What
explains the friendship of Angelina Jolie and George Lucas? This one
was of the many questions answered when Hollywood's generations collided
at the Academy of Motion Pictures's Governors Awards on Saturday night.
Of
all the events during the six-month march to Oscars, the Academy's
Governors Dinner offers an intimate respite from the usual
electioneering frenzy. Now in its fifth year, the event is held to give
out those "special" awards that used to be handed out during the show
itself. Saturday night's dinner honored Angelina Jolie, Angela Lansbury,
Steve Martin, and legendary costume designer Piero Tosi in an evening
that managed to be touching, hilarious, and heartfelt. It was a tribute
to all that is great about Hollywood, moving even the most cynical
hearts in the audience.
Held
across the mall from the Dolby ballroom where in a few months hence,
the Oscar ceremony will occur, the night is a rare awards circuit stop
that is A. Untelevised and B. Not in any way an indicator of the
all-important Oscar race — with awards given for unbuzzy reasons like
good works and lifetime achievement.
The dinner features perhaps
the highest celebrity-to-civilian ratio of any Hollywood event. With
every ceremony now a major-red-carpeted media stop, it is rare to find a
star present at one of these who is not himself a nominee or a
presenter. But the Governors Awards brings them all out just to sit and
watch. The room was a cross-generational Who's Who with everyone from
Warren Beatty and Bruce Dern to Ben Stiller, Jennifer Garner, Octavia
Specer, Jared Leto, Judd Apatow, and Colin Farrell mingling while the
faces of the honorees loomed overhead, superimposed on curtains like
ghostly angels watching benevolently over the crowd.
One
of the most eyebrow raising pairings, however, took place pre-show in
the most distant corner of the ballroom. With drapes that created a
semi-secluded alcove, Angelina Jolie and buzz-cut partner Brad Pitt, at
least two of their flock in tow, chatted at length with director George
Lucas and his newly wedded wife, a highly unlikely meeting of icons.
What
the world's most glamorous couple had in common with the king of all
geeks was answered when the ceremony began, and kicked off with the
bestowal of Jolie's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. A recorded tribute
narrated by Morgan Freeman explained how shooting "Lara Croft: Tomb
Raider" (2001) in Cambodia changed Jolie forever and led her down the
path of humanitarian work. When legendary actress Gena Rowlands rose to
salute Jolie, she summed it up, "How does she have the time? She acts in
many pictures, now she writes and directs, and she has a large
family... and she has to keep that smile on Brad's face."
George
Lucas next rose to salute, however, it was his unlikely tale that was
perhaps the night's most touching. He told how when his daughter was 10
she was a huge Angelina Jolie fan "because of her humanity, fighting for
what is right." (As he launched into the story, from the Lucas table,
daughter Katie, who had just sat down, was heard to moan "Oh no!") So
Lucas asked Jolie to lunch to meet her admirer. "At that point we sat
down, and she'd adopted a son, and I'd adopted three children by myself
and it was two basically single parents talking about children. And I
said, children are the pathway to a meaningful life and to happiness,
and this is the one true thing you can do, to have children." He paused.
"Little did I know she'd take me so seriously."
Accepting
her award, Jolie talked about her mother's admonition that nothing has
any meaning if "I didn't live a life of use to others." Becoming more
emotional she spoke about how it took her a long time to get beyond
herself and to see that and to "learn how sheltered I had been, and I
never want to be that way again."
Back on the floor,
Oscar in hand, Jolie made a detour before returning to her brood. She
walked back into the ballroom and snuck up behind her friend and
admirer, Katie Lucas, with a "boo!" that took the young woman completely
by surprise. The pair chatted for several minutes catching up before
Jolie headed back to her berth at the head table.
The
rest of the night proceeded on a more lighthearted note as three
entertainment icons were saluted and roasted. Some of the greats in the
costume field honored Piero Tosi, the man who created the daring outfits
that adorned the Italian New Wave. The award was bestowed (in absentia)
in a surprise appearance by Claudia Cardinale, star of "8 ½" and "Once
Upon A Time in the West" among other classics.
The
house was truly and completely brought down by Martin Short who rose to
all but burn in effigy his friend and "Three Amigos" co-star Steve
Martin. "The Governors Awards are one of the highest honors an actor can
receive, in mid-November," he began, continuing: "So many have used the
word genius tonight that I might as well say it about Steve Martin."
After
a more earnest tribute by Tom Hanks, Martin accepted his award saying,
"I can't express how I feel tonight because the botox is still fresh."
By the end of his hilarious remarks, however, as he thanked all those
who had guided his career and his life, even Martin succumbed to the
sentiment of the night and had to fight back tears.
The
biggest applause was saved for last, however, as Angela Lansbury took
the stage after salutes by Emma Thompson and Geoffrey Rush. Her speech
was a reminder that we are down to our last ties to filmdom's Golden
Age. Lansbury rattled off reminiscences of co-stars now long gone: Bette
Davis, Ingrid Bergman, Katharine Hepburn, and Frank Sinatra to name
just a few.
Looking around the room as the lights rose,
one could indeed see the reshuffling that has taken place as the
generations have moved down the table. Those Lansbury's era have all but
moved on, while the once icons like Warren Beatty, Bruce Dern, and Jon
Voight are now clearly the Old Hollywood presences. Yesterday's pin-ups —
Brad and Angelina, Jennifer Garner — are today's establishment. While a
new generation was stepping into their place — here represented by the
"12 Years a Slave" break-out star Lupita Nyong'o who mingled among the
eminences.
But there was also a sense of the kinship of
movie makers that hung in the air. From the unlikely pair of Jolie and
Lucas finding each other in this crazy business, to Angela Lansbury's
reminiscences on that "crazy and wonderful" Bette Davis, to Steve
Martin's reflections on a craft services table with "the slowest toaster
in the world" and "Twizzlers for breakfast," the night was the
Hollywood creative community's one moment to just-between-friends honor
what makes this such an odd and wonderful place to work as places to
work go.
The night's glow remained even as tables were
cleared and many seemed not to want to ever leave. Martin Short climbed
up on a chair to take a keepsake picture of one couple on their own
iPhone. Jon Voight, in white scarf, having joined his daughter's table
for the evening, made circles of the room, ultimately leaving just as
the tables were about to be taken up.
