A guide to this year’s Oscars
In addition to being a platform that strives to do the seemingly right thing when it comes to film awards, the Oscars, of late, have also become a tool to correct historical wrongs. Although this combination looks fine on the surface, when juxtaposed, the two facets of lauding the future and paying homage to past come at a great cost — one where the present is often ignored.
The frontrunners
For the first time in years, Oscars 2018 offers the Academy a chance to truly commemorate the talent as well as themes and genres that are transforming contemporary cinema without causing any major upset. Intriguingly enough, this time around, any effort on the Academy’s part to be “politically correct” would also contribute to ensuring that the “present” is not a collateral damage.
Amongst the frontrunners at this year’s Oscars, The Shape of Water and Get Out encompass a major part of the best and the most promising elements of Hollywood. There was a clear indication that Guillermo del Toro was always the frontrunner for the “Best Director” statuette for The Shape of Water, and with the Director’s Guild of America Award safely in the bag, his victory is a foregone conclusion.
There is enough chatter that Jordan Peele could walk away with the “Best Picture” award for his breakthrough Get Out and if that were to happen, it would be a near perfect combination. The “Best Picture” award is easily swayed by topicality and while Get Out does put the spotlight on race in America in a manner that has rarely been seen on film, it is not an out and out social statement.
Forget winning, just a decade ago something like Get Out or The Shape of Water would have been dismissed as genre or exploitation films.
Even if one were to swap the awards between Get Out and The Shape of Water, there wouldn’t be any major upset. From a conservative perspective, this aspect of nearly everyone going home happy is exactly the thing that makes awards a letdown. But perhaps this is what makes the 90th Academy Awards unique.
Popular categories
The concentrated focus on the popular categories often takes the spotlight away from categories where an award not only makes a big difference to the way films are perceived, but also the impact it has on future generations. This year, the “Best Cinematography” category has Roger Deakins, who has never won despite a staggering 13 nominations in the past, and Rachel Morrison, who has made history for being the woman to be nominated in the category with her work in Mudbound.
In Blade Runner 2049, Deakins has created the perfect atmosphere, but it would be almost impossible for members to disregard the fact that the veteran ought to have won his Oscar eons ago while voting. In the same way, the “Best Actor” award would in all likelihood go to Gary Oldman for his mesmerising portrayal of Winston Churchill in The Darkest Hour, but the baggage of the past where Oldman has never won despite being hailed as one of our best would play a great role.
This kind of burden invariably takes away from everyone else and diminishes the chances of say a Timothée Chalamet, who is in the running as well, for Call Me By Your Name.
Past & future
The real place where the past and the future would collide at the cost of the present in this year’s Oscars would be in the “Best Actress” categories. The manner in which Frances McDormand’s performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has charmed the critics has seen her emerge as a favourite, but don’t be surprised if Saoirse Ronan’s bravura portrayal in Lady Bird ends up getting the film’s only award at Oscars 2018.
Phenomenal as it might be a win for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing or Lady Bird, it could come at the expense of two scintillating performances, namely Sally Hawkins in The Shape of Water and Margot Robbie in I, Tonya.
In a conventional world, Hawkins’ silent performance in The Shape of Water would have been a hands-down winner and Robbie’s chilling rendition of disgraced Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding is just the kind of stuff the Academy would have flipped for.
Robbie stands out in the film and the fact that the narrative simply flatters the moment it looks away from her is a testimony to the sheer brilliance that lingers long after the film is over. In the end, the 90th Academy Awards might find itself on a familiar collision course where it would try to balance what films were and what they yearn to be, but for a change, it could also seamlessly compliment the present without much effort.
(Courtesy of Mail Today)
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