David O Russell is a director who certainly has had an interesting career. Although his early films met with critical approval they never really bothered the Box Office or the Oscars. That all changed in 2010 when he started to be a big feature of the Oscar calendar, earning three Best Director nominations over four years. The films themselves all had different subject matter but were tied together by a number of fine performances from a set of actors that Russell was seemingly able to get the best from.
One actor who I feel Russell nurtured to an extent was Mark Wahlberg who appeared in his 1999 film Three Kings and later in the bizarre I Heart Huckabees. Russell and Wahlberg's third collaboration saw the director's first success at The Oscars with Wahlberg giving a tremendous performance as Micky Ward in The Fighter. Following in the footsteps of Raging Bull, The Fighter is a film about a boxer with a troubled family life. But unlike other films it's not the boxer himself whose troubled but rather his brother in this case drug addicted former star Dicky Ecklund. Alongside his mother Alice, Dicky feels he knows what's best for Micky however his trust in his family looks to be his downfall. Micky is to extent saved by his new love Charlene who helps him to believe in himself and helps him assemble a new management team. I personally liked this take on the sports movie where in the boxer himself lacks confidence partly due to it being emotionally knocked out of him by certain family members. As the film progresses, The Fighter does lapse into familiar territory as we are treated to a montage of Micky's various winning fights. The film also ends rather predictably with Micky competing in a championship match with all of his family members by his side. However I don't think The Fighter ever slips into Rocky territory with Russell maintaining a sense of realism due to the participation of several real life characters playing themselves in the film. I personally liked the final credits sequence in which the real Micky and Dicky voiced their pleasure about seeing their life story captured on film but were seemingly glad the experience was over.
In my opinion, Wahlberg was the star here as he gave a measured performance as the fighter who wanted a quiet life. Whilst everybody else was shouting around him, Wahlberg kept his cool and perfectly portrayed Micky's gentle nature. The fact that Wahlberg wasn't even nominated for a Best Actor award is a travesty in my eyes especially as he was the only member of the central cast not to feature among that year's nominees. Christian Bale's portrayal of Dicky won him the Best Supporting Actor award and in my eyes this was more than deserved. Bale's manic energy gave the audience the impression of a once successful man who's life had been ruined by drugs. Bale was similarly great at portraying Dicky's rehabilitation and his final realisation that his brother needed everybody by his side. For her performance as matriarchal Alice, Melissa Leo also won an Oscar although I'm not quite sure that her win was as deserved as Bale's. Leo really didn't show me much during the course of the film and I found her to be a little annoying at points. In fact if there was to be a Supporting Actress winner from The Fighter I feel it should have been Amy Adams, who cast off her good girl image to portray the feisty Charlene. Although I'm a sucker for a feel-good sports film, I think The Fighter was a step above the average boxing movie. That's because it contained real emotion thanks to the relationship between Micky and his family. Whilst I don't think The Fighter could ever have won the Best Picture prize, I believe it definitely deserved its place as one of that year's ten nominees.
After directing a sports movie, Russell's next project was thematically different from The Fighter although it did share his previous film's themes of triumphing against adversity. Russel both directed and adapted Silver Linings Playbook which began life as a novel by Matthew Quick. When I first watched Silver Linings Playbook I was quite dismissive of it, primarily as I'd felt it had lost a lot of the subtlety of Quick's novel. However, watching it the second time around I believe I enjoyed it a lot more and found it to be a quirky and charming romantic comedy. I can also appreciate how hard a story it is to adapt seeing as its lead character, bipolar former teacher Pat, isn't particularly likeable. I thought that Russell did well to turn Pat into a sympathetic character albeit one who is prone to random outbursts and has tendency to talk over other people. It's clear though that the character Russell cares most about is Tiffany, the young wife of a late police officer who Pat knows through mutual friends. Tiffany convinces Pat to be her dance partner at an upcoming competition in return for getting a letter to his estranged wife who currently has a restraining order out against him. As soon as Pat and Tiffany start dancing together you know exactly what the end result will be but I think the Russell paces out the film well enough that getting there is a fun ride. Although I don't think Russell perfectly captures the essence of Pat in this screen version I still think he did an admirable job. To that end I do believe that if I hadn't have read Quick's book then I think I would've enjoyed Russell's film a lot more.
