Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 427-428: Kathryn's War

It's been over five years since I started my quest to track down and watch every film nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. My challenge started just after the 2010 ceremony and since then we've had another five ceremonies. Although I contemplated finishing off where I started, I eventually decided to explore what the modern day Oscar field looks like. This is especially relevant as, from the 2010 ceremony onwards; Oscar changed the number of nominees from five to ten. Two years later the rules were changed again allowing the Academy to choose between five and ten films meaning that they weren't forced to select movies that maybe didn't feel like they deserved to be amongst the best of the year. So without further ado we start with two films from the director of the first Best Picture winner of this decade and somebody whose win for directing the film was a history-making moment.

The person in question was Kathryn Bigelow who became the first woman ever to win the Best Director Oscar. Oddly, in the seventy plus years of the Oscars only four women including Bigelow were nominated which tells you something about the sexism that surrounds the film industry in general. It's also interested that the film Bigelow won the Oscar for is a fairly macho affair and features very few female characters throughout. The Hurt Locker is based on journalist Mark Boal's experiences living and interviewing members of the army in 2004. Boal, who won an Oscar for the film's screenplay, interviewed over 1,000 officers before beginning his work on the film. The film's protagonist is Sergeant First Class William James, a talented but reckless bomb disposal expert who joins a three man bomb disposal team who are nearing the completion of their time in Iraq. The film follows the team throughout their last days in the country with James' colleague Sergeant Sanborn getting more frustrated with his superior's lack of compliance to regulations. The third member of the team, Specialist Owen Eldridge, is portrayed as somebody who is desperate to get home and is regularly visited by the Camp's doctor. After several incidents, which include Eldridge getting his leg shot off, the team finish their rotation however Boal's lasting message is that some soldiers can't leave war behind. Indeed the film starts with the message that 'war is a drug' and concludes with James returning to Iraq after finding that he can't cope with the mundane nature of his regular domestic life. This final scene is a little jarring to me as I never quite knew whether The Hurt Locker was an anti-war or pro-war film. The characters of Eldridge and Sanborn represent soldiers who want to get home and the latter in particular voices his need to get more out of life. At the same time the portrayal of the majority of the Iraqis as 'the enemy' makes this feel more like the recently recent American Sniper than something like Apocalypse Now.

Along with this odd balance of pro and anti-war sentiment, The Hurt Locker's other issue is that it doesn't really have a story to speak of. Instead the film is made up of a series of incidents that are strung together through the trio of characters who grow on you throughout the course of the film. James is a particularly memorable character who is initially portrayed as arrogant but later comes through for his team. His relationship with a young Iraqi boy known as 'Beckham' is also touching which explains his reaction when he thinks that the youngster has been used as a body bomb. Jeremy Renner's performance as James is very naturalistic and adds to the whole documentary-like feel of the film. This seems to have been Bigelow's intention as she cast three relative unknowns in the roles of James, Sanborn and Eldridge. What I liked most about The Hurt Locker was the fact that it at times it didn't feel like I was watching a fictional film at all. Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd's use of 16mm cameras meant that the audience were able to look at multiple angles at once. Bigelow wanted us to get multiple perspectives during the film's many set pieces and I certainly feel this is one thing that the film achieved. Particularly memorable was one of the film's final scenes in which James is unable to detach a bomb from an innocent Iraqi man before it is detonated. The Hurt Locker really doesn't feel like any other Best Picture winner as its focus on realism over story is something knew. The only Best Picture winner it resembles is Platoon and even that had more of a focus on story than The Hurt Locker. To me this almost validates the Academy's decision to extend the Best Picture category especially if we're going to get films that play more towards realism than fiction. It's also great to see Bigelow, who did a fantastic job anchoring the film, being the first woman to pick up an award that has had only male recipients up to this point. Here's hoping that more female directors are honoured in the years to come and that Bigelow's victory isn't just a one-off.

