Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 351-353: Hanks for the Memories

We continue our look at some of the biggest stars of the decade with somebody who has maintained their star presence over time. Initially a sitcom star, Tom Hanks moved to the big screen with hits such as Splash!, Dragnet and Punchline. Hanks was nominated for his first of five Best Actor awards for his role in the mostly comedic Big but it was his progression into drama that really saw him thrive. He won his first Best Actor award for his role as an AIDs-sufferer in Philadelphia and followed this up with appearances in three more Oscar nominated pictures.

In fact Hanks' first appearance in an Oscar-nominated film went on to win both Best Picture and the star's second Best Actor award. The film in question was Forrest Gump, a movie in which Hanks plays the titular simpleton who becomes part of some of the twentieth century's most important events. As this was my first time watching Forrest Gump I was in two-minds as I'd heard differing things about the quality of the film. Whilst some cite it as their favourite film, others view it as far too saccharine for their tastes but I sat somewhere in the middle. I wasn't a fan of the narrative device of having Gump tell his life story to other people whilst they wait for various buses. However this may be due to the fact that I'm a regular user of public transport and hate it whenever a stranger starts a conversation with me. Although the exploration of Forrest's childhood was necessary, especially in regards to his relationship with Jenny, I felt the pace lagged significantly at the start. It was only during his time in Vietnam and the introduction of Bubba and Lieutenant Dan that I warmed to both the character and the film as a whole. Though I wasn't overly charmed by all of Forrest's accomplishments I thought that the film was well-paced and that no segment really outstayed its welcome. Personally I felt the film was its best in the sequences featuring Jenny as they featured some of Forrest Gump's darkest moments. It was this balance of light and shade that Forrest Gump lacked and this is partly because the lead character doesn't always understand social situations. I don't think the final scenes of Forrest Gump tugged on my heartstrings as much as they probably should have done but I still think that this is an accomplished bit of film-making.

I do think that Forrest Gump would have fared better in an earlier decade as Robert Zemeckis' film has more than an air of Frank Capra about it. Most of the film's success is due to Hanks' central turn as he never turns Forrest into a caricature and instead makes the audience believe in his character's naivety. One of Hanks' best attributes is charm and he utilises this to great effect in order to make Forrest seem as likeable as possible. Hanks deals well with Eric Roth's screenplay and makes you really care about the character as the film progresses. I personally felt that Robin Wright's turn as Jenny was equally impressive and she deserved to be Oscar-nominated for her role in the film. She plays Jenny as somebody who has never really found her place in the world and experiments with various activities during the episode. One of the film's most memorable scenes was Jenny's attempted suicide and Wright brilliantly executed this uneasy moment. Wright and Hanks bounced well off one another, with the latter able to demonstrate another side to Forrest namely the anger that he produced every time that Jenny was in trouble. Gary Sinise added a little bit of comedy to the film as the self-hating Lieutenant Dan, who isn't given the death he wants due to Forrest's intervention. Sinise's brilliant turn in the film earned him a Supporting Actor nomination and I for one felt that was well-deserved. One of Forrest Gump's most groundbreaking elements was its use of CGI to successfully implant Forrest in a number of historical settings. Forrest's interaction with many of America's presidents was almost seamlessly executed and the visual effects team won an Oscar for their excellent work. I also loved the film's soundtrack which brought together the best musical aspects from each year in which the movie is set. Ultimately I can see why Forrest Gump's nostalgia appealed to the elderly members of the Academy and I was rather charmed by certain elements of the film. But I feel that there were better films released in the same year and therefore I think that Forrest Gump's shouldn't have received that year's Best Picture award.

Alongside his charm, one of Hanks' other great qualities his ability to make many of the characters he play feel down-to-Earth. For example, in Apollo 13, Hanks makes you care about Astronaut Jim Lovell almost instantly as the opening scene follows him interacting with friends and family at a moon landing party. Here Hanks shows that Jim is a likeable guy, who really cares about his wife and is also incredibly passionate about his job. Ron Howard's film feels almost like a drama documentary as it recounts in detail the ill-fated trip that Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise took in the titular vessel. What makes the film special is the way in which William Broyles, Jr. and Al Reinert's screenplay allows us to get to know the characters before they embark on their mission. Particular time is taken in establishing the relationship between Jim and his wife Marilyn, who becomes the emotional centre of the film following her husband's perils in space. We also learn about Swigert's playboy lifestyle and are made to care about original Apollo 13 crew-member Ken Mattingly who is let go after fears that he may infect the rest of the team. After getting to know the characters, Howard and the writers then propel us right into the spacecraft as we feel every inch of the fear that the astronauts experience. I personally was gripped right from the infamous 'Houston we have a problem' line to the trio's landing safely on Earth. The cramped confines of the lunar module were brilliantly recreated by the film's excellent production design team and were effectively utilised to make us experience the claustrophobic nature of the voyage. Similarly well-produced was the mission control centre, which was constructed at Universal Studios, and felt very convincing from the first time we saw it on screen. Along the way the film comments on the meanings of family, friendship and survival as well as looking at how the media are only interested in the seedier aspects of life.

