23/02/2009

At 16 years old, a young girl made her film debut in Bigas Luna’s Jamon, Jamon, devouring the screen and winning over audiences. Last night, 17 years later, Penelope Cruz achieved her dream of becoming the first Spanish actress to win an Oscar and take home a statuette that she daren’t “look at for five minutes”.

The dream began in Alcobendas, Spain, where every year Cruz watched the ceremony on television. Today, it has become reality thanks to her role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona [+see also:
trailer
film profile], two years after her nomination for Volver [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Agustín Almodóvar
interview: Carmen Maura
interview: Pedro Almodóvar
interview: Pénélope Cruz
film profile]. Hollywood has thus awarded the ultimate honour to one of Spain’s and Europe’s most international actresses.

The congratulations soon poured in. Perhaps the most hoped-for message came from her great mentor, Pedro Almodóvar, who said he cried “with joy when he heard her name after the usual line 'and the Oscar goes to'”.

Cruz’s journey to Oscar success is inextricably linked to Almodóvar, to whom she presented the coveted statuette in 2000 for All About My Mother, after calling him onto the podium with an effusive “Pedro!”. The La Mancha-born director – who in a few weeks will release Broken Embraces [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pedro Almodóvar
film profile], which also stars Cruz – added that the prize rewards “an actress who throws herself head first and without parachutes into very risky roles”.

This triumph also testifies to the excellent quality of European acting talent, which this year scooped two Oscars: for Cruz and Kate Winslet, winner of the Best Actress Oscar for The Reader [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. The European school – if we can speak of such a thing – is characterised by its versatility and power to win over all markets, including the US.

This is illustrated by the Oscars ceremony, which last year honoured Europe’s Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton. Other recent winners include Helen Mirren, Rachel Weisz, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jim Broadbent.

(Translated from Spanish)