峰言峰語

LOS ANGELES, March 5 — In a stunning twist, the motion picture academy turned its back on "Brokeback Mountain" and its unflinching gay love story Sunday night, awarding the Oscar for best picture to "Crash," a moody kaleidoscope of racial confrontation in Los Angeles in which every character is at once sympathetic and repulsive.

"Brokeback Mountain," which had taken nearly every major best-picture prize in the run-up to the Oscars, won the awards for its director, Ang Lee, and for best score and adapted screenplay. "I wish I could quit you," Mr. Lee joked in accepting his award, echoing the film's best-known line.

But it was Paul Haggis's "Crash," which opened to decidedly mixed reviews but was a sleeper hit last summer, that proved a hometown favorite among the Angelenos who make up the vast majority of academy voters. They no doubt approved of its depiction of blacks, whites, Latinos and Iranians venting at one another, and perhaps, too, of its racial humor in service of a more serious point about intolerance and preconceptions.

"Crash" also won the Oscars for best original screenplay, for its writers, Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, and for the film's editor, Hughes Winborne.

The upset victory for "Crash" came on a night when the academy honored some of Hollywood's favorite performers, as Philip Seymour Hoffman was named best actor for inhabiting the role of Truman Capote and Reese Witherspoon won best actress for her steely, charming turn as June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line."

The 78th Academy Awards, like the year in film, seemed preoccupied with political and moral subjects. George Clooney won the best supporting actor award for his performance in "Syriana" as a C.I.A. agent caught between terrorists and his corrupt bosses.

And Rachel Weisz was named best supporting actress for her performance in "The Constant Gardener" as a muckracking activist in Kenya whose victimization by an evil pharmaceutical company rouses her emotionally deadened diplomat husband into action.

Mr. Clooney, who acknowledged that politically "we are a little bit out of touch in Hollywood," said that once in a while that was "probably a good thing." And he returned the academy's compliment.

"We were the ones who talked about AIDS when it was just being whispered; we talked about civil rights when it wasn't popular," he said. "I'm proud to be part of Hollywood, proud to be part of the community and proud to be out of touch."

Moments later, Mr. Clooney mused that Hollywood was, about two years late, getting around to wrestling with the social and political issues confronting the nation. "It won't last very long, but we've done this on and off," he said. "We did it in the 30's, we did it in the 50's, we certainly did it in the 60's and 70's and we'll probably continue to do that, which is reflect society, not truly lead it."

Mr. Hoffman, accepting his Oscar, congratulated his mother. "We are at the party, Ma," he said. A radiant Ms. Witherspoon thanked her parents, too. "It didn't matter if I was making a bed or making a movie, they never hesitated to tell me how proud they were of me," she said.

A departure to the serious themes was the winner for best documentary feature: "March of the Penguins." The surprise hit bested a field that included documentaries on the scandal at Enron and on a hard-fought mayoral election in Newark.

With the comic Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" as its host, this Oscars telecast was bound to scald a little, and Mr. Stewart had what were no doubt welcome barbs for Republicans, perhaps less welcome ones for Democrats, and plenty at the movie industry's expense.

He said that the singer Bjork could not attend: "She was trying on her Oscar dress, and Dick Cheney shot her." He suggested that casting their academy ballots may well have been "the first time many of you have ever voted for a winner."

And, in introducing Terrence Howard, who played a pimp who aspired to be a rapper in "Hustle & Flow," Mr. Stewart defined a pimp as "an agent with a better hat." In fact, it was the rap song of Mr. Howard's character, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," by the heretofore unknown Memphis group Three 6 Mafia, that won the Oscar for best original song, immediately after the group gave a raucous performance of it.

Mr. Stewart's narrow and young viewership on the cable network Comedy Central made him relatively unknown to the worldwide Oscars television audience, but his court jester's combination of sarcasm and flattery seemed to work with the Hollywood royalty in the room.

He said Mr. Clooney's "Good Night, and Good Luck" was not just a movie but "how Mr. Clooney ends all his dates." He assured Steven Spielberg that after "Schindler's List" and "Munich," "I think I speak for all Jews when I say, I can't wait to see what happens to us next."

On a night in which the expectations were high for "Brokeback Mountain," Mr. Stewart saved his best prerecorded material for what he called "the elephant in the room." With faux indignation, he said that "Brokeback" had "tarnished" the image of the staunchly heterosexual American western.

