83rd Annual Academy Awards: An Opinion Piece.

On 26/2/2011, I asked my good friend Mr David Camp if he would be willing to write an opinion piece regarding the results of this years' Academy Awards. Below is his rhetoric. I would like to thank David for his contribution. For more thorough coverage from prior to the ceremony, please see his discussion and predictions from last week, which can be found here: http://davidcamponfilm.co.uk/2011/02/24/83rd-annual-academy-awards-%E2%80%93-prechat/

83rd Annual Academy Awards

The year 2060. A futuristic hall-of-residence. Vintage poster designs for ‘True Grit’ and ‘Inception’ adorn the walls of a young film student as he sits playing with the cybernetic implant in his arm, projecting video up against a screen on the inside of his glasses. It’s an old film called ‘The Social Network’, a film that ties classic themes of ambition, greed and friendship into the rise of online social networking, a technological development of enormous historical significance for the still youthful internet, a development that the film intelligently places as the backdrop to its timeless, human drama.

Cut back to 2011.

So they’ve done it again! Just when you think it’s safe to start getting interested in the Academy Awards for another year, they go and hand their Best Picture statuette to one of the weakest of the ten nominees. ‘The Kings Speech’ taking Best Picture can hardly be considered the outrage of a ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ or ‘Crash’, but it’s a shuffle backwards for a ceremony that has made great strides in recent years to avoid awarding films known better for effective award campaigns than for artistic merit.

The bullish, arrogant Harvey Weinstein manoeuvred his talent around the campaign trail for months to secure the victory for Tom Hooper’s admirable, albeit conventional drama. It’s to the detriment of the Academy that so many of their voting block are fooled by such transparent efforts, opting for a film without the technical or dramatic qualities of much of its competition, lacking both the style and ambition of Fincher’s ‘The Social Network’, the emotional gut-punch of ‘The Fighter’ or the classical scope of the Coen Brothers ‘True Grit’ adaptation. When it comes to the crunch, it seems, Weinstein gift boxes and lobbyist attention speak to voters louder than quality.

As the ceremony flew by - something became apparent. My fears alleviated of a total washout as it became apparent that maybe there wouldn’t be a big sweep afterall. Perhaps the honours would be…you know…maybe sort of, kind of, you know… fairly distributed. Art Direction, Cinematography, the supporting performance awards, Original Score…they didn’t go to ‘The Kings Speech’. I was delighted. Brilliant projects like ‘True Grit’ may have been unfairly ignored, but it was by no means a 1-film-band. The equivalent of ticking ‘UKIP’ come council elections and then voting for a real party at the generals, the Academy voters seem to allow their conscience to come to the forefront regarding these smaller categories, even if their King’s Speech giftbox and party invite prohibit them from voting otherwise come the biggies.

Analysis of major categories:

Best Picture

My Prediction: The King’s Speech
My Preference: The Social Network
The Winner: The King’s Speech

Bookies odds and inevitability ease the pain somewhat. It’s the same as a relative dying of terminal cancer, giving you weeks and months to come to terms with their inescapable fate. That’s always better than the shock of an unexpected aneurysm. Far worse films than ‘The King’s Speech’ have won Best Picture, and in a weaker year I wouldn’t begrudge it victory. Its triumph is galling primarily because it a) represents the sort of film the Academy should be, and have been, making efforts to escape from b) the Weinstein crew campaigned like they were running an election and c) there are several films I believe to be better amongst the nominees. It’s always nice in some ways to see a British film find international success, especially one that’s struck a chord with as many people as ‘The Kings Speech’ – but one can’t help but anguish that its acclaim need come at the ignorance of better films. I can live with it. It’s more than can be said for the next award.

Best Director

My Prediction: David Fincher (The Social Network)
My Preference: David Fincher (The Social Network)
The Winner: Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)

Entertainment Weekly just released a list of their 25 greatest working directors. You can see it here http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20311937_20346922,00.html#20575534. As you might notice, David Fincher finishes top, several other nominees feature prominently. Tom Hooper is conspicuously absent. I was literally frothing at the mouth with fanboy rage as Hooper’s slimy form slipped onto the stage to steal Fincher’s award. For the remainder of the ceremony, every time the camera cut to his smug hands cradling Fincher’s Oscar, I had to struggle not to vomit bile and fury at the screen, turning to the familiar release of twitter to vent anger, to vent blood pressure out onto the keyboard. I wasn’t alive when Martin Scorsese lost for ‘Raging Bull’, but the confusion and outrage transcended the night and leaked on into the nineties and beyond. It took almost thirty years for the wrong to be righted.

Hooper may have the honours, but as he heads home, tux soaked in lobbyist semen, he can be secure in the knowledge that he won solely because of a well fought, well planned, well executed three month campaign run – and never for the film itself, where he fails to stamp down any distinctive imprint or style beyond the production of a fine, but uninspiring piece of spring oscar-bait. His achievements as a director are incomparable to the consistent technical and dramatic, decade-spanning brilliance of a David Fincher, Darren Aronofsky or Christopher Nolan.

