Hollywood awards season reached its zenith on March 4, during the 90th annual Academy Awards. Since the nominations were announced in January, the main battle has been between Guillermo del Toro's fantasy The Shape of Water, the military epic Dunkirk by Christopher Nolan and the crime drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri by Martin McDonagh.
Here's a list of five Oscar winning films of 2018.
5. Best Costumes - Phantom Thread
A melodrama about London fashion designer Reynolds Woodcock amazes viewers with the variety and beauty of the outfits. However, the emphasis is not on them, but on Woodcock's relationship with the young and ambitious Alma. She becomes a muse for the elderly and eccentric master.
Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread may be his last film. The actor explained his departure from the cinema by the fact that the duties of the profession put pressure on him. And there is no inner confidence in the value of their own labor.
4. Best Actor - "Dark Times"
The historical war drama starring Gary Oldman also won an Oscar for Best Makeup and Hair. In the center of the plot - Winston Churchill, who gained power in the dark times for the whole world.
Legendary makeup artist Katsuhiro Tsuji and his team had to spend 4 hours every day to age Oldman and turn him into Churchill. The actor had to shave his head, because the real Winston Churchill had a modest hairstyle, and to create it they used a silicone and human hair wig.
The elderly actor did not put on extra weight in order to become like the plump Churchill. Instead, he put on about 50% of his own weight. As a result, all this torment brought Oldman a well-deserved award from the American Film Academy.
3. Best Actress - "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"
One of the best films of 2017-2018 brought Francis McDormand the USA Academy Award for the leading female role. And Sam Rockwell received an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
The plot begins with McDormand's character, Mildred Hayes, sent to a local advertising agency with the intention of dishonoring the city's sheriff for his inaction.
Mildred is a vengeful figure who seems to have migrated from the Greek tragedy straight to the American Midwest. Her main goal is to find those responsible for the rape and murder of her daughter. And her fight with the city authorities is just beginning.
Despite the fact that the picture is positioned as a drama, there was a place in it for a comedy of mores, and a powerful social background and unusual characters, not at all like ordinary heroes and villains. This film is recommended for watching those who have outgrown criminal action films with stereotyped scripts.
2. Best Sound of the Year - "Dunkirk"
In May 1940, German forces advanced across France, forcing over 338,000 Allied soldiers to retreat to the city of Dunkirk.To rescue them, the British government organized an ambitious rescue mission involving not only warships, but civilians in small fishing boats.
This war drama, which was nominated in eight categories, won three, including Best Sound, Best Editing, and Best Sound Editing.
1. Best Film of the Year - "The Shape of Water"
Best Film, 2018 Oscar Winner, unfolds in 1962, with cleaning girl Eliza Esposito at its epicenter. She works in a secret government laboratory that is testing new technologies to help defeat the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The life of a lonely and dumb Eliza changes forever when she reveals the truth about the object's most unusual and top secret project.
According to the director of the film, Guillermo del Toro, "The Shape of Water" has become the most difficult film he has ever taken. And it took nine months to create the appearance of an amphibian man.
The film "The Shape of Water" was among the nominees for the Oscar 2018 in 13 categories. She won a total of four awards, and Guillermo del Toro was voted Best Director of the Year.