History was made and precedents shattered Sunday night as Peter Jackson’s long journey with “The Lord of the Rings” ended with the final part, “The Return of the King,” winning 11 Oscars, tying “Ben Hur” and “Titanic” for most Oscars in a year.
It also won for each of its nominations — including best picture and best director for Jackson — the first time in Oscar history a movie with 10 or more nominations was unbeaten.
From its first award for art direction early in the evening, Oscar night belonged to New Zealand’s shaggy-haired Jackson, a hobbit named Frodo and the late Oxford professor and literary worldmaker, J.R.R. (John Ronald Reuel) Tolkien, author of “The Lord of the Rings.” It so dominated the evening that one of the winners for best foreign language film announced in her acceptance speech that she was glad “Lord” was not nominated in her category.
After two years of Oscar battles that fell short, Jackson’s epic three-film adaptation of Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy finally caught the ultimate movie ring on its third and final try.
“This is just unbelievable,” Jackson said as he accepted the award for best picture, bringing an army of colleagues with him onstage.
After the first two parts of the trilogy, 2001’s “The Fellowship of the Rings” and 2002’s “The Two Towers,” fell short — losing to “A Beautiful Mind” and “Chicago” — the third time, was, indeed the charm. “King” finally won what many regarded as an overdue trophy for the entire massively ambitious endeavor. It was a first best picture win ever for a fantasy adventure film and also a rare recent case where lavish special effects, action scenes and an all-star cast were put at the service of classic material.
Jackson and company, who brought Tolkien’s well-loved Middle-earth and its warring denizens to stunning life, also swept up awards for art direction, costume design, visual effects, makeup, sound mixing, Jamie Selkirk’s editing, the ingeniously compact and faithful screenplay by Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, Howard Shore’s regal and sonorous original score, and Shore’s, Walsh’s and Annie Lennox’s lyrical original ballad “Into the West.”
There were other big winners in the long, packed evening. Charlize Theron, the glamorous South African star — who like last year’s winner Nicole Kidman (“The Hours”), deglamorized herself for Oscar success — was named best actress for her ferocious performance as real-life serial killer-prostitute Aileen Wuornos in “Monster.” And Sean Penn, the notorious “bad boy” who had lost on three previous nominations, won this year’s best actor Oscar for his wrenching portrayal of Jimmy Markum, a tormented Boston father seeking his daughter’s killer in director Clint Eastwood’s highly praised film of Dennis Lehane’s melancholy, violent crime story “Mystic River.” The other acting awards went, as expected, to Tim Robbins as Davey Boyle, the hapless rape victim turned murder suspect in “Mystic River” and, to Renee Zellweger in her warm, spiky portrayal of Ruby Thewes, a rustic Southerner enduring Civil War hardships with Kidman in “Cold Mountain.”
The screenwriting Oscars went to Sofia Coppola, Francis’ daughter and a critic’s pet this year, for her witty, bittersweet original script about romance and malaise in Tokyo, “Lost in Translation” and to the team from “The Return of the King.”
Denys Arcand’s French Canadian ensemble comedy-drama “The Barbarian Invasions,” the widely admired sequel to his 1986 “The Decline of the American Empire,” won as expected in the foreign language film category. “Finding Nemo,” Andrew Stanton’s effervescently funny Pixar comedy-adventure about a lost little fish and his dauntless dad won best animated feature film honors, while the best documentary feature winner was Errol Morris’ stunning Vietnam memoir interview with Robert McNamara “The Fog Of War.”
The night’s other winners included Adam Elliot’s “Harvie Krumpet,” a dark little Australian comedy about a long, sad life (best animated short) and Maryann DeLeo’s devastating study of destruction “Chernobyl Heart” (best documentary short) and the sound editing team for “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.” Also, comedy master Blake Edwards received a career trophy, in a rowdy slapstick presentation from Jim Carrey, for a filmography that includes the hilarious Peter Sellers Inspector Clouseau “Pink Panther” movies and the heartbreaking “Days of Wine and Roses.”
Through it all, Crystal kept the long evening bouncing along fairly merrily, whether he was plopping himself in Clint Eastwood’s lap as he sang a “Mystic River” parody to “Old Man River,” engaging in homoerotic high jinks with Robin Williams or wondering just how many more New Zealanders could be thanked in one night.
In the evening’s most touching sequences, the Academy gave fond tributes and last goodbyes to the large sad roster of 2003 losses, including Crystal’s most illustrious predecessor, Bob Hope, icon Gregory Peck, embattled genius Elia Kazan and the Academy’s all-time greatest actress, Katharine Hepburn.
But, in the end, the biggest tribute of all went to Jackson and Tolkien’s supreme epic journey, “The Lord of the Rings.”
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THE WINNERS
Picture: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”
Actor: Sean Penn “Mystic River”
Actress: Charlize Theron “Monster”
Supporting actor: Tim Robbins “Mystic River”
Supporting actress: Renee Zellweger “Cold Mountain”
Director: Peter Jackson “The Lord of the Rings”
Original screenplay: “Lost in Translation”
Adapted screenplay: “The Lord of the Rings”
Foreign language film: “The Barbarian Invasions”
Animated film: “Finding Nemo”
Animated short: “Harvie Krumpet”
Live action short: “Two Soldiers”
Documentary feature: “The Fog of War”
Documentary short: “Chernobyl Heart”
Cinematography: “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”
Editing: “The Lord of the Rings”
Art direction: “The Lord of the Rings”
Makeup: “The Lord of the Rings”
Costume design: “The Lord of the Rings”
Sound editing: “Master and Commander”
Sound mixing: “The Lord of the Rings”
Visual effects: “The Lord of the Rings”
Original score: Howard Shore “The Lord of the Rings”
Original song: “Into the West” “The Lord of the Rings,” music and lyrics by Fran Walsh, Howard Shore, Annie Lennox
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`If you lose Miramax all you’re going to have left is basically a Muppet and a water slide.’ — Robin Williams, on the Walt Disney Co., which recently parted ways with Pixar
`What am I wearing? Boxers.’ — Bill Murray, on the red carpet
`People are moving to New Zealand just to be thanked.’ — Billy Crystal
`Forty years ago, this country went down a rabbit hole in Vietnam — millions died. I fear we’re going down the rabbit hole once again.’ — Errol Morris, documentary winner for “The Fog of War”
`In this movie, I play a victim of abuse and violence. If you are a person who has had that tragedy befall you, there is no shame in seeking help and counseling.’ — Tim Robbins, best supporting actor winner
`For the very first time we’re being simulcast in Aramaic.’ — Billy Crystal
`My immigrant mom and dad, thank you for never saying don’t try.’ — Renee Zellweger, best supporting actress winner
