OSCARS 2008

There was only one better place to be than on the Oscar red carpet this 24th of February, and that was inside the minds of the Academy voters. The nominations were announced in January amidst great speculation and a greater frenzy characteristically surrounded the final awards. Adding to the nail-biting suspense this year was the Hollywood writers’ strike, threatening to plague the ceremony with actors and directors refusing to attend to show solidarity. But after that great cloud dispersed mid February, nothing stood between cineastes and the Oscar celebrations, which usually includes viewings and re-viewings of nominated films over passionate debates. So what has the Academy got us talking about this time? Well, clearly plenty, because even after the results are out, the thrill of the race lingers on; particularly this year, for it was truly wide open. The most lavish post-award party might have been called off to express concern over the screenwriters’ struggle over the past months, but there is nothing to stop us from raising a toast to the contenders who made a great show.

Comedies are apparently not very popular with the jury and the last in the genre to get the big prize was Shakespeare In Love. But Annie Hall is a more direct precursor of the film Juno (a wisecracker about a pregnant teen’s journey to motherhood), which swept up nominations, perhaps in support of the burgeoning popularity of the indie-film movement, (stepping in the shoes of last year’s Little Miss Sunshine). Whether the Academy is setting a trend it intends to follow is anyone’s guess, but there is no doubting the merits of the film itself. It takes the coming of age genre and spins it for a sparkling human twist that gives a new lease of life to clichés. While the nominations included the more prestigious best picture and director categories, the real aces of the film are up the sleeves of Ellen Page and Diablo Cody, nominated in the Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay categories. In Juno, Cody creates a singular distinct character whose depth, wisdom and individuality shine through her rebellious attitude. Page plays it with a perfection that has made her the darling of critics this year. But it was Cody who took the big prize for both of them.

The question at the heart of Michael Clayton (some other first and last name success stories at the Oscars include Annie Hall, Tom Jones and Forrest Gump), is where the professional responsibility of a lawyer to defend his client gives way to a larger societal interest in question. The biggest nomination from this corporate killer thriller was that of George Clooney in the Best Actor category for his turn as the titular character, an attorney who can fix everything but his own life. Clooney who has previously been nominated in the Best Supporting Actor and Writer/ Director categories for Syriana and Good Night, Good Luck respectively, scores a well deserved nomination for the big one this year. He etches his character with a heady mix of star quality and acting talent, his world-weary eyes revealing, intriguing and captivating all at once. Tony Gilroy’s original screenplay and direction also win recommendations. The screenplay does pay its tribute to Hollywood with neatly fitting pieces towards the end, but largely floats above expectations with the sleekness and intelligence of its design. But the big win of the film went to Tilda Swinton nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category. She is driven as a ruthless hard-hitting attorney but the response to her performance was largely underplayed through the year and so the nomination came as a bit of a surprise and the award even more so.