As I previously noted, Russell is somebody who is able to get the best performances out of his actors and Silver Linings Playbook was no exception. In fact the film became the first to be nominated in all four acting categories since Warren Beatty's Reds in the early 1980s. Of these nominees only Jennifer Lawrence, who played Tiffany, ultimately triumphed becoming one of the youngest Best Actress winners in the process. When she was first cast, Russell believed that Lawrence was too young for the role of the widowed Tiffany and I'd be inclined to agree. Although she portrays her character's experiences well, I didn't ever fully by into Lawerence as Tiffany. Part of the problem is the seventeen year age gap between Lawrence and co-star Bradley Cooper as they just look odd when they're on screen together. Additionally I think that Lawrence should have scooped the Oscar the year before for a more measured turn than the one she gave in Silver Linings Playbook. I think Lawrence has been better elsewhere but I can see why the Academy honoured in the year she played somebody with mental health problems. Cooper himself anchored his manic energy well and by the end of the film made me actually care about Pat. Silver Linings Playbook also revived Robert DeNiro's career as he received a Supporting Actor nomination for playing Pat Sr., his first nod since the 1992 ceremony. De Niro toned down his normal screen persona to play a father who found it hard to get emotional with his troubled son. I'm not quite sure why Jacki Weaver was nominated for her role as Pat's mum as, while she was good, there was nothing about her performance that screamed Oscar nomination. It's fair to say that I definitely enjoyed Silver Linings Playbook a lot more the second time around and found it to be a charming and well-paced romantic comedy. At the same time Silver Linings Playbook never really feels like an Oscar film and I still contend that Lawrence has been a lot better than she was in the film that ultimately won her her Oscar.
One year on Russell gathered stars from his two most recent films for the movie which would garner a massive ten Oscar nominations including four acting nods. The film in question was American Hustle which saw Christian Bale and Amy Adams from The Fighter return to play con-artist duo Irving Rosenfeld and Sydney Prosser. Married conman and dry-cleaner Irving had been using Sydney to dupe people by getting his marks to believe she was an English aristocrat named Lady Edith. Irving had also fallen in love with Sydney but he fears that if he leaves his unstable wife then she'll shop him into the cops. His wife Rosalyn is played by Jennifer Lawrence who is briefly reunited with her Silver Linings Playbook co-star Bradley Cooper who stars here as FBI Agent Richie DiMaso. DiMaso cottons on to Irving and Sydney's scams and threatens to arrest her unless the pair play along with his plans. What follows is a fictionalised version of the FBI ABSCAM operation as the trio get a fellow agent to play a sheik in order to con a number of politicians and mobsters. One politician they particularly focus their attention on is Carmine Polito, the Mayor of Camden, New Jersey. Like any good caper film the plan soon becomes complicated when feelings begin to get in the way of the scheme. Firstly Richie falls for Sydney, who he only knows as Edith, and this in turn creates a power struggle between the FBI Agent and experienced con man Irving. Secondly Irving and Carmine develop a friendship based on their working class backgrounds and so the former finds it hard to dupe the latter. The unstable Rosalyn then gets herself involved in the plot when Carmine's wife takes a shine to her and she has to attend an important function. Ultimately it's revealed that one side has been playing the other all along and I have to say I didn't see the twist coming at all.
I'd heard several negative things about American Hustle before I watched it and to be fair it took me a while to get into it. But once I'd become accustomed to the tone and rhythm of the dialogue I was swept away by the film's entertaining narrative. Eric Warren Singer and Russell's script is well-paced and introduces all the primary players in a way that you understand all of their motivations. However, one of my problems with the film was that it contained my pet peeve; the multiple expositional voiceover which in this case is delivered by Irving, Sydney and Richie. American Hustle certainly looks the part and has been particularly singled out for its characters' hairstyles. Each of the five central characters has an incredibly noticeable hairpiece which matches their personality perfectly and so its odd that the film didn't get a nomination in the Best Hair and Make-Up category. Once again all of Russell's key players were nominated for acting Oscars meaning that, for the second time in a row, one of his films had a nomination in each acting category. Bradley Cooper once again combined his manic energy with a more sensitive side to play Richie, a man who'd been overlooked for so long and was now coming into his own. Christian Bale piled on the pounds and donned a combover to play the mild-mannered yet devious Irving and he looks to be having a great time doing it. Meanwhile Amy Adams is perfectly cast as the adorable yet scheming Sydney even if she does let Edith's English accent slip from time to time. In supporting roles, Jeremy Renner shone as Carmine as he gave an enigmatic turn as the Mayor of a city that everybody loved whilst both Louis CK and Robert De Niro also put in memorable performances. But once again it was Jennifer Lawrence who stole the show playing the unpredictable Rosalyn so well that you miss her every time she's not on screen. Lawrence missed out on an Oscar this time round but I feel that her performance is as good as it was in Silver Linings Playbook.
