Juliette Binoche Defeats Lauren Bacall | Best Supporting Actress Oscar 1997 

Juliette deserved. She is such a great actress. Hope Isabelle would get one too.

I actually love The English Patient and Juliette was superb , very deserving. I also loved Secrets and Lies . Tremendous acting all around.

"Secrets and Lies" is one of my all-time favorite movies and if it had won an award for Marriane Jean Baptiste, that would've been amazing.

This seems like one of those cases where performance triumphs over narrative. Having said that, Lauren Bacall was very good too.

This is the perfect example of something the Oscars get criticized for quite often: giving awards to nominees for sentimental reasons. Binoche was the deserving winner and, this time, the Academy did the right thing by honoring the "best" performance.

I think Juliette Binoche deserved to win because looking back so many years later, I don’t even remember Lauren Bacall in The Mirror Has Two Faces, but I definitely remember Juliette Binoche in The English Patient and I believe she stood out over the two leads.

More videos like these please. Interested in the Oscar races

It's so rare when an actress over 60 wins the Oscar. See the recent examples: Emmanuelle Riva, Charlotte Rampling, Isabelle Huppert, Glenn Close.

I was definitely among those thinking Bacall was a shoo-in. Never have been as sure of a sentimental favorite Oscar win since then.

I actually love The Mirror Has Two Faces, but I do have a sweet spot for Barbra Streisand movies. With that said. I do believe the Academy got it right.

This is one of those unfortunate situations where there are two very deserving potential winners in a single year - it would have been lovely to see Lauren Bacall win an Oscar and she would have deserved the award (there's no denying she is an icon), but at the same time there is no denying the brilliance of Juliette Binoche in The English Patient. I really love the physicality and authenticity of her performance, especially given that one of the flaws of the film is that it's a bit overwrought and melodramatic - she feels really organic and grounded. Ultimately I remember Juliette's performance after many years since I last saw The English Patient. I tend to prefer the award go to the best performance of the year in the category rather than leaning toward external factors (otherwise we end up in these annoying conversations about who is 'overdue' because in a year someone should have won, instead the award went to someone 'overdue', resulting in the next person also being overdue... it's exhausting) :) With that in mind, I agree with the Academy's decision to award Juliette Binoche in this instance.

If Elaine Benes was an Academy voter Lauren Bacall would have won :D

This was so similar to the Glenn Close/Olivia Coleman race.

For me, the best performance that year was Hershey's bold and searing Madame Merle. Bacall's was perfectly cast - though not a stretch and was the only authentic element in TMHTF. Still, worthy of a win because she IS Hollywood. So why not? Binoche was luminous in Patient. I was deeply invested in her character and performance far more than anyone else in the film. She had that Miramax machine behind her and that was unstoppable.

This is my fav new channel!!! please keep them coming.😍

Binoche was one of the best and most deserving winners ever, let alone this year

It would be interesting to find out how many voting members of BAFTA are also voting members for the Academy Awards.

Not to mention the gigantic campaing that Miramax (Harvey Weinstein) did for the English Patient! Ok... lauren Bacall lost, we all, her fans, were very surprised that night and felt sad! Binoche probably deserved it but it would've been glorious if Bacall got it! Thank God the Academy gave Bacall that Honorary Oscar to celebrate her wonderful work in the movies!!

Thank you for these great videos! You go into great detail about the backgrounds of the actors, past films and nominations. Very informative and it makes me feel nostalgic as well;) Looking forward to more videos about Oscars history!

What a great assessment! Loved the video! I was at a friends annual Oscar party that night and loved Juliette in that role, the room screamed with delight after she won. I thought it was the beginning of the end of the "Career Oscars" wins for Hollywood veterans like previous awards to Art Carney and Don Ameche. I was also stunned that you said you were 12 when this happened. lol.🤣. Keep up the great work!

I think The Academy made the right choice. Bacall was brilliant in her role, but Binoche’s performance struck me so powerfully that still dives into my bones. ❤

Love your videos, Brian! I rewatched this one and was bummed out "Secrets & Lies" didn't clean up at the Oscars; one of my all-time favorite films.

