Although President Bush's reality TV show in Iraq is distracting attention from
the Motion Picture Academy's superficial self-congratulatory celebration, the
Oscar nomination process surges on, its choices little reflecting the turmoil
in the rest of the world. The nominees include a much-hoopla'd revival of a
moribund genre, a melodrama about discontented women haunted by a ghost from
the past, a bloated epic sequel, a period gangster extravaganza from Martin
Scorsese, and an overwrought tearjerker.
War? What war?
The year was 1991, and the films nominated were Dances with Wolves,
Ghost, The Godfather, Part III, GoodFellas, and
Awakenings. Twelve years later, the circumstances are slightly different
but uncannily the same, so will Hollywood and the Academy respond again with
indifference and navel gazing?
If so, the candidates will mirror the timid slate of 1991. This year's
much-hoopla'd revival of a moribund genre is the pseudo-musical Chicago.
The Martin Scorsese extravaganza is Gangs of New York. The ghost of
self-pity haunts discontented women in the chick flick The Hours, and
battle scenes and production values triumph again in the bloated epic sequel
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. As for Todd Haynes's Douglas Sirk
pastiche, the overwrought, tearjerking Far from Heaven, can the Academy
get away with nominating two women's films for Best Picture?
Let's start with perhaps the most suffocatingly self-enclosed of the bunch,
Chicago. Everybody longs for the return of the musical, the genre that
delighted America in the depths of the Depression and on the eve of World War
II, but until a real musical comes around, this exercise in celebrity starpower
and MTV editing will have to do. What's the big appeal, besides nostalgia?
Perhaps the reassurance that "razzle dazzle" -- form over substance, glitz over
grit -- will always prevail. So expect Chicago to toddle to a Best
Picture nomination (and a likely Oscar victory), as as well as a Best Actress
nod for the adorable Renée Zellweger and a Best Actor nomination for Mr.
"Razzle Dazzle" himself, Richard Gere. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah
-- the latter the best thing in the picture -- will compete against each other
in the Best Supporting Actress category.
Queen Latifah apart, this will be one of the palest Oscar contests in some
time, with no Halle Berry or Denzel Washington in sight. Affirmative action, it
seems, has gone the way of Trent Lott. That's bad news for African-Americans
like Dennis Haysbert, who provides some of the few genuine moments in Far
from Heaven (Dennis Quaid's whiny performance in that picture will get the
Best Supporting Actor nomination instead), and Derek Luke, who's revelatory in
the otherwise uneven Antwone Fisher.
Women, on the other hand, have nothing to complain about this year, other than
an embarrassment of riches unseen since the studio era. Maybe this trend
represents a quiet revolt against the increasingly anti-feminist policies and
attitudes of the times, the growing reactionary misogyny that has reached a
peak with the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Whatever the Supreme
Court may decide, however, the Academy will be pondering performances that
celebrate a woman's right to choose.
Such as Zellweger's murderous housewife in Chicago, who chooses to shoot
an abusive lover (don't discount the film's anti-capital-punishment subtext
either) and dares to get off the hook. Or Salma Hayek's Frida, who chooses to
be not only the long-suffering wife of an artist -- Diego Rivera, and Alfred
Molina should get a Best Supporting Actor nomination for portraying him -- but
a long-suffering artist as well. Or Diane Lane, who chooses to be you-know-what
in Unfaithful and clearly enjoys it, or Julianne Moore, who has no
choice but to be an unlikely crusader for '50s social justice in Far from
Heaven.
That's just for starters. To fit in all the contenders, some studios have
played fast and loose with the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress
categories.
Such is the case with The Hours, whose simpering self-involvement and
pseudo-literary allure will guarantee it both a Best Picture nomination in this
year of introversion and a Best Director spot for Stephen Daldry. But what
about the cast, in which three actresses share almost equal screen time as the
protagonists in separate episodes? Ed Harris has no one from his own film to
compete with and so should get a Best Supporting Actor nomination. For the
rest, though, DreamWorks has had to do some fancy maneuvering, pushing Nicole
Kidman and Meryl Streep for Best Actress and Julianne Moore for a Supporting
nomination. In the end, Moore will get the nod for Far from Heaven, and
Streep will have to settle for a Best Supporting Actress nomination for
Adaptation because Kidman will edge her out for Best
Actress . . . by a nose.
