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Agence France-Presse

Civil rights drama Green Book, the tale of a celebrated black pianist who befriends his white driver as they tour the segregated American South in the 1960s, overcame controversy to claim Oscars gold.
The critically acclaimed film on Sunday snatched the coveted best picture Oscar to wrap up the Academy Awards – a bit of an upset over Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma , which had been the heavy favourite.
Oscars 2019: Green Book wins best picture; Bohemian Rhapsody sweeps up with four awards
The top prize was the third statuette of the night for Green Book, which earned a total of five nominations.
Mahershala Ali won the best supporting actor Oscar for his portrayal of pianist Don Shirley, who strikes up an unlikely friendship with driver Tony “Lip” Vallelonga (best actor nominee Viggo Mortensen).

The film also won for best original screenplay.
“The whole story is about love. It’s about loving each other, despite our differences, and finding out the truth about who we are – we’re the same people,” said director Peter Farrelly.
Green Book beat seven other films for top honours: Roma, superhero film Black Panther , Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody , offbeat royal romp The Favourite, musical romance A Star Is Born , and Dick Cheney biopic Vice .
The film – co-written by Vallelonga’s son, Nick – explores race relations and identity as Shirley embarks on the tour and is forced to rely on his initially racist, ill-mannered Italian-American driver.

Mortensen put on 20kg (45 pounds) to play Vallelonga, a family man whose opinions evolve as the film unfolds. The two men learn from each other as they confront stereotypes about themselves and others.
Shirley and Lip remained friends – they both died in 2013.
The feel-good movie is named after The Negro Motorist Green Book, an annual guidebook that provided African-Americans advice on safe places to eat and sleep while travelling during segregation.
An audience favourite, it racked up a number of accolades in the run-up to the Oscars, including a best musical/comedy film award at the Golden Globes and the top prize from the Producers Guild of America.
We have always had our stories and our history stolen from us and told through the lens of whiteness and this film is Hollywood’s latest example
Roger Ross Williams
Ali received numerous statuettes as well as his Oscar, including a Golden Globe, a Bafta and a Screen Actors Guild award.
But while the film has proven a crowd-pleaser, it has been embroiled in controversy since its premiere.
Shirley’s relatives, including his brother, have objected to the storyline, saying they were never consulted and have denounced the film as a “symphony of lies”.
His niece Carol Shirley Kimble blasted the movie as a “depiction of a white man’s version of a black man’s life”.
The film also became part of a wider debate in the United States about race, with many describing it as yet another “white saviour movie” told through the lens of its white protagonist.
“The Green Book is a black story and for a white man to steal that legacy and name for a film that has little or nothing to do with The Green Book is unacceptable,” Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams said in a Facebook post.

“We have always had our stories and our history stolen from us and told through the lens of whiteness and this film is Hollywood’s latest example.”
Vallelonga has defended his work, saying it was based on stories his father told him about the tour. He also says Shirley advised him before his death not to speak to anyone else about his project.
“We were aware of the certain tropes, like the white saviour trope – the white guy saves the black guy – as well as the black saviour trope – the black guy saves the white guy,” Farrelly told Newsweek in November.
“We were careful not to make this film either of those.”
But then Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga attracted negative headlines themselves – the director for an apparent dirty practical joke he used to pull on sets, and Vallelonga for an anti-Muslim tweet.
Both apologised – and it seems that Oscar voters have forgiven them.


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Academy Awards

Oscars 2019: Green Book – the controversy behind race drama that won best picture

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Viggo Mortensen, left, and Mahershala Ali in a scene from "Green Book." The film is nominated for an Oscar for best picture. The 91st Academy Awards will be held on Sunday. (Universal Pictures via AP)

Still from "Green Book." (Dreamworks/TNS)

Director Peter Farrelly holds up the best picture Oscar for Green Book as his co-producers look on at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Photo: AFP

Green Book: how Golden Globe best picture was made – Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, director speak

Viggo Mortensen as Tony Vallelonga and Mahershala Ali as Dr. Donald Shirley in a still from Green Book.

Dolores Vallelonga (played by Linda Cardellini) watches as her husband, Tony (Viggo Mortensen) says goodbye to their sons Frankie Vallelonga (Gavin Foley, left) and Nick Vallelonga (Hudson Galloway, right) in Green Book.

From left: Viggo Mortensen, director Peter Farrelly and Mahershala Ali on the set of Green Book.

Green Book director Peter Farrelly shows the Golden Globe that ‘Green Book’ won for best musical or comedy and Mahershala Ali (right) his Golden Globe for best supporting actor in a musical or comedy, with Viggo Mortensen (left) and Linda Cardellini (who plays the wife of Mortensen’s character) backstage at the Beverly Hilton Hotel after Sunday’s awards ceremony. Photo: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

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Relatives of Don Shirley, the black pianist portrayed by Mahershala Ali touring the racist US South in the 1960s, called the film a ‘symphony of lies’
The film became part of a wider debate in the United States about race, with many describing it as another ‘white saviour movie’.


Relatives of Don Shirley, the black pianist portrayed by Mahershala Ali touring the racist US South in the 1960s, called the film a ‘symphony of lies’; others derided it as a ‘white saviour movie’.


American cinema