10 Most Surprising Underdog Oscar Victories
9. The Artist
At the 84th Academy Awards in 2012, French director
Michel Hazanavicius’s The Artist notched up an impressive five wins – including
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Score and Best Costume
Design – tying only with Martin Scorsese’s first 3D outing Hugo in terms of
Oscar victory that year.
What made The Artist’s Academy Award success all the more impressive was that it wasn’t really your typical sweep the board kind of suspect. As well as earning boasting rights as the first French film to ever win a Best Picture Oscar, it also became the first silent film to win since Wings in 1929 and the first film shot entirely in black and white to win since The Apartment in 1961.
Star Jean Dujardin didn’t do too badly either becoming the first French actor to scoop a Best Actor nod and one of just a handful of French talents to win acting Oscars overall.