President Donald Trump on Thursday appeared to take issue with the Oscar winner for best picture this year, the South Korean film "Parasite," at a rally in Colorado.
"By the way, how bad were the Academy Awards this year? Did you see it?" Trump said at a rally in Colorado Springs, to boos from the crowd. "And the winner is a movie from South Korea — what the hell was that all about?"
"Parasite," a film about a poor family of grifters who worm their way into the lives of a rich but naive household, won best picture at the Feb. 9 ceremony. The film's director, Boon Joon-ho, also won best director.
Trump said at the campaign rally: "We got enough problems with South Korea, with trade. On top of it they give them the best movie of the year? Was it good? I don't know.”
"You know, I'm looking for like — let's get 'Gone With the Wind,'" Trump said, referring to the 1939 Civil War epic that won eight Oscars. "Can we get like 'Gone With the Wind' back, please? 'Sunset Boulevard.' So many great movies."
"Sunset Boulevard," released in 1950, was nominated but did not win the best picture Oscar, but managed to nab three others.
Neon, the company that distributed "Parasite" in the United States, tweeted its response to Trump's remarks. "Understandable, he can't read," it tweeted, adding the hashtags for "Parasite," best picture and Bong2020.
"Parasite" was the first non-English-language film to win best picture, and South Koreans celebrated the milestone.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in started his staff meeting after the awards show with a round of applause for the movie.
"Parasite has moved the hearts of people around the world with a most uniquely Korean story," he wrote in a message of congratulations that he then posted on social media.
Trump said at the Colorado Springs rally: "I thought it was best foreign film, right? Best foreign movie. No. It was the — did this ever happen before?"
"Parasite" also won for best international feature.
Trump also complained about actor Brad Pitt, saying he "got up and said a little wiseguy statement."
Pitt, in accepting best supporting actor for his turn as a laconic stuntman in Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood," referring to the fact that the Senate had not allowed witnesses to testify at Trump's impeachment trial.
"They told me you only have 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week," Pitt, 56, said about Trump's former national security adviser. "I'm thinking maybe Quentin does a movie about it. In the end, the adults do the right thing."
Four days before the awards ceremony, the Republican-controlled Senate acquitted Trump.