The characters in Apollo 13 were splendidly brought to life by the film's ensemble cast all of whom injected plenty of personality into their roles. Hanks made you understand just why people were so ready to follow Jim's word and just how much of a family man he was. Hanks brought a likeability to the role and demonstrated how Lovell's fame hadn't made him either arrogant or selfish. Oddly, Hanks wasn't Oscar-nominated for his role here although two fellow cast members ranked up nods in the Supporting categories. As Lovell's wife Marilyn, Kathleen Quinlan was superb at tugging on the audience's heartstrings and conveying just how worried any woman would be in her situation. Even the real Marilyn praised Quinlan's turn and commented on how she made he remember the feelings that she experienced at the time. Ed Harris was also nominated for his role as the mission's Flight Director Gene Krantz, a part in which he undertook a lot of training in order to understand every piece of technical dialogue. I personally enjoyed Gary Sinise's turn here more than I did in Forrest Gump as he was able to employ more emotion as dejected astronaut Ken Matitngly. Sinise did a good job at portraying Mattingly's loyalty to his fellow astronauts as he returned to mission control to help ease the voyage home. Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon were similarly on form as the other two crew members with the latter being particularly impressive as the inexperienced playboy Swigert. The film's art direction and costume design were superb throughout whilst Dean Cundey's cinematography was incredibly involving and helped to capture the mood of the crew. Surprisingly Cundey's work on the film was one of the only categories in which Apollo 13 wasn't nominated. The film did win two awards, in the Sound and Editing categories, however I feel that it was deserving of more accolades. Although this was another Oscar nominee that harked back to the past, I felt that Apollo 13's honouring of recent history was well-executed. Indeed I feel that its combination of visual effects, character development and superb direction made it one of the best films of the decade and therefore a fitting Best Picture winner. Unfortunately this wasn't to be the case as another historical film would triumph at that year's ceremony.

Three years later, Hanks would star in another film set in the past in which he once again proved how he was a master at portraying normal men in extreme situations. His character in Saving Private Ryan, Captain John Miller, is revealed to be a smalltown teacher who wants to get back home to his loving wife. But, as we see throughout the film, Miller is reluctant to be seen as anything else than a Captain to a group of men who appear to thoroughly respect him. As the title would suggest, the film deals with the search for a Private Ryan, a young soldier who is due to return home after all of his brothers were killed in action. The film follows Miller's squad of men on a quest that some of them are sceptical about and question why they're putting their lives at risk to save one man. Joining Miller's squad is nervous cartographer Upham who is drafted in as an interpreter having previously never been in the field. As the film progresses, tensions fray as two members of the group are killed in very different circumstances. What I like about Robert Rodat's script is the way in which each of the squad members are given very different characteristics which in turn allows the audience to get to know them individually. I think this is especially rare for a war film as I've previously found that a lot of the supporting players are given very little development throughout. Whether it be the loyal Hovarth, the realist Reiben, the practical Wade or the wise-cracking 'Fish' everybody has their own unique style. When Ryan is finally tracked down he doesn't want to abandon his team and this sets up a truly memorable final battle scene as the American soldiers do their best to defend a bridge. What spoiled the film slightly for me was the opening and closing scenes in the military graveyard in which the elderly Ryan visits Miller's grave. These scenes felt a little out of place as they were a lot cornier than anything that had happened previously and put a blemish on the face of what was otherwise a masterful piece of film-making.

