They appeared to very quiet and then they turned into “some kind of crazy genius”, Michelle Yeoh said about the directors of the Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All At Once. Indie in spirit and out-of-control in its imagination, the second feature by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – collectively known as “Daniels” – scooped the Oscars for Best Picture and Directing on Sunday. The film beat Steven Spielberg’ The Fabelmans, Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front and Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin.
The genre-bending movie won a total of seven Oscars, beating its closest rival All Quiet on the Western Front (which won four).
The official synopsis of Everything Everywhere All At Once doesn’t begin to capture its dizzying multiverse adventure: “A middle-aged Chinese immigrant is swept up into an insane adventure in which she alone can save existence by exploring other universes and connecting with the lives she could have led.”
As Yeoh’s Evelyn sets out to save humankind (and her marriage) by bending space and time, the film puts special effects to creative use alongside shredding the logic of conventional narrative. Yeoh won the best actress Oscar for her layered performance.
Daniels started their career making short films and music videos, including for Turn Down For What by DJ Snake and Lil Jon. The video, which prominently featured Daniel Kwan and Indian-American actor Sunita Mani, anticipate EEAOO’s manic tendencies and ribald sense of humour.
They made their feature debut with the absurdist comedy Swiss Army Man in 2016. Starring Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe as a corpse who is brought back to life (in a manner of speaking), the film is noteworthy for its bizarre premise, wacky humour and surrealist touches.
In this behind-the-scenes video, Daniels and the cast of EEAAO discuss the making of possibly the most outre movie to have been at the Oscars.
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‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ is Best Picture, two Oscars for India