What followed was a montage that illustrated the kind of homoeroticism that has pervaded Westerns, and for that matter a half-century's worth of buddy movies and all kinds of mainstream literature at least as far back as Huck and Jim: Cowboys, sheriffs, and ranch hands stripping down to their union suits, admiring and handling one another's guns, winking, sweating, bunking down for the night, and asking, "Mind if I look at your Winchester?"

The award for best foreign language film went to "Tsotsi," from South Africa, Gavin Hood's story of crime and redemption set against a Johannesburg shantytown.

The director Robert Altman, whose films include "Nashville" and "The Player," the latter a classic take on the movie business, was given an honorary award for lifetime achievement. He revealed that he had received a heart from a 30-year-old woman 10 years ago — and kept it a secret until now for fear of the stigma that comes with it. "I think I've got about 40 years left in it," he said, "and I plan on using it."

While 2005's movie calendar was short on polarizing events — no one tackled the Passion or excoriated the Bush administration the way Mel Gibson and Michael Moore had the year before — it was teeming with modest movies making small statements about Important Subjects.

The nominees for best picture, all but one of them from studio specialty divisions, alone bore evidence of Hollywood's sudden case of seriousness: "Capote" and "Good Night, and Good Luck" cast a critical eye on the roles and responsibilities of journalists, "Crash" explored racial animosity and challenged preconceptions, "Munich" took on Middle East violence, and "Brokeback Mountain" illustrated the point-blank impact of intolerance. The lone big-studio picture, "Munich," was made for some $75 million, more than twice the combined budgets of all four other nominees.

The messages here were seldom radical, the causes rarely unpopular: Niki Caro's "North Country" tackled the evils of sexual harassment, and the point of "Munich" seemed to be little more than the schoolyard lesson that violence solves nothing.

By and large, it was a wretched year for Hollywood's major studios, with a steady stream of action movies and comedies performing belly flops into empty pools.

"King Kong," Peter Jackson's three-hour remake of the epic classic, won the awards for best achievement in visual effects, beating out "War of the Worlds" and "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," and for sound editing. "Kong" also won the awards for sound mixing and sound editing.

The Oscar for best animated feature went to "Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit," over "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" and "Howl's Moving Castle."

"Memoirs of a Geisha," Rob Marshall's wartime Japanese romance, won three craft Oscars: best cinematography, for Dion Beebe; best art direction, for John Myhre and Gretchen Rau; and best costume design for Colleen Atwood. "Narnia" won the award for best makeup.

In a fairly tame race, about the only thing interrupting the tedium of "for your consideration" ads and breaking the monotony of acclaim for "Brokeback" — with the exception of the critic Roger Ebert's ardent agitating on behalf of "Crash" — was an acrimonious lawsuit between two "Crash" producers, Bob Yari and Cathy Schulman.

Mr. Yari, who put together the $7 million budget for "Crash," was barred by academy rules from joining Ms. Schulman and two other credited producers onstage — and in fact watched from home. Perhaps brimming over with generosity, Ms. Schulman, in the end, did mention Mr. Yari's name.

The red carpet offered the usual weave of glamour, fashion and Hollywood striving. Stars who usually move in their own little orbits stood shoulder to shoulder, some hugging, some checking the others with sidelong glances. It can get pretty thick at times, and did. When Mr. Clooney, a nominee in the director, supporting actor and screenwriting categories, reached over to shake the hand of Heath Ledger, a best actor nominee, he did so across Michelle Williams, who had her own nomination as best supporting actress.

Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock embraced as Keanu Reeves, who accompanied Ms. Bullock, looked on.

It has been a long season of precursor awards — the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild, the Independent Spirit awards — and not everyone will miss the ritual. Paul Giamatti, up for best supporting actor, surveyed the phalanx of reporters confronting him and said, "I'm thinking about putting up a hedge in my house and having a bunch of guys come over to my house and stand behind it just so I don't get lucky." Some, like Mr. Hoffman, skipped the chain gang of press, while others embraced the opportunity.

Juicy J, Jordan Houston, a member of the Three 6 Mafia and one of the co-authors of "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," stepped up to the Oscars with not one, but two diamond encrusted watches, topped off by a set of diamond "grills," two rows of jewels that he wore over his teeth.

Ludracris, the rapper-turned-actor who has a role in "Crash" and introduced the performance of Three 6 Mafia, said that Hollywood should get used to it.

"I'm proud to be part of history, the first time hip-hop is performed at the Oscars," he said on the red carpet. Asked whether he was worried how the audience might respond, he said: "I think they will go out an buy the record. It's about time for this kind of music to start showing up."

