A retired cowboy, an animated magician and a resplendent kung-fu fighter walk into an Oscars orientated blog…
Unforgiven (1992) Tonight 21.00 ITV4 (4 wins from 9 noms)
Until 1992, Clint Eastwood hadn’t been too much of a bother to the Academy. Clearly not favouring his mexican standoffs, line of questioning to punks or his antics with apes, his trophy cabinet was probably adorned only with a Little League runners-up pendant from 1942 and a replica .44 Magnum (you know, the most powerful handgun in the world, which would blow your head clean off).
On clearly familiar turf and dusty sidewalks, his perennial Western Unforgiven changed all that and pistolled him into the realms of Hollywood’s most loved filmmakers.
It is fairly nuts and bolts stuff. Retired gunslinger persuaded out of retirement for one last mission. A corrupt sherif. Six-shooters. Stetsons. Saloons with swinging slatted doors. The whole caboodle. However, it is Unforgiven’s heart, as well as its redhot performances (Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman winning his second Oscar, Saul Rubinek and a delightfully hammy Richard Harris are all particularly pleasing) that make it standout as one of the all-time great cowboy flicks.
Eastwood picked up the big two prizes, Best Picture and Best Director, a feat he would repeat in 2004 for superior boxing melodrama Million Dollar Baby. He was nominated in both years for his lead performances too, losing out to Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman (HOO HA) and Jamie Foxx for Ray respectively.
The Illusionist (2010) Saturday 14.40 Thursday 08.00 & 18.30 Sky Indie (1 nom)
Clearly, it is a great time for silent black and white French films (or SBAWFs as they are rapidly becoming known). As I read recently in one of my favourite obnoxious blogs, silence is officially cool.
Not to be confused with the previousOscarfavouriteohfortheloveofGodwhycan’thebegoodagain Ed Norton vehicle The Illusionist (2006), The Illusionist was a year before its time. Nominated for Best Animation (and predictably beaten by Toy Story 3), it is the charming story of a charming but lonely magician.
Unlike the film itself though, the eponymous conjurer is truly behind the times. The rabbit-in-a-hat merchant can’t keep up with modern showmen and the progressive tastes of his core audience. He travels from Paris, to the highlands of Scotland, down to Edinburgh and on to London, to resurrect his waning star, with his trusty bunny and forming an unlikley relationship with a precocious young traveller.
Visually, The Illusionist is incredible. Each cityscape is meticulously detailed and familiar. Interiors and set-pieces carry forward all of the attention to detail of Belleville Rendezvous but, this time, with a coherent and touching story to match.
Sunday Afternoon Special
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) 13.30 Dave (4 wins from 10 noms)
Every few awards seasons, a foreign language film comes along and gives Hollywood a shaking of Louise Woodward magnitude (surely not still too soon?). These movies transcend their own category (conveniently, pigeon holing some of the world’s best cinema into an easy to manage 5 nominees), and manage to melt the icy hearts of the Academy members to win recognition for their other achievements.
Bergman and Fellini both managed it a couple of times. Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful (also on tonight on Sky Indie), much maligned for being over sentimental mush (and so right up Oscar’s strada), scored 3 wins including a memorably celebrated Best Actor win for its director. Guillermo Del Toro’s remarkably effect-laden Pan’s Labyrinth also won 3 in 2007. And this year’s Best Foreign Language winner A Separation from Iran, a deeply effecting and gritty portrayal of family difficulties and the domestic legal system, was nominated for Best Original Screenplay too.
But it is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that has made the biggest impact of any foreign language film, with 10 nominations. Although it lost out to Gladiator for Best Picture and Ang Lee would have to wait a further five years before picking up a Best Director statue for Brokeback Mountain, CT,HD’s (ABBREVIATION ALERT) arresting visuals and music (making up, frankly, for the bizarre story line) put no doubt in voters’ heads as to where the Best Art Direction-Set Direction, Cinematography and Original Score awards would be heading.
Enjoy
Bloscars
Bloscars 