American Hustle is definitely a film that is stylised to within an inch of its life but there's no denying that it looks good. Every song choice makes sense and I will never be able to hear 'Live and Let Die' again without thinking of Jennifer Lawrence manically cleaning and wearing marigolds. There's no denying that American Hustle is an entertaining piece of film-making but at the same time I feel that, of the three of Russell's nominated films, its the least spectacular. In fact I don't think it would stand-up to repeat viewings in the same way as The Fighter would and therefore I'm struggling to understand why its been as well-received as it has. Although I was entertained by it, its not a particularly remarkable piece of work but by now it seems that anything that Russell directs will instantly be an Oscar favourite come awards season.
Next time we catch up with a director who hasn't featured on the blog since the 1980s.
Showing posts with label Robert DeNiro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert DeNiro. Show all posts
Saturday, 25 April 2015
Thursday, 12 June 2014
Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 318-320: Williams the Conqueror
When his career first started Robin Williams was best known for his role in sitcom Mork and Mindy as well as for his stand-up. Then he appeared in Good Morning Vietnam in which he used his comic skills and mixed them with a more dramatic side. He earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his role in the film and throughout the 1990s would feature in three more best picture nominees. He himself would find luck as well with another two Best Actor nominations and a win in the Best Supporting Actor category, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
In Dead Poets Society, Williams still hasn't completely lost his comic roots but gives his most dramatic turn to date. The film sees him play John Keating, an unorthodox English teacher who shakes things up when he starts to teach at the stuffy Dalton Academy. Set in 1959, Dead Poets Society primarily focuses on a group of boys who Keating takes under his wing and who are all influenced by his words. The society of the title is a group that Keating himself set up when he was at Dalton and which the boys in his class resume upon meeting him. Keating's words about seizing the day speak to one of the boys, Neil, who decides to audition for a local play even though he knows his father wouldn't approve. Neil eventually wins a part but forges his father's signature on a consent form in order to take part. Meanwhile, new classmate Todd is struggling to live in the shadow of his academically gifted brother especially seeing as he's quite slow. Keating takes Todd out of his shell and allows him to express himself more freely. One of the other classmates, Knox, falls in love with a girl who is going out with a much more athletic guy from another school. Despite this Knox wins her over with his poetry and she agrees to go on a date with him. After a film that looks at coming-of-age and finding your way in the world, the final third of Dead Poets Society becomes increasingly dark. But there's a final heartwarming moment that anybody who has seen the film will remember.
I myself had previously seen Dead Poets Society at least once before and remember enjoy it immensely. On second viewing however I found that I didn't always believe in the characters and felt that Tom Schulman's Oscar winning screenplay was inconsistent. There's no denying that Williams' performance is the driving force of the film and definitely showcases that he's a fine dramatic performer. But in the classroom scenes I felt that Williams lapsed into his stand-up persona and goes for laughs over believable humour. Despite his Best Actor nod, I don't really consider Williams to be the star of the show as Keating is only on screen for a limited amount of time. Instead I think that Dead Poets Society is more about Neil, Todd, Knox and the other boys who are trying to find their way in the world. The stories about trying to find your way in the world, exploring your own identity and experiencing love for the first time all have universal appeal for audiences everywhere. Of the young actors, Ethan Hawke really lights up the screen as Todd as he gives a subtle portrayal of somebody who lacks confidence and feels inferior to his over-achieving brother. Hawke is able to convey emotion through facial expressions alone and I think he gives an incredible effort for one so young. Josh Charles puts in a spirited turn as the lovelorn Knox whilst Gale Hansen is full of energy as the rebellious Charlie. I was personally less impressed with Robert Sean Leonard's turn as the conflicted Neil and I didn't believe in him as much as I did the rest of the cast. Dead Poets Society was beautifully shot by John Teale and the period detail of the movie was well realised throughout. However, although I got the same goosebumps during the film's final scene, as a whole I believe that Dead Poets Society isn't as great as I remembered it to be.