I first saw Saving Private Ryan at the cinema when I was fifteen and it completely blew me away. From the opening half-an-hour reconstruction of the D-Day Landings to the aforementioned final battle; Saving Private Ryan draws its audience in to the horrors of World War II. I found it to be incredibly realistic in is depiction of the soldiers all of whom were just doing what they could to survive. Their reactions to risking their lives to save one man made sense as did Reiben's later attempt to leave the mission altogether. Saving Private Ryan was also a stylish war film due to its use of saturated colours and the fact that some of it was shot using handheld cameras. Janusz Kamiński's excellent cinematography was rewarded with an Oscar and it's fair to say he earned it for the opening and closing scenes alone. The film's editing, sound editing and sound effects editing were similarly honoured and it's fair to say that Saving Private Ryan was a technical triumph. Meanwhile Steven Spielberg won his second Best Director Oscar for what I consider to be one of  his best ever films. If I was to give one criticism then it would be that it was a little too focused on the American efforts in the war and almost left out the other allied forces entirely. This criticism puts me in mind of the first ever Best Picture winner Wings, which similarly focused on how the Americans were the heroes in the First World War. As I previously mentioned, all of the members of Miller's troop were given distinctive personalities and they were brought to life by a brilliant group of character actors. Tom Sizemore and Edward Burns were captivating as Horvath and Reiben respectively whilst Adam Goldberg was perfect as the wise-cracking 'Fish'. I really enjoyed Jeremy Davies' performance as the rookie Upham, who was often astounded by the brutality of war. Matt Damon made the audience really care about Ryan's wellbeing in the final battle and his appearance really bolstered the latter part of the film. But ultimately this was all about Tom Hanks and I feel it's an outrage that he didn't win his third Oscar for the film. From the first time he arrives on screen, Hanks is utterly believable as a man who is forced into a leadership role and who is currently trying to cope with an uncertain future. Along with Hanks' snub, the film itself missed out on a rightful Best Picture win as Private Ryan is ultimately a modern-day masterpiece which should have won every award going.

Next time we stay in the past with a murder mystery set in 1950s California.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 332-333: Kate's Greats

In the last post we looked at two of Emma Thompson's performances from Best Picture nominees of the early 1990s but unbeknownst to us she was also busy scribbling off screen. That's because, for the best part of five years, Thompson had been adapting Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility after being hired for the project by producer Lindsay Doran. Thompson had initially wanted Natasha and Joely Richardson to play sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood but instead the studio wanted her to play Elinor. This meant having to alter the character's age from nineteen to twenty-seven in order to make Thompson's appearance in the part convincing. Thompson would go on to win her second Academy Award for the screenplay and be nominated for a third Best Actress for her role as Elinor. But it's the actress who played Marianne that we turn our attention to as she forms the basis of this next double bill.

The actress in question is Kate Winslet who was just nineteen when she appeared in Sense and Sensibility and earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination as a result. Winslet's road to the part was a rocky one as she was initially due to audition for the smaller role of Lucy Steele. But when she arrived at the audition she played dumb and read for Marianne, instantly captivating the panel and winning the part. However, her casting in the film was not without criticism primarily from director Ang Lee who felt that her performance in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures was too over-the-top. In order for her to be convincing in the role, Lee wanted her to act more gracefully so encouraged her to read poetry and learn to play the piano. The result was a scene-stealing performance as the reckless middle Dashwood sister who falls head-over-heels for the dashing John Willoughby. Even in the earlier scenes Winslet excels at conveying quiet disdain for her step-brother's wife Fanny who is basically evicting them from their own home. Winslet easily conveys Marianne's transformation from brash stroppy teenager to a more mature character as she finally falls for the stable Colonel Brandon. Emma Thompson's own performance really tied everything together and I didn't for a minute have a problem with the way that Elinor was substantially aged to suit Thompson. Indeed the fact that Elinor was practically considered a spinster was incorporated into Thompson's script and worked perfectly well in the overall story. As the dreadful Fanny, Harriet Walter gave an incredibly awful turn and triumphed in providing the majority of the film's comedy. Meanwhile Gemma Jones and Emilie François, as Mrs Dashwood and Margaret respectively, shone in their limited screen time. In comparison to their female counterparts, the male actors were a little subdued but that might have something to do with the characters they were playing. Apparently Thompson wrote the role of Edward Ferrars with Hugh Grant in mind but I feel the pair didn't share enough chemistry to convince me of their on screen romance. Similarly, as Col Brandon, Alan Rickman's chemistry with Winslet lacked any spark though he was convincing as an emotionally reserved soldier. Of the male leads, only Greg Wise put in a convincing turn as the dashing Willoughby as he made you understand why Marianne fell for him so much. Interestingly it was actually Thompson who fell for Wise in real life with the pair eventually marrying some years later.

