Pedro Almodovar wrote “Oscar’s Diary” and Share with Indiewire exclusive English translationwhich includes an up-close look at the “violent episode” between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the party.
In Los Angeles to meet with some actors while preparing his first English-language feature film (of which Cate Blanchett was the confirmed protagonist), the Spanish director also went on to support Penelope Cruz in the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Parallel Mothers and “Try Immediately If It’s Your nomination still has a long way to go or if the award is the nomination.”
The diary also mentions parties, visits to the new Oscar Academy Museum, experience of the party itself, and meetings with colleagues and stars such as Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino or Zendaya.
But Almodóvar was also “about four meters away” from the “violent loop” between Will Smith and Chris Rock, “the only thing he was talking about the next day.”
And if the director was shocked by what he saw, he was even more shocked when he heard Will Smith’s speech for best actor, that is, at the moment he mentioned that Denzel Washington reminded him, “At the highest point, when the devil tries.”
“What I saw and heard produced in me a feeling of absolute rejection. Not only during the episode, but also during the speech—a speech that was like a cult leader’s speech. You don’t defend or protect your family with your fists. And, no, the devil doesn’t take advantage of important moments to do his work,” Almodovar writes.
“The devil, in fact, does not exist. This was a fundamentalist rhetoric that we should not hear or see. Some claim it was the only real moment of celebration, but they talk about the faceless social networking monster. Flesh, was undoubtedly the big night’s event,” he judged.