Bigelow's next film, Zero Dark Thirty, was also in the Best Picture field although she herself wasn't nominated for director. Again the film focused on a modern day war setting, this time the War on Terror with the lead characters on the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Although it possessed quite macho themes, Zero Dark Thirty's lead character was young CIA officer Maya. The film followed Maya from meek rookie to Osama obsessive as gradually the hunt for the terrorist mastermind engulfed her life. Originally the film was going to focus on the fruitless search for Osama straight after the World Trade Centre attacks however, following the capture and death of Bin Laden, Bigelow and Boal had to go back to square one. That to me is why the film feels incredibly fragmented with the first ninety minutes featuring Maya's attempts to get close to Osama's associates. It's a frustrating watch as every time Maya feels like she's getting somewhere she hits a brick wall or finds her plans wrapped up in red tape. The second part of the film sees Maya transported back to Washington after an attempt on her life in Pakistan as we watch her fight against the system again. The final third, which focuses exclusively on the army's hunt for and eventual murder of Bin Laden, feels almost tacked on to the end. Although this is where the film is at its tensest, this final half an hour is separate from the rest of the film save a few shots of Maya that appear to have been thrown in for continuity. The fragmented feel of Zero Dark Thirty is slightly off-putting at times and whilst all three sections are well-made they don't quite fit together. The scenes with Maya back in Washington are a particular drag and are only saved by James Gandolfini's appearance as the CIA's Director.

Despite my problems with the uneven structure of the film I think that Zero Dark Thirty is a step up on The Hurt Locker due to the fact that it has a proper story. As it's based on true events you know what we're building up to even though you're not quite sure what's going to happen on the way there. Boal and Bigelow punctuate the shocks well as there are several jump-out-of-you-seat moments such as when Maya and fellow CIA analyst Jessica experience a terror attack at a restaurant. In addition I felt I knew the character of Maya more so than I did any of the trio of bomb disposers in The Hurt Locker. Maya's progression from slightly nervous analyst to confident woman who isn't afraid to stand up to the CIA director is told well by Boal. The character is enhanced by Jessica Chastain's fantastic performance which earned her a Best Actress nomination. Chastain brilliantly conveys all of Maya's strengths and weaknesses which means that you start to feel for her as the film goes on. The fact that Chastain all but vanishes once the hunt for Bin Laden begins is one of the problems with the film for me. However I think she manages to save it right at the end with a tender moment as she boards a plane having finally succeeded in bringing down her nemesis. The supporting cast is almost universally fantastic with special mention going to Mark Strong, Jennifer Ehle and Joel Edgerton. Zero Dark Thirty's other big plus point is Greig Fraser's cinematography which employs a similar documentary-feel to Barry Ackroyd's camera work in The Hurt Locker. This is especially relevant in the final section of the film as you feel at times like you're part of the team who are being used to hunt down Osama. Zero Dark Thirty didn't have nearly as much success as The Hurt Locker did and only managed to win one award in the Sound Editing category. In fact this wasn't even a universal victory as the Zero Dark Thirty team found themselves tied with the sound effects team from the Bond film Skyfall. I do think it's a shame that Zero Dark Thirty wasn't as well-regarded by the Academy as The Hurt Locker as I believe it's a superior film. Despite my problems with the structure I think the characters, performances and story are stronger than Bigelow's Oscar-winning endeavour.

But one thing you can say without a doubt is that Bigelow broke through the barrier and will always be remembered for being the first female Best Director winner. Unfortunately, since her win no other women have been nominated despite several female-helmed projects featuring in the Best Picture category. I do feel this balance needs to be addressed soon and I'm hoping it won't be long before somebody joins Bigelow in the female Best Director winner's club.