Both Doran and Thompson wanted Sense and Sensibility to have far-reaching appeal and never wanted it to be viewed as just another costume drama. I definitely felt that Sense and Sensibility was more accessible than both Howard's End and The Remains of the Day which at times were a little bit too rigid for their own good. One of the ways the pair achieved their goal was for Thompson to simplify some of the dialogue so the themes would be more relatable for a modern-day audience. Doran's goal was for the film to appeal to lovers of romantic comedy and I feel that Thompson's script for Sense and Sensibility does indeed have those sorts of elements. Another way Doran gained global appeal for the film was in the hiring of South Korean director Ang Lee, who had never heard of Jane Austen prior to his appointment. But, after reading Thompson's script, he realised his previous film The Wedding Banquet had a lot in common with Austen's story. Lee certainly added a lot of elegance to the piece but was able to incorporate some of his own stylistic qualities to the exterior scenes which made Sense and Sensibility feel a lot more open than the stuffier Merchant Ivory pictures. Costume designers, and Merchant Ivory stalwarts, John Bright and Jenny Bevan provided plenty of distinctive outfits for each individual character. Meanwhile composer Patrick Doyle's score provided a suitable accompaniment to a film that felt a lot more contemporary than a lot of other Victorian dramas. Sense and Sensibility was a film I remember watching on VHS both at home and in a Year 9 English Lesson but a the time I don't think I appreciated the quality of the film in the way I do now. Sense and Sensibility ultimately came across as a labour of love for all those involved and was a film that definitely deserved the seven Oscars it was nominated for. Meanwhile Winslet's role in the film saw her become a breakout star and for the first time was a recognisable presence in the film industry.

But Winslet really became a big name after starring in a film that still holds the title of being the largest grossing film of all time and the recipient of eleven Oscars including one for Best Picture. Obviously I'm talking about Titanic and, just like in Sense and Sensibility, Winslet fought hard to get the lead role of Rose. Her tactics included sending several letters and a rose to James Cameron which led to a screen test and an eventual part in this monumental movie. You couldn't grow up in the late 1990s and not know something about Titanic but I have to admit that I've never watched it all the way through. I've caught bits of it on the TV occasionally but I always thought that three hours focusing solely on one movie was too much. I do however remember the commotion that was caused after the BBC revealed that they were going to air Kate Winslet's tame topless scene before the watershed. The scene, in which Rose is painted nude by Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack, is incredibly quick and also is vital to the overall plot. Indeed it is in the discovery of this drawing that the elderly Rose is reunited with the Titanic which is currently being investigated by treasure hunter Brock Lovett. The main story of Titanic is Rose's memories of her time on the ill-fated ship and the brief romance she shared with the commoner Jack Dawson. It was this romance between upper class Rose and lower class Jack that captured the imaginations of the audience. Indeed, I remember some of the girls in my class at school going to see the film two or three times with DiCaprio gaining pin-up status as a result. But I personally never brought into the central romance and as a result the majority of Titanic fell flat for me. Part of the problem for this was the wafer-thin characterisation that was afforded to the central couple but partly both actors were to blame. Winslet showed none of the maturity or discipline of her performance in Sense and Sensibility whilst DiCaprio struggled to hold the film together. Another issue I had was with Cameron's script, particularly the fact that the film shows some of Jack's scenes without Rose even though it's meant to be her narrating it. Thankfully Cameron's script was one of the elements of the film that wasn't included in Titanic's massive haul of nominations.

Despite my reservations about the film's narrative and central performances; there's no denying that Titanic is one of the most ascetically magnificent films of all time. The second half of the film, which focuses on the ship's sinking, was definitely the most compelling and allowed Cameron to demonstrate why the film was the most expensive of all time. Using a combination of scale models, computer imagery and a full-scale replicate of the ship; Cameron's vision for Titanic was more than realised when the project was complete. Every scene of the film looks fantastic from the elegant upper-decks to the rat-infested rooms in which Jack and his friends find themselves. The costumes are realistically recreated and James Horner's haunting score remains one of cinema's most recognisable. While we're on music it would be amiss of me not to mention one of Titanic's most famous attributes, Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will go On'. At the time it was hard to escape the song and there's no denying that it's still one of the most famous film theme tunes. Russell Carpenter's cinematography came alive during the film's second half as he allowed the camera to survey the sinking ship and immersed the audience into the action. The way the camera follows Jack and Rose as they hurtle down the water-logged corridors is simply fantastic as is the manner in which he zooms over the lifeless bodies that have frozen in the cold water. These scenes in particular add to the realism of the film and it was interesting to note that many of the cast members got terribly ill as a result of spending days in the freezing water. Although I wasn't wowed by the central performances some of the supporting cast members brought their characters to life. As the 'unsinkable' Molly Brown, Kathy Bates brought some much needed fun to the film whilst Bernard Hill's facial expressions as the ship's Captain were fantastic. I also enjoyed Victor Garber's turn as the ship's architect and felt his apology to Rose in particular was quite moving. But for me it was Gloria Stuart, as the older version of Rose, who stole the show and I was transfixed by her moving turn at the beginning and end of the film. Ultimately I'm not surprised that Titanic won Best Picture as it is one of the most visually engaging films that you'll ever see. That being said I was never really caught up in the narrative of the film and to me this is a film that's all about the visuals rather than the story itself.

Next time we depart from the fancy costumes of yesteryear and check in on what was going on in Britain during the 1990s.