Thank U for your video! I think what also helps her to win is the fact that she was not totally supporting, u can place her in leading as well

I thought the English Patient was strong all round but Binoche was absolutely ‘otherworldly’ she was that good. Her complex, layered portrayal of a woman on the brink of complete emotional exhaustion with eyes so expressive they spoke a thousand words, was simply flawless.

Thanks Brian!! What a brilliant work you did!! Just keep on doing it!!!

I think English Patient was the best film of the 1990s. I still love it.

I just love your videos and analysis - Thank you!

Seing Barbara hershye win would've been a dream come true!!!

It's my first time watching and hearing your video. I'm so impressed with your take on your subject so I quickly subscribed to you. I'll keep on watching you, Brian. I learned something from you.

Great analysis, but screen time should be #4. Binoche was a borderline lead (even winning the Silver Bear for lead), although deserving. This factor also helped Geena Davis pull off her upset in '89.

I think Binoche's narrative was quite strong, though not heard enough. Think; a French actress, who has won a Cesar award and has a strong presence in European film festivals. Her story had a so called "high art" quality - known enough to manage a Golden Globe nomination for Three Colours: Blue (one of the best performances of that decade, if not ever), certainly serious enough to have an interview with that pretentious Charlie Rose (I seriously don't know how this man got all those interesting, intelligent and talented people seated opposite him). Damage was considered quite racy at the time, a box office smash. An erotic thriller, directed by Malle, with great performances all around. It garnered praise for Jeremy Irons and Richardson got a Best Supporting Actress nomination (which she coulda/shoulda won, honestly). It's not as if they didn't know Juliette Binoche. They did, and they remembered her as well, because she was really good, she was winning awards around the clock in Europe, she was a foreigner (thereby "exotic", in that oblivious, imperialist sense), and she had starred in an acclaimed, yet controversial erotic thriller. And there she was, Juliette Binoche, in an epic romance, that ticked all the boxes for a film perfectly palatable for Oscar voters, well liked by the audience, and promoted to the heights of heaven and the depths of hell by the Weinstein company. As hard as they might have tried, the voters just couldn't have missed Binoche. Bacall had the perfect narrative and she made sure she would be heard. Nobody missed the legend, Lauren Bacall, getting nominated for the first time ever - she was sure to get it, right? But Binoche was, as you pointed out, in a far better, more important film, delivering a far more memorable, layered, poetic performance, and she also benefited from a relentless promotional campaign. Add to all of that, her quietly interesting, attractive narrative, which nobody talked about, but everyone must have had in mind. Juliette Binoche was overall a much stronger presence than people thought, and it became perfectly apparent on Oscar night. I'm very, very happy she won, because she has been Miss International Cinema for 30+ years now, and it would have been a horrendous omission for an actress of her caliber to not have won an Oscar. It's a pity that meant Bacall was bereft of her time to shine.

Glad that Binoche won. She was the heart and soul of the beautiful Best Picture winner The English Patient.

Juliette Binoche is one of the very best working actors in the world.

Binoche was really the best of that year. And her film was the most nominated of the night, with 12, also the most acclaimed. Yes you could say all the criticisms about Miramax’s campaigning, but the film stands as an instant classic. A sweeping epic that the Academy cant ignore

Great video! Hope you keep them coming! (:

I was also 12 on this Oscar night! Like everyone and their dog, I was predicting Bacall here. I was shocked when Juliette won! The Miramax machine really helped her win. Juliette was great in it. My personal pick would’ve been Marianne Jean-Baptiste hands down.

THIS is the channel I knew I needed.

The Mirror Has Two Faces is my all time favorite film and Bacall is a huge reason why.