BEST PICTURE
"Crash"
"Brokeback Mountain"
"Capote"
"Good Night, and Good Luck"
"Munich"

DIRECTOR
Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
Bennett Miller, "Capote"
Paul Haggis, "Crash"
George Clooney, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Steven Spielberg, "Munich"

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"
Terrence Howard, "Hustle & Flow"
Heath Ledger, "Brokeback Mountain"
Joaquin Phoenix, "Walk the Line"
David Strathairn, "Good Night, and Good Luck"

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line"
Judi Dench, "Mrs. Henderson Presents"
Felicity Huffman, "Transamerica"
Keira Knightley, "Pride & Prejudice"
Charlize Theron, "North Country"

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
George Clooney, "Syriana"
Matt Dillon, "Crash"
Paul Giamatti, "Cinderella Man"
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brokeback Mountain"
William Hurt, "A History of Violence"

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"
Amy Adams, "Junebug"
Catherine Keener, "Capote"
Frances McDormand, "North Country"
Michelle Williams, "Brokeback Mountain"

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, "Crash"
George Clooney and Grant Heslov, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Woody Allen, "Match Point"
Noah Baumbach, "The Squid and the Whale"
Stephen Gaghan, "Syriana"

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, "Brokeback Mountain"
Dan Futterman, "Capote"
Jeffrey Caine, "The Constant Gardener"
Josh Olsen, "A History of Violence"
Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, "Munich"

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Tsotsi" (South Africa)
"Don't Tell" (Italy)
"Joyeux Noël" (France)
"Paradise Now" (Palestine)
"Sophie Scholl" (Germany)

ANIMATED FEATURE
"Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit"
"Howl's Moving Castle"
"Tim Burton's Corpse Bride"

ORIGINAL SCORE
Gustavo Santaolalla, "Brokeback Mountain"
Alberto Iglesias, "The Constant Gardener"
John Williams, "Memoirs of a Geisha"
John Williams, "Munich"
Dario Marianelli, "Pride & Prejudice"

ORIGINAL SONG
"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow"
"In the Deep" from "Crash"
"Travelin' Thru" from "Transamerica"

ART DIRECTION
John Myhre and Gretchen Rau, "Memoirs of a Geisha"
Jim Bissell and Jan Pascale, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Stuart Craig and Stephenie McMillan, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
Grant Major, Dan Hennah and Simon Bright, "King Kong"
Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer, "Pride & Prejudice"

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dion Beebe, "Memoirs of a Geisha"
Wally Pfister, "Batman Begins"
Rodrigo Prieto, "Brokeback Mountain"
Robert Elswit, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Emmanuel Lubezki, "The New World"

COSTUME DESIGN
Colleen Atwood, "Memoirs of a Geisha"
Gabriella Pescucci, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"
Sandy Powell, "Mrs. Henderson Presents"
Jacqueline Durran, "Pride & Prejudice"
Arianne Phillips, "Walk the Line"

MAKEUP
Howard Berger and Tami Lane, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"
David Leroy and Lance Anderson, "Cinderella Man"
Dave Elsey and Annette Miles, "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith"

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"March of the Penguins"
"Darwin's Nightmare"
"Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room"
"Murderball"
"Street Fight"

SOUND MIXING
Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek, "King Kong"
Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"
Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett, "Memoirs of a Geisha"
Paul Massey, D. M. Hemphill and Peter F. Kurland, "Walk the Line"
Andy Nelson, Anne Behlmer and Ronald Judkins, "War of the Worlds"

SOUND EDITING
Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn, "King Kong"
Wylie Stateman, "Memoirs of a Geisha"
Richard King, "War of the Worlds"

VISUAL EFFECTS
Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor, "King Kong"
Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"
Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randy Dutra and Daniel Sudick, "War of the Worlds"

FILM EDITING
Hughes Winborne, "Crash"
Mike Hill and Dan Hanley, "Cinderella Man"
Claire Simpson, "The Constant Gardener"
Michael Kahn, "Munich"
Michael McCusker, "Walk the Line"

SHORT FILM – ANIMATED
"Badgered"
"The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation"
"The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello"
"9"
"One Man Band"

SHORT FILM – LIVE ACTION
"Six Shooter"
"Ausreisser (The Runaway)"
"Cashback"
"The Last Farm"
"Our Time Is Up"

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
"A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin"
"The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club"
"God Sleeps in Rwanda"
"The Mushroom Club"

Oscar winners previously announced this year:
Honorary Academy Award: Robert Altman

