Oscars 2020: How Joaquin Phoenix Paid Tribute to His Late Brother River Phoenix in His Emotional Oscar Acceptance Speech (Watch Video)

If his life hadn't been cruelly cut short, the late River Phoenix could have been one of the greatest actors of all time. The teen star of films like Stand By Me, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and My Own Private Idaho had impressed everyone with his amazing rage even at such a young age then. He had also received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Running on Empty. However, at the mere age of 23, River Phoenix passed away on October 31, 1993, due to drug overdose. Oscars 2020: Joaquin Phoenix Becomes First Ever to Receive Best Actor for a Comic Book Movie, Receives Standing Ovation.

Had he been alive now, he would have been a really tough competitor to his own sibling, Joaquin Phoenix. Phoenix, one of the finest talent in cinema right now, won his first Academy Award at Oscars 2020. He took home the trophy of Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in Joker.

In his powerful and emotional award acceptance speech, Joaquin paid tribute to his departed elder brother, by quoting lyrics from a song that River wrote for his band Aleka's Attic. Oscars 2020 Full Winners List: Parasite Wins Four Major Awards Including Best Picture and Best Director; Joaquin Phoenix Best Actor, Renee Zellweger Best Actress.

He said, "When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric, he said, 'Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow'." In lieu of the rest of Joaquin's speech, this is a beautiful conclusion.

Here's the video of Joaquin Phoenix's speech:

Joaquin has spoken about injustice to animals, racism, lack of appreciation towards diversity and even his own difficult behaviour. Here's his full speech, "I do not feel elevated above any of my fellow nominees or anyone in this room, because we share the same love, the love of film and this form of expression has given me the most extraordinary I don’t know what I’d be without it. But I think the greatest gift that it has given me, and many of us in this room, is the opportunity to use our voice for the voiceless."

"Whether we’re talking about gender inequality or racism or queer rights or indigenous rights or animal rights, we’re talking about the fight against the belief, one nation, one race, one gender or one species has the right to dominate, control and use and exploit another with impunity,” he said. “I think that we’ve become very disconnected from the natural world and many of us, what we’re guilty of is an egocentric world view, the belief that we’re the center of the universe."

"We go into the natural world and we plunder it for its resources. We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth, we steal her baby. Even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. And then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal. When we use love and compassion as our guiding principles, we can create, develop and implement systems of change that are beneficial to all sent yet beings and to the environment."

"I’ve been a scoundrel in my life. I’ve been selfish, I’ve been cruel at times, hard to work with,” he said. “I’m grateful, so many of you in this room have given me a second chance and I think that’s when we’re at our best, when we support each other, not when we cancel each other out for past mistakes, but when we help each other to grow, when we educate each other, when we guide each other toward redemption."

Here's where Joaquin brought up the lovely tribute to his brother.

Apart from Joaquin, the big winner of the night was the South Korean film Parasite, that took away four major awards, including Best Director and Best Picture. Joker also won the Best Original Score award.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 10, 2020 11:13 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).