In my opinion, another reason Binoche won was category fraud, although she wasn't the main character in 'The English Patient', she was in it as much as the leads where, would be interesting to count the minutes of her screen time compared to Kristin Scott-Thomas'

The channel I needed in my daily life

This was one of those rare times when every single Supporting actress was not a "filler" but gave a genuinely, fully realized, performances. Hershey and Allen were my personal favorites for the win becausei could feel and understand the women they were playing, completely taken by their personal stories. However, Binoche (a true lead Actress not Supporting here) was a bravura performance that couldn't be ignored and she deserved it 100%. Not a Supporting though, so a bit of a category fraud; she had more screen time and prominence than the lead, the incomparable Scott Thomas in the same film

Please make a video of how Marion won against Julie in 2008 Best Actress race. I believe, they were the first "Olivia-Glenn" type of situation. But in this video, the 1997 best actress race was one (if not) the toughest in history. Brenda could have won too and so could Emily Watson.

I actually thought Kate Winslet, still new to audiences at the time, should’ve been nominated and even won for her performance as Ophelia in “Hamlet” that year. Kenneth Branagh’s brilliant adaptation of Shakespeare’s play was under seen, largely due to the four hour running time putting people off. Despite a huge cast of international stars, including Robin Williams and Billy Crystal, it didn’t reach a wide enough audience to get the attention it deserved.

I feel Juliette’s best supporting actress Oscar also shows a major politics in the award show where best actress nominations and wins usually go to A-list actresses and movie stars while best supporting actress go to either vertan character actresses long overdue for an Oscar or young ingenue actresses who were the leads in their respective films but are too new and young to go head to head with A-list actresses/movie stars. Even quote on quote “newcomers” who get nominated and win for the best actress Oscar are usually either A-list actresses in film/acting markets outside Hollywood that are now making a Hollywood/American breakthrough (Olivia Coleman who was a acclaimed and popular character actress in Britain film/TV/theatre when she won for the favorite or Julie Andrews who was the Queen of Broadway when she won for Mary poppins) or they are A-list household names in other non-acting fields bringing that A-list level to the acting field (lady Gaga being a pop music icon and started getting into more acting with American horror story by the time she did a star is born or Diana Ross being the Queen of Motown pop and R&B music when she transformed into Billie holiday for lady sings the blues) In a real world Juliette would’ve been nominated and possibly won best actress while her co star Kristen stewart Thomas would’ve been nominated for best supporting actress. I also think the same at the 2007 Oscars with Jennifer Hudson winning best supporting actress for dreamgirls despite being the center piece for the entire film and Meryl Streep being nominated for best actress for the devil wears Prada despite the fact that she was more an amazing scene stealing supporting role while Anne Hathaway was the true lead

I remember when I watched “The English Patient” in the movie theater, I fell immediately in love with Juliet Binoche. I felt she was going to win Oscar Night, now if only I placed money on that prediction 😆

Binoche deserved it - get over yourselves - her performance in The English Patient is superb, again and again. Yes, Bacall is/was a veteran and beloved and it would have been lovely for her to win of course. But that's not how it works and the fact that some were thinking 'it's a forgone conclusion, well, whatever happened to competition and surprise? I love a spanner in the works. It's not half as exciting sitting and watching every single prediction just unfold on screen. Binoche in The English Patient reminds me a lot of Winslet for The Reader, each could have been nominated in the other category easily enough. Who do you remember more from The English Patient? Scott-Thomas or Binoche? Binoche - she lingers long after the film ends.

Secrets and Lies is a complete masterpiece. As much as I love Juliette Binoche, I wish Marianne Jean Baptiste won this one.

Bacall deserved her moment, but Binoche and Jean Baptiste were the truly top 2 queens of the category that year.

There are surprises sometimes like Marcia Harden who won the Oscar without being nominated for Sag or the other precursor awards. Or Marlk Rylance.

Thank you♥♥♥

Secrets & Lies should’ve swept all of its nominations!

Lauren Bacall should have won. However, one major reason not mentioned is that many people in the Film Industry simply did not like her. Do some research on this topic. I had a friend who was her Dresser on the National Tour of WOMAN OF THE YEAR and the nightmare stories of her behavior backstage and not just on this project, translated into a lot of people refusing to vote for her. I however still believe she should have won for her extraordinary performance in an excellent film (yes, I really loved THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES). Also, it should be pointed out that many people simply did not like THE ENGLISH PATIENT, my being one of them, though Juliette Binoche did an excellent job in the film.