The Gordon E. Sawyer award for technical achievement: Gary Demos

20年前友人家打地鋪　李安今天改寫影史 
950306／中央社／黃慧敏

「十年寒窗無人知，一舉成名天下知」是新出爐奧斯卡最佳導演李安的最佳寫照。李安一月間返台時曾透露，二十年前潦倒時曾在紐約友人家打地鋪，當時的他，對於未來感到一片茫然。曾幾何時，就在今天，李安改寫了歷史，成為奧斯卡影史上第一位榮獲最佳導演的亞洲導演。

一九五四年在台灣出生的李安，一九七三年以第一百零八個志願考進當時稱為「國立台灣藝術專科學校」的台灣藝術大學。自認是既不會K書又不會玩的他，原本打算第二年重考，但因一次舞台表演的經驗，決定繼續攻讀戲劇。 

退伍後，李安到美國深造，先後畢業於伊利諾大學戲劇系導演組和紐約大學電影製作系研究所。獲得學位後的李安原本打算返台，因畢業作品為美國經紀人看好，接受建議留在美國發展。

李安不諱言「自己其實是蠻有天分的」。他說，在紐約大學攻讀電影時，同學都以他馬首是瞻，有時同學上午找他幫忙打燈，下午他就成了導演，因為大家都聽他的。李安相信自己拍片真的很有天分，而且很能與人合作、共事。

李安之所以這麼有自信，是因為基本功紮實。李安在紐約大學深造時就是一個規矩和用功的學生，任何課程都不放過，即使是許多美國同學都不聽的課程，他還耐心學習，這對李安日後都有很大的影響。

李安強調，他的「基本功之路」走了很久，在拍攝「喜宴」時，才抓到電影結構；執導「理性與感性」時才學到電影技術的基本功。

有了基本功，當機會來臨時，鋒芒就無法再掩藏了。一九九一年，李安與中影合拍的「推手」獲得金馬獎(新聞、網站)最佳電影等八項提名，次年這部電影拿下第三十八屆亞太影展最佳影片獎。

一九九三年，李安以「喜宴」抱走柏林影展金熊獎，這是他在國際影壇大放異彩的起點。「喜宴」同時獲得當年金馬獎最佳劇情片、導演、原著劇本、男女配角及觀眾票選最佳影片獎等。同年，「飲食男女」開拍。

「喜宴」和「飲食男女」先後入圍金球獎、奧斯卡最佳外語片後，李安於一九九五年再下一城，以「理性與感性」榮獲柏林影展金熊獎；這部由知名演員艾瑪湯普遜、凱特溫絲蕾和休葛蘭合演的電影，同時獲得當年奧斯卡七項提名。一九九七年李安轉戰坎城影展，以「冰風暴」抱回最佳劇本獎。

不過，影展常勝軍李安也曾經歷票房失利的窘境。一九九九年「與魔鬼共騎」叫好不叫座。二千年，李安重新出發，以武俠片「臥虎藏龍」再次橫掃世界各影展。 「臥虎藏龍」在坎城影展造成轟動，全球佳評如潮，除為李安在二零零一年拿下金球獎最佳導演獎，還獲得第七十三屆奧斯卡十項提名，最後抱走最佳藝術指導、攝影、電影音樂、外語片獎；同時還獲英國電影獎最佳外語片獎。但奧斯卡「最佳導演」始終與他無緣。

李安拍完「臥虎藏龍」和「綠巨人浩克」後，心力交瘁，一度萌生去意。在父親李昇鼓勵下重新出發，終於以「斷背山」再創事業高峰。

父親李昇是影響李安一生最重要的人。李安早年走電影路並不順遂，曾擔任台南一中校長的父親李昇，由於堅持讀書人傳統，曾反對李安朝戲劇發展，但在李安處於最低潮的時候，父親李昇卻成為力挺李安堅持下去的一股力量。但遺憾的是，李昇在兩年前過世，未能看到李安在全球影壇為華人爭光。

曾與奧斯卡最佳導演獎擦身而過的李安，堅持理想，再創佳作「斷背山」，他很有自信地「等待」，今天再度登上奧斯卡頒獎台，拿到應屬於他的最佳導演獎。

李安在領獎後不改自信本色地說：「得最佳導演獎是意料中事」，因為大家都認為是他應得的，但「斷背山」未獲「最佳影片獎」倒是令人意外，因為這部戲所有工作人員表現都非常好。他的成就是眾人努力的成果，因此要與全體工作人員分享這個獎座。