Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 409: Here's to you Mrs. Dalloway

As we've seen throughout the course of this blog, plenty of Oscar nominees and winners been based on well-known pieces of literature. However, the next film on hour list; 2003 nominee The Hours is rather uniquely inspired by Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway. David Hare's adaptation of Michael Cunningham's novel focuses on three women who are all touched by the book in different ways.

The first story concentrates on Woolf herself as she begins to write Mrs. Dalloway in 1923 whilst at the same time dealing with her various emotional issues. The second story is set in suburban Los Angeles during the early 1950s and deals with Laura Brown who is reading Mrs. Dalloway. Finally, in modern day New York, Clarissa Vaughan is planning a party for her dying poet friend Richard who refers to her as Mrs. Dalloway. Despite their disparate time lines and settings; all of the three women who The Hours concentrates on have plenty of similarities. All of three are suffering from mental problems of all kinds; with Virginia struggling with her countryside surroundings, Laura considering suicide and Claudia busying herself with party planning to blot out her insecurities. All three women also have feelings for the same sex whether it be on show, such as Claudia's lesbian relationship with her long term partner, or kept behind closed doors. What I liked about Hare's screenplay was the fact that he kept all three storylines ticking along nicely and made sure that we didn't forget about any one thread. If I'm honest, the least interesting of the three stories was that of Woolf herself who was a little bit too precious to ever care about that much. I enjoyed the subtlety of the Laura storyline and its exploration of the dark underbelly of 1950s suburbia. Meanwhile, Claudia's tale was full of regret and had a rather shocking scene towards the end of it. One element of the final scenes I wasn't particularly keen on was the way that Claudia and Laura's scenes linked together however it did make sense to the overall tale.

Interestingly all three of The Hours' lead actresses were nominated at that year's ceremony however only two of them were representing that film. Despite giving the weakest turn of the three, Nicole Kidman's portrayal of Virginia Woolf netted her that year's Best Actress prize. I would agree with those who theorised that the reason that she was given the award was for putting on a prosthetic nose that made her look only slightly detracted from her overall beauty. Kidman did little to make me care about the Woolf scenes which only perked up with the arrival of Miranda Richardson as her lively sister. Even though she was on screen longer, Julianne Moore was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her tender portrayal of Laura Brown; a woman who was on the verge of ending it all. Moore was also nominated for Best Actress that year for a similar turn in Far From Heaven however I think her performance in The Hours was slightly better. Oddly the best performance of the trio, which came from Meryl Streep, failed to garner a nomination with the actress instead being recognised for her turn in Adaptation. I think that Streep delivered one of her greatest performances as the bisexual Claudia who was hanging on to the one summer she spent with the love of her life, Richard. As Richard, Ed Harris was a revelation and I feel that he should have won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar that year that ultimately went to Streep's Adaptation co-star Chris Cooper. Aside from the fine performances and well-paced plot, Philip Glass' ever-present score deserves a mention even if it did make some of the scenes feel slightly overblown. This was my first time watching The Hours and I have to admit that I rather liked it even if Kidman's scenes as Woolf bored me a little. It was great to see a female-centric tale garner so much acclaim and I found it to be an easy-to-watch, well-written film.

Next time we return to the work of a director who had somewhat of a resurgence in the early 21st century.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 325: When Irish Eyes Aren't Smiling

Throughout the course of these 1990s entries I've been commenting on my awareness of the majority of the films that were nominated for Best Picture throughout the decade. The only thing I really knew about The Crying Game before watching it was the big twist which at the time really made headlines. In fact I even remember it being referenced in at least one episode of The Simpsons and it was brought up during Billy Crystal's opening song at that year's Oscar ceremony. Even though it's over twenty years since The Crying Game was released I still don't want to spoil the surprise for those of you who haven't watched it. What I was surprised about was how little said shock influenced the overall movie and how much the focus was on Stephen Rea's IRA volunteer Fergus rather than Jaye Davidson's hairdresser Dill. In fact Davidson doesn't appear until the second half of the film and instead the first section focuses on Fergus' group of IRA terrorists capturing English soldier Jody. After a member of their group Jude seduces Jody at a fun fair they hold him hostage promising to release him if their demands are met. During that time Jody and Fergus become close as they discuss cricket and learn more about one another. But ultimately it's decided that Jody has to be killed and that Fergus will be the one to do it. Despite running from Fergus, Jody still dies and Fergus heads to London to inform his girlfriend Dill. Fergus is almost instantly drawn to Dill and instead of telling her about his involvement in Jody's death pursues her himself. However once he finds out her aforementioned secret he is shocked and distances himself from her but eventually realises that she's put some sort of spell on him. But when Jude finally catches up with him he realises he'll have to choose between his old life and his new relationship with Dill.

The Crying Game is almost a film that is split into two halves with the scenes in Northern Ireland and those in London feeling incredibly different. I wasn't a massive fan of the Northern Ireland scenes as they were fairly dull and mainly consisted of conversations between Jody and Fergus. It was only when Jody was killed that things started to get interesting and Fergus' trip to London was certainly a surprising one. Ian Wilson's cinematography really captured the vibrant London that Dill and her friends inhabit which is why I think I enjoyed these scenes a lot more. Jaye Davidson's first appearance on screen also makes the film a little more glamorous and her live performance of the film's title track is probably The Crying Game's most iconic scene. Neil Jordan's script deals perfectly with the themes of sexuality as Fergus struggles to comprehend his feelings towards Dill. I felt that Stephen Rea perfectly conveyed these feelings and it was his performance that perfectly brought both parts of the film together. In addition to the focus on sexuality, The Crying Game deals with the racial tension especially when the character of Jody is on screen. I felt that Forest Whitaker put in a memorable turn as the soldier and felt his English accent was utterly convincing. Miranda Richardson also provided great support as the aggressive femme fatale Jude who is able to ensnare Jody in the film's opening scene. The problem I had with The Crying Game as a whole was that it never really grabbed me either narratively or visually. I think I've been spoilt by the last couple of films I've watched which have been visually superb and as a result The Crying Game came off a little short in comparison. That being said it wasn't without its charm as it was an easy to watch film with a number of fine performances and had a lot to say about sexuality and race. Despite initially just getting a UK release, the controversial film was later picked up by production company Miramax and was one of the first movies the group launched in the USA. As a result of Miramax's support, The Crying Game picked up six Oscar nominations and this certainly would be the last example of Harvey Weinstein's production company influencing the academy awards.

Next time I focus on the first two Best Picture nominees that I ever watched at the cinema.