Best Actress was actually a two way race between McDormand and Brenda Blethyn. One of the Secrets and Lies producers admitted that Blethyn and Mike Leigh didn't work the press in the way they should have which definitely hurt Blethyn's chances.

My favorite performance by juliette is in her 1991 movie les amants du pont neuf and heck i would even say that i like it better than anthony hopkins or jodie foster's performances in sotl the same year and I ABSOLUTELY ADORE them in that movie to the point where i even mimic their scenes together lol But juliette is just magical in les amants you cannot tell or teach an actor to do what she did with her performance period

9:20 I see Saul Zaentz and hear John Fogerty’s song “Zaentz Can’t Dance” stuck in my head. Saul was his worst enemy, Fogerty’s words not mine

The Oscar’s may not pick who you want but the reason will explain so much …take note Grammys!

Secrets & Lies....terrific film!!

The Oscars are always more fun when there is a surprise in a big category. I loved Binoche'a performance and am not a fan of "career" Oscars (Don Ameche). I was watching with friends and all of our dogs. When Spacey said "Juliette Binoche," I let out such a piercing scream that all of the dogs stared at me for the next 20 minutes.

Great video. I'm glad Juliette won.

LOL Oh, my. Memory will do weird things to you. I remember Juliette defeating Lauren, and everyone's shock and surprise. However, I was sure that Lauren was nominated for her role in "Misery" which came out in 1990. Wow. Not sure I trust my memory for anything anymore.

Hey Brian, I defeated you like Juliette Binoche did over Bacall that year, I was 13! That being said, Bacall was petrified on her seat like poor Glenn Close and in both cases classy European ladies referred to the supposed winner in a very relaxed way!

Personally for Marianne Jean Baptiste, if the category fraud wasn’t there (hey it’s Joey from AQ, lol) but due to MJB being lead I gotta go Barbara Hershey for the win

Juliette Binoche was one of the only reasons for watching the insufferable The English Patient! Had Bacall won, it would have been for her career not for The Mirror Has Two Faces.

Next video: Marcia Gay Harden vs Kate Hudson

After seeing The English Patient in the theater, I thought Juliet Binoche as Hannah was the more interesting character than the leads and deserved Oscar attention. So beautifully played, I too thought she didn't have a chance against Bacall who deserved her nomination. When Juliet's name was called, I knew this was one of the times the Academy got it right. Marcia Gay Harden in Pollack also comes to mind. She didn't win any precursor awards, but got her much deserved Osçar for her role in that film. I'm still waiting for the Academy to recall The wins of Gwyneth Paltro, Renee Zellwegger and Sandra Bullock though.

Can u rank the performances in ur opinion? Mine would be oscar for barbara hershey 2) julliette 3) lauren 4) mary jean 5) joan allen I love Barbara's performance in POAL especially at the end where she says to Kidman "u r very unhappy I know but I'm more so"

Frankly, my choice for best supporting actress wasn’t even on the nominations list-Renée Zellweger for Jerry Maguire. Jerry Maguire is tied with Scream as my favorite movie of 1996, and at the heart of this wonderful film is her character. Cruise and Cuba are great, and I’m glad they got their recognition, but the emotional core of the movie is Dorothy. Not only is the “you had me at hello” scene an absolute classic, I also get a little teary-eyed in the scene where she talks to her sister Laurel, confessing how much she truly loves Jerry, despite his flaws. And then, of course, he happens to overhear it. A truly wonderful performance, and would’ve been my winner. And even if you don’t think she deserved it for Jerry Maguire, I think at the very least we can agree she was better in that movie than Cold Mountain, which she won for.

Brian, love the video but please fix the audio level...its too low!!

Joan Allen won the Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in The Crucible, not Lauren Bacall.

Hershey was amazing! Too bad she wasn't nominated fpr haftas ps sag that year. Sue was the nest of them all. Portrait was better than Then English Patient

Have to disagree about known names winning in supporting a lot. Mark Rylance, Anna Paquin, Alicia Vikander etc. were all pretty much unknown to your average film goer at the time of their wins. Good analysis of this race though. Bacall unfortunately was in this silly, vanity movie from Streisand. And the film industry has a lot of the time been indifferent to Streisand films. Bacall herself had a prickly reputation which I’m sure cost her votes. Plus with the English Patient winning many awards that night, the Binoche win not only was a win for her but for the cast, since Rush and McDormand had the lead categories about sewn up.

