Monitor: The American press considers the 1999 Academy Awards ceremony
All the News of the World
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.LAST MARCH, the epic Titanic crushed its competition at the Academy Awards. This year, the biggest winner was Shakespeare in Love, a modest- budget romantic comedy set in Elizabethan England. Stripped to their essence, both films relied on a story as tried and true as Romeo and Juliet: an ultimately teary-eyed tale of star-crossed paramours. Even though neither story ends happily, their love seems undying. In the hearts of viewers, good old-fashioned romance conquers all. Titanic may have been a much bigger hit at the box office, but Shakespeare in Love shows that a splendid script is the most special effect of all.
Bergen Record
IN A field that included two movies set in World War II, Benigni's tragi- comedy, and two movies set in the Elizabethan era, a movie about Shakespeare walked away with best picture. If the Bard had been on hand, he might have wondered how a movie heavily laced with his own words didn't also earn him a best writing award.
Corpus Christi Caller Times
SUCH AWARDS are meaningless in the large scale of events that shape our world.
One would be hard-pressed to name three of the last five "best picture" winners. Yet the slight of Saving Private Ryan was disappointing.
The Oscars proved true the words of Edward Bulwer Lytton, a British author and contemporary of Charles Dickens: "The pen is mightier than the sword." Or at least the pen of a make-believe Shakespeare is mightier than the make-believe artillery, but true heroism, of Private Ryan.
The Freelance Star
THE SURPRISE was that Shakespeare in Love, a romantic comedy, won as best picture over the expected winner, Saving Private Ryan, a thunderously powerful movie. The show reminds us that movies constitute one of the most extraordinary cultural forces in this soon-ending century. Movies reflect us, affect us, endlessly captivate us. Movies can generate exuberance and other deep feelings because some of them do reach deep within us.
Naples Daily News
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments