominations in Hollywood.  The Jacque Audiard’s “Hybrid cinema” film is an Oscar front runner unlike no other: its audacious plot leaves nobody indifferent. People either love it or hate it.  I belong to the first group.  It is the first narco-thriller musical ever made, doubling as a trans parable set in an ersatz Mexico. With the help of a resourceful lady lawyer, a Mexican drug lord (Karla Sofia Gascón) fakes his death to undergo gender-affirming surgery.  She reemerges as do-gooder Emilia; but as soon as she reconnects with her kids and former wife, things start going badly.  The film is a tribute to Mexican women who live among violence and feminicide.  Its female cast is an ideal of diversity.  The openly trans actress Gascón received a best actress nomination.

At first, Gascón was victim of toxic transphobic attacks, many from Brazil but unwisely, she has created a social media storm by making inflammatory and racist posts.  Social media is a sounding board which takes no prisoners.

Among the nominees for best film, I saw Emilia Pérez (on my computer, in NYC, courtesy of Netflix), I am still here, Anora and Conclave, with no appetite for seeing the others.  The 3 hour-long Brutalist has not yet been released in Rio.  I have also seen the Iranian film, The seed of the Sacred Fig (nominated for best international film) and a documentary Soundtrack of a Coup d’état.  Netflix has been chasing Oscar accolades for some time.  Will the narco-thriller musical bring Netflix luck? Verdict on March 2.  It seems to me that Emilia Peréz is not a good choice for streaming subscribers.  In an increasingly conservative and hypocritical America, the film attracted more online backlash than buzz.

As much as I would like mad musical Emilia to win, Conclave is my Oscar bet.  Again, this film is not free of controversy.  In Conclave, men of God locked-in to select a new pope act like a bunch of lawmakers: ambitious, scheming and even corrupt.  At the end, we learn that the newly elected pope was born intersex.  This final twist put off conservative Catholics who called the film sacrilegious.  Rober Harris, the novelist believes in the inevitability of progress and that the feminine power will eventually prevail in this male dominated organization.

Anyway, I would be satisfied if any one of the above four movie wins.  The Oscars’ short list confirmed Hollywood’s independence from the sweeping new American conservatism.  And this despite Donald Trump ’s magnetic attraction.  In 2025, Hollywood positions itself as a bulwark against assault on diversity; in the 1950s it was against McCarthyism.  The choices of the Academy are a strong rebuttal of the agenda of the red hat president.  Keep faith!