During the lead up to this year’s Oscar’s on March 2nd I will be covering a lot of the nominees for the upcoming Academy Awards. This will not be your usual Oscar primer, but in fact more of a “catching up to speed” series. I will be dissecting a major film (a best picture nominee) and one or two smaller films in each installment. I will be going over what the nominees are, and what chances it stands to win. In the last installment HERE I covered “Dallas Buyers Club” and “Star Trek Into Darkness”. This time I will be talking about “Captain Phillips”, “Inside Llewyn Davis” and “Ernest et Celestine”.
In the previous instalment I included a spoiler alert for “Dallas Buyers Club”, but really if you are reading about the films I am discussing in each part, assume there might be some spoilers. You’ve been warned!
“Captain Phillips” was directed by Paul Greengrass, distributed by Columbia Pictures and was released on October 11th. The film has a total of 6 nominations.
– Best Picture- Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti and Michel De Luca
– Best Supporting Actor- Barkhad Abdi
– Best Adapted Screenplay- Billy Ray
– Best Film Editing- Christopher Rouse
– Best Sound Editing- Oliver Tarney
– Best Sound Mixing- Chris Bourdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro
To put things nicely, “Captain Phillips” is a very competent thriller. If you are looking for an original film, this is not that. What “Captain Philips” brings in spades is tension that rapidly gets ratcheted up. This would be a great double feature with “Gravity”, since you can probably figure out how the film will end right away, but it won’t stop you from cold sweating the whole time. Shockingly for a film that features golden man Tom Hanks in nearly every single scene and who carries it so strongly, he did not get nominated, which is a travesty. I feel like Hanks should have been nominated for his portrayal of Captain Richard Phillips, purely for the final scene. After getting rescued and is being inspected by the paramedic, his body and mind go into shock and he stutters and slurs his speech. The processing of his ordeal he just went through was one of the most powerful moments I have seen on celluloid.
While the film was also nominated for Best Drama at the Golden Globes, Best Film at the BAFTA’s, it seems like the nomination is a filler spot. While the film is quite excellent, it is a vanilla film comparing it to the other competitors. While it is not the worst film in the group of nine, it probably has the smallest chance of winning by being the least original. Not nominating Hanks is proof of that, since it apparently doesn’t have full support of the acting branch of the academy. Hanks performance and the editing make the film. Rouse’s work transforms a typical drama, into a thriller that people who even paid a tiny bit of attention to the story of a ship being attacked a few years ago will know how the film ends. Except you worry every passing minute, that Phillips will die. If the Academy feels like the CGI heavy “Gravity” doesn’t deserve the Best Editing award, I can see this film as one of the heavy favourites, although it is a bit of a toss up and I don’t feel safe predicting a winner yet for this category.
Abdi, a first time actor who was born in Somalia and moved to Minnesota to escape the civil war going on over there was a fresh and terrifying foil to Hanks. Paul Greengrass wanted real Somalis who had limited to no acting experience to play the real life Somali hijackers. He alternates between being brave and knowing that what he does is to ensure his and his families survival, to true terror that he is performing morally wrong actions and he will end up dead or worse, like in Guantanamo Bay. I worry that he will either be type cast or unable to replicate his success. He is the second Black African actor after Djimon Hounsou for “Blood Diamond” to get an acting Oscar nomination (he is the first ever Somali to get a nomination), which is a win in itself since the category is Jared Leto’s to lose with strong performances from Michael Fassbender and Jonah Hill ahead of him.
The screenplay was adapted from Richard Phillips novel “A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea”, but the screenplay and novel aren’t without their controversy. It seems every year plenty of anonymous reports emerge during the Oscar-race season trying to discredit films in different ways. Since the film came out, several anonymous crewmembers claim that Phillips ignored warnings of high activity piracy in the Somali coast region, and that correct protocol wasn’t followed when the ship was boarded. Whether the film (and possibly the book) were embellished is irrelevant, as all films based on some semblance of truth will always be embellished. We watch movies to escape, sometimes plot points need to be adjusted and characters merged for the best story to flow. Normally the Oscar’s will award more edgy films that they feel can’t win Best Picture since it will sully their “clean image”, which means films like “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “12 Years a Slave” might have the edge if they go that route.
I find it really hard to dissect the sound categories as I am not an engineer or mixer. That said, the creaking of the rescue boat, the beating of the waves, the sirens and horns blaring all made the film more intense and enjoyable. Having a nomination in both Sound Editing and Sound Mixing is very advantageous as most films win both, but there are three other films that fall into the same boat.
“Inside Lleywn Davis” was directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, distributed by CBS Films and released on January 10th. It was nominated for two Oscars.
– Best Cinematography- Bruno Delbonnel
– Best Sound Mixing- Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
I am shocked and appalled that this film did not get nominated for Best Picture, especially since the Coen’s have had been nominated for Best Picture four (!) previous times, and this was their best since “No Country for Old Men” back in 2007. With only nine Best Picture nominees I do not understand how this did not squeeze into the last potentially available slot. The subject matter and music are right up in the alley of the mostly old and white Academy. Not too mention Oscar Isaac’s brilliant leading performance being snubbed.
Now that my angry rant is off my chest, this film is cold, dark and harsh like a Chicago winter, something shot beautifully by Delbonnel, taking over duties of DOP from Coen’s regular Roger Deakins (who is nominated this year for “Prisoners”). The smokey club scenes are hauntingly intimate. Everything that the characters are unable to say, are sung in gorgeous folk songs, shot in the way to better further their painful meanings. Unfortunately this is “Gravity’s” award to lose, but if not “Inside Llewyn Davis” is going to be fighting with “Prisoners” to win it.
Since I am a professional mixer I can say with certain that incorporation of live music, including the haunting full solo piece by Isaac to begin the film, is fully worthy of this award. Since they weren’t able to pair it with a Sound Editing nomination, I worry they will not win. Contrasting the rough live performances is the flawless in studio sessions of Justin Timberlake, Adam Driver and Isaac recording the future hit song “Please Mr. Kennedy”.
“Ernest et Celestine” was directed by Stephane Aubier, Vincent Patar and Benjamin Renner, was distributed by StudioCanal and was released on December 6th. The film has one nomination.
– Best Animated Feature- Benjamin Renner and Didier Brunner
This French animated film is the whimsical story of a mouse and a bear that become unlikely friends despite their communities frantic begging that these species can never coexist. Unfortunately since the film is not cutting edge CGI, or a final sendoff to another foreign legend making animated features, this little film is bound to be left behind. The simple yet endearing story of love and friendship told in water colour art is very moving. In North America, the film probably won’t seem like a children’s movie, but sometimes kids don’t need to be coddled and hidden from realties like bears breaking into candy stores and eating all the marshmallows. Or maybe that is just my opinion.