Best Actor

My Prediction: Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
My Preference: James Franco (127 Hours)
The Winner: Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)

An award I don’t think anyone would deny ‘The King’s Speech’. It’s not the best performance of his career, it’s not even my favourite of the year – but Firth dominates every scene. Hooper’s window on events may be static and ordinary, but Firth brings Seidler’s screenplay to mesmerising life with warmth, humour and total fearlessness. I think the role, as one selected by a working actor out for interesting jobs, may be a little too obvious as an awards-grab, but Firth has enough charm for me to forgive. He’s just so damn likeable! I love Franco, but my interest in his ‘127 Hours’ performance is soured somewhat by his flat, bored, slightly drugged presenting job. The ceremony was no success for its hosts. Firth is soaked in charisma. He’s a Republican playing a Monarch. I love that.


Best Actress

My Prediction: Annette Bening (The Kids are all Right)
My Preference: Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone)
The Winner: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)

I only opted for Bening as a ‘dark-horse’ risk take. Portman is an instantly more appealing option, with a bold, compelling, movie-star tour de force in Aronofsky’s batshit crazy melodrama. I loved the film and I have no problems with her win.








Best Supporting Actor

My Prediction: Christian Bale (The Fighter)
My Preference: Mark Ruffalo (The Kids are all Right)
The Winner: Christian Bale (The Fighter)

Great speech by Bale. Humble, emotional, sincere. There were five great parts here, and it makes sense that someone who so fully, so completely absorbed themselves in a character would get their reward. The voice, the posture, the hair, the cadence of the speech. It’s just flat out great work by any standards, and it’s a joy to see Bale shake off his occasional bad habits as an actor to become a guy so totally complete.





Best Supporting Actress

My Prediction: Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
My Preference: Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
The Winner: Melissa Leo (The Fighter)

I was purged of my annoyance that Hailee Steinfeld lost when Leo made a complete imbecile of herself on stage, shaking and whimpering after being handed the trophy by zombie-Kirk Douglas. In a perfect world Steinfeld would have taken the award in the lead category, but alas, Hollywood politics and bad luck gifts it to another actress. That said, credit to Leo for helping flesh out excellent ensemble of ‘The Fighter’. It’s strong work, it’s just not as strong as Steinfeld’s. ‘True Grit’ has been well and truly given the middle finger this year.



Cinematography

My Prediction: Roger Deakins (True Grit)
My Preference: Roger Deakins (True Grit)
The Winner: Wally Pfister (Inception)

I feel bad for Deakins. He has more nominations than I have pairs of underwear. That said, if you’re going to be passed over, be passed over in favour of one of the great contemporary supporters of 2D celluloid filmmaking. I love Pfister’s work with Chris Nolan, and I love the technically brilliant, fascinating colour palette he employed for ‘Inception’. It’s distinctive work and he deserves his award.


Film Editing

My Prediction: The Social Network
My Preference: The Social Network
The Winner: The Social Network

Wall & Baxter are like physical extensions of their director. Fincher shot footage based on Aaron Sorkin’s script and they cut it together seamlessly, like hive minds totally in tune with the desires of their director. The remarkable feat is that a film as convoluted as ‘The Social Network’ feels so effortless, so easily digestible. That’s as much Wall & Baxter’s contribution as Fincher’s.


Music (Original Score)

My Prediction: The King’s Speech
My Preference: The Social Network
The Winner: The Social Network

Delighted to see Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross triumph over Alex Desplat. I love Desplat, but this wasn’t an Academy Award winning score. In a fair world it’s a straight toss-up between Zimmer’s booming ‘Inception’ brilliance and ‘The Social Network’ – and I gotta pitch for Reznor. There’s something so unusual, so unique and unsettling about the score for The Social Network. It surprises people. It shakes them up. It holds the images together. It’s the least obvious score imaginable for a film like this that’s usually packed with contemporary pop ballads. Fincher always surprises.


Best Adapted Screenplay

My Prediction: Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)
My Preference: Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)
The Winner: Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)

Was it ever going to be any other way? From my first read in Autumn 2009 I could have told you that this was an Academy Award winning script. Sorkin name-dropping Paddy Chayefsky and ‘Network’ is fair and true, the comparison especially apt as that classic was too denied a Picture or Director trophy.


Best Original Screenplay

My Prediction: David Seidler (The King’s Speech)
My Preference: Christopher Nolan (Inception)
The Winner: David Seidler (The King’s Speech)

I would have liked Nolan to take this as compensation for his whitewashing from the ceremony. There’s need of some acknowledgement of ‘Inception’s qualities outside of technical categories. Seidler writes some beautiful scenes against a historical backdrop, but it never flows or excites like Nolan’s daring, original sci-fi adventure.






See you all next year for further ranting, bile, fury and hatred!!!

-David Camp