Speaking of prosthetics, special effects, and phony emotions: the year did see
its fair share of guy movies, but none that required much in the way of
performances from human beings. What male performance could be nominated from
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers -- Gollum as Best Supporting
Object? Nonetheless, the film, like its predecessor, will earn a Best Picture
slot. Although it seems the farthest removed from reality, it will be the
nominee that best reflects the state of the real world: are Saruman and Sauron
images of Saddam and bin Laden or Bush and Blair? Peter Jackson, who resisted
urgings to remove The Two Towers from the title, will receive his second
nomination as Best Director, again to no avail. Perhaps LOTR #3 will be
the charm.
It should be for Martin Scorsese, who will be getting his third Best Director
nomination for Gangs of New York, a close runner-up to Rings for
least realistic movie of the year and a shoo-in for a Best Picture nomination.
Daniel Day Lewis matches Nicole Kidman's nose and hand-wringing histrionics
with his handle-bar moustache and vaudeville bravura: he will, no doubt, be
nominated for Best Actor.
His hammy exuberance will be an exception among the nominees, however. This
will be the year of the quiet American. Not the fine adaptation of the Graham
Greene novel starring Michael Caine in his best performance in years, however.
Miramax has written that film off because its perceived criticism of US foreign
policy (50 years ago, that is) will be seen as unpatriotic. No, I mean quiet
Americans like Jack Nicholson's tormented retiree in About Schmidt. Or
Nicolas Cage's dithering twin screenwriters (okay, they're not quiet, but they
are passive) in Adaptation. Or Christopher Walken's quietly desperate
failure in Catch Me If You Can, the high point of Spielberg's belabored
comedy and a sure Best Supporting Actor nominee. And then there is a very quiet
Pole, played by Adrien Brody in The Pianist.
Roman Polanski has been a quiet Pole, too, hardly making a sound in the cinema
world since Chinatown (1974) and his enforced exile from America
following his statutory rape conviction in 1977. But The Pianist might
be his greatest film, the consummation of his career, and, as a Holocaust
survivor, his life. He probably won't make it to the ceremonies to join the
Daldry, Jackson, and Scorsese.
And the fifth Best Director nominee? Will it be Rob Marshall, the rookie who
put Chicago through its razzle-dazzle paces? Probably not -- though both
the Directors Guild and the Golden Globes gave him a nod, I think the Directors
branch of the Academy might find him a little wet behind the ears. Alexander
Payne for About Schmidt? He might be seen as too condescending and
misanthropic in his satire, so Schmidt will have to be content with
Nicholson's nomination, Kathy Bates as Best Supporting Actress, and perhaps a
screenwriting acknowledgment. Spike Jonze for Adaptation? True, this is
the year of self-absorption, but give me a break. Maybe Chris Cooper will join
Streep and get a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
No, most likely Todd Haynes will get the nomination for Far From Heaven;
it's probably the most directed of all the films released last year, if
not the best. Will it get the Best Picture nomination as well? I think that the
Academy voters might decide that four artificial pastiches should be enough for
one year, even a year in which they're trying hard to pretend that movies are
above reality and are untouched by the sordid politics and tragic events of the
world.
For that reason I think The Pianist might have a chance. True, some
might dismiss it as another Holocaust movie, a rerun of Schindler's
List, which was dutifully rewarded a few years back. In a way, though, with
its true story of the pianist who witnesses the horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto
and lives to play again, The Pianist is the ultimate tribute to movies,
and art in general, as an escape from the nightmare of history. And who knows
how much of an escape we'll need by the time the Oscars are handed out, on
March 23.
Peter's picks
Best Picture
Chicago
Gangs of New York
The Hours
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Pianist
Best Director
Stephen Daldry, The Hours
Todd Haynes, Far from Heaven
Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Roman Polanski, The Pianist
Martin Scorsese, Gangs of New York
Best Actor
Adrien Brody, The Pianist
Nicolas Cage, Adaptation
Daniel Day Lewis, Gangs of New York
Richard Gere, Chicago
Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt
Best Actress
Salma Hayek, Frida
Nicole Kidman, The Hours
Diane Lane, Unfaithful
Julianne Moore, Far from Heaven
Renée Zellweger, Chicago
Best Supporting Actress
Kathy Bates, About Schmidt
Queen Latifah, Chicago
Julianne Moore, The Hours
Meryl Streep, Adaptation
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago
Best Supporting Actor
Chris Cooper, Adaptation
Ed Harris, The Hours
Alfred Molina, Frida
Dennis Quaid, Far from Heaven
Christopher Walken, Catch Me If You Can
Issue Date: February 7 - 13, 2003
