From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

After two years of struggling due to social events, the Academy Awards finally ushered in a significant respite in 2004, fully returning to normalcy.

The 76th Academy Awards concluded amidst much anticipation and became a memorable event etched in history—

“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” emerged as the biggest winner, sweeping eleven awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and a clean sweep of technical department awards, tying with “Ben-Hur” and “Titanic” for the most awards in Oscar history.

Furthermore, the film's 100% success rate, winning all eleven of its nominations, cemented its unique brilliance on Oscar night.

Most importantly, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” filled the void in the Best Picture category for fantasy films, becoming the first fantasy film ever to win the highest honor at the Oscars.

The Lord of the Rings. The Lord of the Rings. The Lord of the Rings.

As the Academy Awards ceremony came to a close, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” undoubtedly became the absolute focus, its overwhelming and unerring performance captivating all media outlets. New Line Cinema's strong momentum, which began at the end of last year, continued unabated until the end of awards season.

Of course, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” wasn't the only focus.

Because “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” was absent from all acting award nominations, the distribution of this year's four acting trophies became a highlight.

Sean Penn, Best Actor, the winner of the Best Actor awards at the three major European film festivals, had been nominated for an Oscar three times before but had always missed out. This year, he finally achieved Oscar success with “Mystic River,” which was met with a cold reception at the Cannes Film Festival, making up for his previous regrets.

Tim Robbins, Best Supporting Actor, widely known for “The Shawshank Redemption,” had previously received his first Oscar nomination for “Dead Man Walking,” but after fifteen years of working in Hollywood, he finally won his first golden statuette with “Mystic River.”

Charlize Theron, Best Actress, the South African beauty who started as a model, was long labeled as a pretty face. This year, however, she conquered Hollywood, earning applause for her self-destructive and almost unrecognizable performance in “Monster,” sweeping through the awards season and claiming the Best Actress award.

Renée Zellweger, Best Supporting Actress, was nominated for the third consecutive year. Previously, she had been defeated in the Best Actress competition for two consecutive years with “Bridget Jones's Diary” and “Chicago.” In her third year, she finally switched to the Best Supporting Actress category with “Cold Mountain” and won her first golden statuette.

Four trophies, four winners, all first-time winners.

This scene, in subtle contrast to the sweeping victory of “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” in other award categories, unexpectedly sparked media attention—

One wave of focus, one wave of traffic, unfolded around the four golden statuette winners, rivaling the dominance of “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” becoming a highlight of the night.

Moreover, this was still not all.

And this year, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” successfully won the Best Adapted Screenplay golden statuette, and naturally, the ownership of the Best Original Screenplay award also attracted attention.

The answer is—

“Lost in Translation,” Sofia Coppola.

This film garnered countless praises and adoration this year. Both Scarlett Johansson and Sofia Coppola suddenly stood under the spotlight, instantly swept into the storm of fame and fortune; but unfortunately, the final sprint of the Academy's public relations efforts was still insufficient, and it was sadly drowned out by the overwhelming momentum of “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” failing to garner more nominations.

Despite this, “Lost in Translation” still stood out at the Academy Awards ceremony, winning the Best Original Screenplay golden statuette amidst a sea of green.

Moreover, it received applause after the awards ceremony, undoubtedly becoming the most eye-catching highlight of this year's awards season, becoming the focus with an unconventional approach.

To some extent, “Lost in Translation” was even more dazzling than the four actors who won acting golden statuettes.

After all, Sofia Coppola's terrible performance in “The Godfather Part III” remains an epic disaster that moved heaven and earth to this day. No one expected that the “actress” who was criticized to the point of being drenched in dog blood by the audience back then would actually gain a foothold in Hollywood as a director with such an artistic and independent film.

Indeed, in Hollywood, anything is possible.

What's more, the focus of this year's awards ceremony was all on “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” and other topics were lackluster. It is not surprising that Sofia stood out and firmly grasped attention with the Coppola name.

Thus, another year of the Oscars came to a close.

However!

This year, the Academy reaped a bountiful harvest—

According to Nielsen ratings statistics, a full 45 million viewers across North America watched the glorious moment of “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” sweeping the Oscars.

This data sparked widespread discussion.

This is not only the best viewership performance since the 70th Academy Awards when “Titanic” topped Best Picture, but also a major good news that the viewership has returned to the 40 million range after two consecutive years of sluggishness.

In addition, the record-breaking advertising costs before the awards ceremony, $1.5 million per thirty seconds, directly proved the unparalleled lofty position of the Oscars in North America, its powerful influence still able to rival the Super Bowl, and ranked as the two largest events in North America.

From all aspects, this Academy Awards was a huge success.

The Academy was beaming with joy:

Anson, who are you?

Although the disturbances before the awards ceremony embarrassed the Academy, and the provocation and impact from the Grammys cast a shadow over the Oscars, Anson Wood alone put the Academy in a difficult situation, enduring tremendous pressure. This was a situation the Academy had never encountered before.

But now, the Academy can finally hold its head high and retaliate righteously—

Grammys, wanting to show off in front of the Oscars is still a bit naive; as for Anson, not to mention, the Oscars will not be in trouble for lacking one Anson.

In fact, not only did it not fall into trouble, but it also created the best performance in seven years!

Academy: Anson, how about it, are you scared?

It can be seen from the press releases of major news media after the awards ceremony that the Academy finally breathed a long sigh of relief, and the words were all mocking Anson.

At this moment, those stubborn old scholars had been waiting for far too long.

So, what about Anson?

How will Anson respond?