Jeff
Bridges in True Grit: Why did the Oscars snub a movie
recognized
as being in the great tradition of American film?
Cinematório, Brazil
Oscar Turns its Back on
American Film
"The Academy
sent American cinema to the gallows at the 83rd Academy
Awards. Amongst the ten major nominees, we can name at
least two that aren't only great, but are genuinely representative of American film:
True Grit, and The Social Network. ... True Grit leaves as a greatest victim of injustice, with its pockets empty."
The Academy sent American cinema to
the gallows at the 83rd Academy Awards. Amongst the ten major nominees,
we can name at least two that aren't only great, but are genuinely representative of
American film: True Grit,
an old-fashioned Western, practically a homage to the most American of genres,
and The Social
Network, which is on a very current topic and deconstructs the
protagonist of a typical American story. And they were films directed by
exponents of a generation of American filmmakers: David Fincher and
brothers Joel and Ethan Coen.
But the Academy decided to pass over
Fincher and the Coen brothers and awarded The King’s Speech,
an English film that only deserved the Best Actor Oscar for Colin Firth - about a
chapter in British history clumsily directed by a distinguished unknown, Tom Hooper.
The Oscars, which are always considered the grand celebration of American
Cinema, opted to work the political field once again. When Steven Spielberg took
the stage to announce the winner [watch below], he seems to have anticipated
(on his own or following the teleprompter, I'm not sure) the need to excuse the
losers. "Either way, congratulations. You're in really good company ..."
He knows this, because he lost to Shakespeare in Love in 1999 [His Saving
Private Ryan was nominated]. On both occasions, Harvey Weinstein was
in the audience and burst out laughing. The video
that preceded the delivery of the award was the perfect elegy, since Firth's
character gave his speech at the end of the film (by the way, virtually all
of the finales of the nominated films were shown - damn the spoilers!), beginning with "in this grave hour ..."
Further proof that the Academy had snubbed
the quality of movies made at home: Francis Ford Coppola
was honored with what is called Career Achievement Award, but the director of Apocalypse
Now, The Godfather and The Conversation was put in the back
of the audience at the Kodak Theater. Even worse, he wasn't given the chance to
give a speech when he appeared on stage alongside Eli Wallach and Kevin Brownlow, who were
also honored (Jean-Luc
Godard didn't waste his time and preferred to stay home). Their live living
presence gave a little more emphasis to the tribute, which last year came down
to a clip of the dinner for the honor. But it ended up sounding disrespectful
anyway.
The ceremony itself was more dynamic
than in recent years, with performances higher than expected from presenters James Franco and Anne Hathaway
(in particular, she had much more presence of mind than her stage partner, and
could have easily done the job alone). The opening clip à laBilly Crystal (who
returned to the Oscar for a mini stand-up [watch video below]) was very well done
and written. But the music
video, even if it was funny, seemed more suited for the MTV Movie Awards
(it was even entitled Twilight). And the end with children's choir,
despite it being a bit tacky, was nice, especially with the coming together of all
the winners. The idea was good; but the cast is what might have been better.
But hey, Natalie Portman won. This alone would have made the night worthwhile.
Waste Land didn't win
anything, which was fair. All the hype here in Brazil created around the film was
because the mainstream media loves this sort of thing, but it was expected that
Inside Job
would win. After all, since the Bush era, the documentary category has become an Oscar’s political moment. A film about a
financial crisis that has rocked the United States had to have been the pick of
the moment.
Final score: The King’s Speech
won four Academy Awards, ties with Inception
(which in my opinion, only deserved the award for visual effects and perhaps,
best original screenplay). True Grit leaves as the greatest victim of
injustice, with its pockets empty.