Gotta love Miramax! 90s cinema was great because of them! My favorite decade of movies! I love The English Patient. People ride the hate train without even watching the movie.

I love the English Patient, if was one of the first movies my wife and I went to see together, and was routing for it to win. For best supporting actress, I love Marianne Jean-Baptiste thought she was wonderful in Secrets & Lies, but since I loved the English Patient so much, I was fine with Juliette winning. I would have been fine if Lauren had won, I saw the Mirror and thought she was good in it, be in the end the right woman won.

Can you make a video about Marcia Gay Harden winning Oscar in 2000 but never been nominated for a Critics Choice, Golden Globe, SAG and BAFTA? Thats a rare feat 👍

And a shout-out to "The Fan"!

I'm not going to lie, I have never watched The English Patient simply because I view it as "the movie that stole Lauren BaCall's Oscar."

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I found The English Patient torotrous to sit through. In my opinion the only saving grace of the film was Juliette Binoche.

Didn’t watch the Oscars in ‘97 (I wasn’t even born yet!) but I would have been predicting Bacall too. I predicted Glenn Close would win in 2019

Great Video. I still think Bacall was robbed. Her narrative was too strong + precursors to not predict her

Barbara hershey should've won, hands down!

What about Harvey Weinstein? That year, "The English Patient", "Sling Blade", and "Emma" won 11 Oscars total. These 3 films are Miramax film and the campaigns were run by Weinstein. He was behind this.

Binoche should have won Best Actress and McDormand Supporting 😮

What did Baccall say that night??

Ok Lauren is very talented but did she rub people the wrong way she came to Rochester to receive George Eastman award I know someone who works there said she was not nice?

What do u mean by" with so many performers before and since hershey's win was the nomination itsel"

You don't do that to a historical superstar without an Oscar at his age, no matter how good Binoche's performance was. The same thing has been done to Glenn Close several times. The bad thing is that Bacall is gone. I don't watch the Oscars anymore.

Did u like the portrait of a lady? I wonder why Baftas snubbed it completely, why do u mean by with so many performers before and since?

I don't think she was robbed the Academy had become less sentimental by this time I would have given it to juliet the days of Oscar's being given to undeserving actors like John Wayne over burton voigt Hoffman thank god

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Wasn't Joan Allen who won the Critics Choice?

The Oscars are a popularity contest. As such, no one truly "defeats" anyone else. No one is locked in Mortal Combat: It comes down to the number of votes. And younger actors and actresses may not have the "chops" to adjudge a truly superior performance if they themselves are relatively inexperienced. I am glad the Oscars grew sophisticated enough to finally begin announcing, "And the Oscar goes to..." because it is NOT always the best performance that wins the Oscar. If it was, Meryl Streep would have at least 3 more Oscars out of the 18 other times she did not win. I'm not a fan of this whole "battle" mentality: who "defeated" who. It is simply who the award is awarded TO.

Binoche was the leading actress on that movie!! Why she won suporting actress ? 😥

Tom beating out Morgan freeman and John Travolta in 94 Green book beating out the favorite An Oscar omission for ex machina, swiss army man, do the right thing, killing of a sacred deer, the Lobster, even though they each got like one nom

You need to discuss why madonna was not nominated for best actress in evita.

The Academy has a Love/Hate Relationship with Streisand Giving Bacall an Oscar, means they are Recognizing Streisand as a Director, and God Forbid, they would do THAT! They are a Jealous and Petty bunch!

Siskel & Ebert didn’t love Norma Rae but Field won that Oscar so Bacall should have got it. It’s just wrong she didn’t

Totallly wrong about best actress which was meant for Brenda blethyn in secrets and lies

I always belive Juliette Binoche was better than Lauren Bacall.Isuported her then and I suported her now.

What do you mean "they are not evaluated on equal terms? So so,e voters didn't even see the ither nominees' work and just vote for the performance they saw like The English Patient.