Next time we explore the work of a male director who had three films in the Best Picture category in the space of only four years.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 354: Keeping it Hush-Hush

As I've commented in previous posts, by the 1990s many films that were nominated for Best Picture were set in the past. This is certainly true of the next film on our list, Curtis Hanson's L.A. Confidential, which concentrated on 1950s Los Angeles. The film was adapted by Hanson and Brian Helgeland from the novel by James Elroy, with the pair boiling down a lot of the story to focus on three prominent characters. Those characters were Police Officers Jack Vincennes, Bud White and Ed Exley all of whom initially come into contact with one another during a Christmas brawl at the police station. Each man has a fatal flaw to his personality that makes it impossible for the audience to truly warm to them. Exley is incredibly ambitious, White flies off the handle too easily and the smooth Vincennes is more interested in the fame that his job allows. In fact Vincennes often aides magazine editor Sid Hudgens to track down exclusives for his tabloid rag 'Hush-Hush' and also offers advice on cop show 'Badge of Honor'. All three men are later involved in investigating the Nite Owl Killings which resulted in the death of six people at a local restaurant. Initially thought to be the work of a group of low-level criminals, further digging exposes prominent members of the Los Angeles community. The investigation also leads to a relationship between White and prostitute Lynn Bracken, who is one of many sex-workers who have been made over to look like famous movie stars. Through her relationship with White, Bracken hopes to be seen more as herself and less like somebody who looks like Veronica Lake. Hanson and Helgeland certainly craft an interesting story which has plenty of twists and turns along the way. But more than that they make you care about a trio of men who initially come across as unlikeable but are vindicated later when they decide to expose the truth. I did feel that the ending of the film was a little drawn out but nevertheless L.A. Confidential was a satisfying watch and harked back to plenty of films from the time. 

I certainly do feel that Hanson's inspiration for the film was the noir films of the 1940s as well as later offerings to the genre, most notably the L.A.-based Chinatown. Just like with Roman Polanski's film, L.A. Confidential makes the titular film the star of the show as Dante Spinotti's cinematography beautifully captures the Californian scenery of the time. The film's production design is excellent as it convincingly takes you back to a world of both sumptuous glamour and sleazy undertones. Jerry Goldsmith's fantastic score perfectly complements the film's storytelling with its jazzy notes evoking memories of the era. The film is bolstered with a trio of fine central performances, two of which came from men who were relative unknowns in North America at the time. Australian Guy Pearce had made his name on TV soap Neighbours before graduating to films courtesy of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of The Desert. But his role as Ed Exley was certainly his big break as he captured the spirit of a man who was looking to climb the ladder of the police force by any means necessary. Pearce's clean-cut features, which were perfectly offset by a pair of glasses, made him the perfect poster boy for the police force but his facial expression also made the audience constantly mistrust his motives. New Zealander Russell Crowe had achieved similar success to Pearce in Australia with his role in Romper Stomper convincing Hanson that he'd be perfect as the brutish Bud White. Crowe demonstrated a certain intensity throughout the film but was similarly convincing at displaying Bud's more intelligent side. I'm not surprised that his enigmatic turn in this film propelled Crowe into the mainstream and as a result made him one of the biggest movie stars of the new millennium. The more famous Kevin Spacey was perfectly utilised as the charming Vincennes as he gave a charismatic turn as the celebrity policeman. The only Oscar nominee, and eventual winner, among the cast was Kim Basinger who gave a sensitive turn as faded beauty Lynn. Brilliant support was provided by Danny DeVito as the sleazy magazine editor and James Cromwell as the mighty Captain Dudley Smith. 

I'm not surprised that L.A. Confidential was nominated for an Oscar as it provided the perfect nostalgia trip for the Academy members. But at the same time Hanson's film didn't wallow in 1950s nostalgia and instead presented L.A. as a scandalous city in which anybody could be manipulated. The film was rightfully rewarded with a Best Screenplay Oscar and was the early favourite to win Best Picture before a certain ship steam-rolled its way to victory. But L.A. Confidential is definitely a well-rounded film which is great to look at, boasts an incredible cast and has an involving story from beginning to end. 

Next time we watch two films featuring an actor who finally won the Oscar he should rightfully have received in the 1970s.