Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 16:58 2011 Oscar countdown: Best Picture, Documentary, Foreign Film and the Melissa Leo fiasco
The double Goya/Bafta award ceremonies on Sunday last week left me intellectually and literally hung-over. I had diligently stocked up the freezer with champagne in the unlikely eventuality of Lesley Manville's triumph in the supporting category at the Baftas. Helena Bonham Carter predictably prevailed for her role in The King's Speech, which didn't prevent champagne from flowing. Thus, on Monday I had to deal not only with my disappointment at Manville's loss but also with a splitting headache.
As for the rest of the ceremony, The King's Speech swept the awards taking home seven Baftas, including the Best Picture and the three acting trophies it was nominated for. While Geoffrey Rush's victory over Christian Bale can be considered a relative surprise, the real shock of the night came when The King's Speech also nabbed the award as the best British film of the year. Although it might seem logical for the Best Picture winner to be recognized as best British film, it is actually the first time that a film grabs both prizes, since the latter was mainly introduced to recognize more alternative, independent British productions. The fact that The King's Speech broke that unwritten rule on Sunday is a clear indication of the unconditional admiration the film has been able to awaken in award voters all around the world.
Back in Madrid, a Catalan-speaking film, Pa Negre, was named best picture of the year for the first time in Goya history. The film swept the Goyas with a total of 9 awards, including the directing, writing and four acting accolades. It didn't take long for the Spanish right-wing press to point at Catalan and gay lobbying (the film features a gay subplot) inside the Spanish Academy as responsible for the film's victory. Even if that ridiculous statement had any foundation (that is, if Catalan and gay members had massively voted for it because they could in one way or another relate to it), the film would still have been at a disadvantage, since there must necessarily be more straight Spanish-speaking Academy members if only because of pure statistics. Anyhow, ignorance must be ignored, so I won't elaborate on that.
Admittedly, I have been a little bit sluggish in reporting about what's going on in this pre-Oscar week, but with a full-time job on the side I really had to choose, so I've been actually watching films instead of writing about them these last few days.
Among them, I've seen two films that might pull off surprise wins on Sunday in the documentary and foreign film categories. The first one, Exit Through the Gift Shop, is street artist Bansky's fascinating documentary on the power of manipulation of art. You get out of the cinema without really knowing what is true and what is not, but the film is not less compelling or absorbing on account of that. I think it has excellent chances of beating official frontrunner Inside Job, the documentary about the financial crisis of 2007-2010.
The other film that might unexpectedly win on Sunday is Canada's entry in the Foreign Film category. Incendies is a masterfully crafted film based on Wajdi Mouawad's play, which is in itself an achievement, since there are no traces of the stagy origin of the film. Although Golden-Globe winner In A Better World or Iñárritu's Biutiful are the favourites on that race, I think the chances of Incendies must not be underestimated. I haven't seen Denmark's In A Better World yet, but Biutiful is an uneven, ultimately unsatisfying film that bites off much more than it can chew and that will be remembered only because of an immense central performance by the endlessly talented Javier Bardem.
Also this week, Amazon UK has diligently sent me the order I placed some days ago, which contains, among other things, Greece's Dogtooth, the notorious film that has managed to make the cut in the category against all odds. I'll watch it over the weekend to make my predictions in this ever-intriguing category on solid grounds.
In the meantime, I have seen nine out of the ten Best Picture nominees, the latest being True Grit, an extraordinary film featuring a peerless Jeff Bridges and an efficient performance by newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, and The Fighter, a classically crafted boxing drama that will probably take home the two acting awards for supporting players. While Christian Bale is almost a shoo-in for the supporting actor category (although I think Winter's Bone's John Hawkes should actually win), the supporting actress category is getting more and more exciting. Amy Adams and Melissa Leo are both nominated for The Fighter, and Leo should logically prevail (although I personally liked Adams' turn in the film better), if only because she has won almost every single precursor award on her way to the big night. A controversy about a self-promoting campaign, however, could cost her an Oscar she had almost in the bag, and therefore this category is right now open to anything. Well, maybe to anything except my dream, which would be Jacki Weaver's victory for her brilliant work as a criminal matriarch in Animal Kingdom. Helena Bonham Carter or Hailee Steinfeld look right now the most likely alternative to Leo, but voters might in the end forgive her faux pas and give her the Oscar anyhow.
Tonight I'll see 127 Hours and thus, for the first time in a long time, I'll come to Oscar night having watched all the important films in contention (with the exception of foreign film nominee In A Better Place, which I'm afraid I won't be able to see before Sunday ), so if I fail in my predictions (to come soon in the blog) it will all be my fault.
I'll keep you posted.
Reader Comments (2)
Exit Through The Gift Shop was fantastic. I hope it wins on Sunday to balance the fetish the Academy has for political documentaries. Plus, the possibility that it is all a huge set up just adds to the mystery that surrounds it. If it is a ruse the amount of preparation it must have taken, easily 3 or 4 years makes Banksy one of the greatest artists of this generation, streetwise or otherwise.
Joer Albert, cómo te lo curras...¡Bestial!