What is the longest movie to ever win an Oscar?
The annual Oscars ceremony is often littered with boring and self-indulgent moments that feel as if they last forever, whether it be the comical emptiness of Adrien Brody’s acceptance speech, which broke records as the longest speech at the awards, or the extreme tears that are shed by actors who most audiences cannot believe were the recipient of the prestigious award.
In the many years that the ceremony has been running, we have constantly been met with a string of moments that define the legacy of the Academy, with choices that highlight their occasionally surprising taste and other moments that signify the death of cinema as a whole. However, this has led to some interesting records and achievements over the years, with some films and actors forever going down in history.
The OJ Simpson trial is one of the most notorious cases in recent history, with the former NFL player and actor being tried and acquitted for the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. OJ was immediately held as one of the prime suspects in the case, with the eight-month trial becoming one of the most publicised trials of all time.
Sports star Robert Kardashian’s lawyer became equally as famous for representing him, inadvertently leading to the rise of the Kardashian family and another dystopian era for women’s beauty standards, influencer culture and the popularisation of far-right values.
What is the longest film to win an Oscar?
Naturally, the depth of the subject matter and drama surrounding the story of OJ Simpson lends itself to the silver screen. Documentary filmmaker Ezra Edelman went on to make a detailed film called OJ: Made in America about the murder trial and how it shone a light on the racial tensions in America at the time. The film won the Academy Award for ‘Best Documentary Feature Film’, breaking records for its runtime, which came in at a staggering 467 minutes, becoming the longest movie to ever win an Oscar.
The film is a breathtaking exploration of one of the definitive modern American tragedies, shown through the lenses of celebrity, racial identity and the dystopian world of Los Angeles, interweaving the story of Simpson with thematic strands relating to the ‘American Dream’ and societal unrest. Through nearly eight hours of archival footage and interviews, Edelman paints an astute and unsettling portrait of Simpson’s early career, subsequent fame and the media circus that followed the highly publicised trial.
What is the longest narrative film to win an Oscar?
While OJ: Made in America won the Oscar in the non-fiction category, the longest narrative feature to win ‘Best Picture’ was Lawrence of Arabia in 1962, with a total run time of 228 minutes, which adds up to nearly four hours.
The film has been cited by many as one of the most influential modern masterpieces, with the likes of Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino sharing their love for the allegorical desert epic set during the First World War.