Atonement, the British love and loss drama matched Micheal Clayton’s score with its 7 nominations, including nods for the Best Adapted Screenplay, Film and Best Supporting Actress. In an intimate story about three people lies bare the boundless landscape of human frailties, truth, love and betrayal- grotesque and splendid. The scenes are crafted with precision and the film glides between its epic proportions and personal perspective effortlessly. But Atonement, perhaps a victim of early hype, made more headlines for what it lost when the nominees were announced. Surprisingly off the list were the very well appreciated lead pair Keira Knightley and James Mcevoy and director Joe Wright. But the nomination of 13 year old Saoirse Ronan in the Best Supporting Actress category made up the excitement alright. The first timer stood on one end of a spectrum of nominees which included octogenarians like Ruby Dee- nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category for her bit in American Gangster as Denzel Washington’s on-screen mother. That nod though was more for her lifetime in the movies than her indistinct part in the film itself - a trend in line with the Academy’s choice of Scorcese as the Best Director last year for his out-of-form film The Departed. Atonement was but one of the many in the nominations list that has been adapted from a novel, pointing to the fact that the real scorers of this show are novelists from outside the industry. It did not win in any of the major categories sadly, but remains one of the must-watch movies of the year irrespectively.
The highest number of nominations this year were reserved for No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood. The Academy clearly never gets enough of grim violent dramas with large body counts. The former marks the return to form of the Coen Brothers - for fans who swore it will never get better than Fargo, this year it finally did. No Country is more than a thriller - it is a study in characters, the most unforgettable of who is Chigurh, a blood-curdling killer who joins the chase for a man absconding with drug money he chanced upon. Spanish actor Javier Bardem deserved more than a nomination for his portrayal of the unforgettable bloodhound and got it. There are many movies that mirror No Country’s concern for a soulless America’s crazed lust for an easy fix, but hardly any as literate and cinematically brilliant. The performances, dialogues and just about everything else is of such top order that the wait for genius to strike again has been well worth it. The cherry on the cake was the award sweep for the brothers who went home with the best director, film and adapted screenplay trophies.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood (from the Bible quote “there will be blood in Egypt”) unravels in a series of perfectly structured narratives, as a strange historical epic at the centre of which is the satanic Plainview, an oilman who will stop at nothing to succeed. Daniel Day Lewis’s depiction is such a tour de force that there was little debate about his chances on the big night. And the Academy did not disappoint him. The other important statuette it clinched was for best cinematography. Anderson may have lost the gold to the Coens but he has topped his career so far with this film, which is more than a comment on the excesses of capitalism - a cinematic journey that drills deep within your conscience.

Cate Blanchett joined the rank of none other than Al Pacino (who was nominated for two of the Godfather series) with nominations for both Elizabeth movies, the second this year in the Best Actress category. The film may have been one of the biggest disappointments of the year but her turn survived the debacle and rode straight into the list of top honors. But clearly more favoured in the category was veteran Julie Christie in Away From Her, as a victim of Alzheimer’s who having forgotten most of her earlier life with her husband forms a deep attachment with a fellow patient in the care home. Christie’s performance is so layered with lucidity and strength that it transforms the film from a piteous portrait to an inspired work of exploration. The award to the surprise of many however went to Marion Cotillard for her portrayal of singer Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose, an otherwise conventional and even a tad confusing biopic about yet another tortured musical genius. Cotillard plays Piaf from a very young age to the later years of her life with a kind of power that rescues the film from its inconsistencies.

The greater dissapointment however was Blanchett’s losing to Swinton in the Best Supporting Actress category where she was pitched for her portrayal of Bob Dylan in the imaginative biopic I Am Not There. On the brighter side, her double nomination in the Best Actress and Supporting Actress categories is an award in itself. The Oscar notwithstanding, she is the toast of filmdom this year with talent unusually honed and perfected in times of ‘naturalism’.
While India’s official entry to the Oscars Eklavya failed to make it to the final five (The Counterfeiters from Austria won the best foreign language film Oscar), India was duly represented by Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth sequel, which scored a nomination in the best actress category and won an Oscar for the best costume design. Incidentally Julie Christie was born in India as well, but that would be going a bit too far to make our Oscar connections.
What is interesting is that almost all the biggies this year went to films that didn’t quite shimmy at the box office (with the exception perhaps of Bourne Ultimatum that picked up some leftovers like achievement in editing). While commercial success has often clearly been important to the academy this year the focus was purely on cinema- as they see it ofcourse.
At the centre of all the Oscar talk is a single thought - It is hard to tell what makes the cut with the Academy. The absence of names like Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Sean Penn, Russel Crowe and Tim Burton in the nominations list might have disappointed many but there were an equal number of surprise inclusions. While speculations about how the personal lives, public behaviour, networking skills and box office status of contenders affects their chances, there is one thing for sure- the night dazzled and bewitched with its traditional glamour. Maybe its all for the best then for who knows, if we did know what goes on inside the minds of those at the helm of things, we might never have enjoyed the show as we did.
(This article originally appeared in Beautiful People)