Williams toned down his comedy routine completely in Awakenings to play a fairly withdrawn character albeit one who ends up doing miraculous work. In the film Williams plays Dr Malcolm Sayer who, in 1969, discovered that the catatonic patients in the hospital he worked in responded to certain stimulants. Director Penny Marshall is keen to portray Sayer as somebody who doesn't like human contact and he almost turns down the job at the hospital when he realises he'll have to work with patients. Although Sayer's superiors are sceptical of his findings he does have a supporter in Nurse Costello who tries to coax him out of his shell. After conducting a number of experiments, Sayer convinces his bosses to put one of the catatonic patients on a new drug to see if it will lull him out of his current state. The patient in question is Leonard Lowe a man who was just a child when he entered his current state and who has been communicating with Sayer via a Ouija Board. The drug is a success and Leonard eventually regains all his faculties much to the delight of his mother who had been faithfully attending to her son. However Leonard later opposes the fact that he's imprisoned in the hospital and wants to be free to do what he wants. These feelings are intensified when he meets Paula, the daughter of one of the patients, and falls in love. Meanwhile Sayer raises the funds to put all the former catatonic patients on the drug and they all experience similar recoveries to Leonard's. But not all of them are happy about their new awakening and one man in particular feels that he's been cheated by life. In the end it's revealed that the drugs are simply a quick fix and that most of the patients returned to their original state after a short while. Although this revelation his heartbreaking, the experience inspired Sayer to live his life a little bit more.
Of the three films in this post, Awakenings is the only one that I'd never seen before. It's also the only film of the trio that I never really relaxed into as I felt it contained Williams' weakest performance. I just feel that he's too reserved and that quality of Sayer's character makes it hard to care about anything he does. Although Sayer is an admirable character, I think that Williams doesn't make the most of the part and therefore I didn't really connect with the film whenever he was on screen. Despite this being the film in which Williams had the most screen time, it was Robert De Niro who was nominated for his role as Leonard. I think that De Niro's performance in the film demonstrates how much of a versatile actor he can be when given the chance. In comparison to the other film he starred in that year, Goodfellas, his performance as Leonard is a complete revelation. I completely believed in his childlike state and he brilliantly conveyed the innocent nature of Leonard coupled by his new adult feelings. Even in the scenes where we see Leonard in a catatonic state De Niro lights up the screen and gave one of the best performances of his I'd ever seen. Julie Kavner gives an incredibly sweet turn as Nurse Costello and makes you feel that her character could bring some life to the detached Sayer. Steve Zaillian's dramatisation of the film's events allows the supporting characters to really come alive and the majority of the catatonic patients are given their own identity. Zaillian adds enough factual material to make the film interesting while at the same time giving us characters that we care about. I personally found Marshall's direction quite safe and there was nothing visually stunning about Awakenings. At the end of the day Awakenings was a fairly standard tale about an extraordinary event which was completely unremarkable aside from De Niro's memorable turn.
From playing a teacher and then a doctor, Williams combines both to play lecturer and therapist Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting. Although Williams receives top billing he is a definitely a supporting player down to the fact that he won Best Supporting Actor at that year's Oscars. Instead the film is all about Matt Damon's Will Hunting an angry young man with a superior intellect who frequents bars with his best friends including Ben Affleck's Chuckie. The film has become famous for launching the careers of Damon and Affleck, who co-wrote the film's screenplay and won an Oscar for their script. The films story sees Will gain notoriety after serving a particularly hard maths problem at the university where he works as a janitor. One of the professors at the institution agrees to bail him out of prison on assault charges along as he agrees to a number of conditions. Alongside regular lessons with Professor Lambeau, Will is forced into attending therapy with Sean being the only shrink who'll put up with his behaviour. Widower Sean had previously been a classmate of Lambeau's and the pair had fallen out over that time which makes their time with Will all the harder. Sean and Will's budding friendship is one of the film's key strengths as the therapist finally gets the youngster to open up about himself and in turn decides to start living his life again. Alongside this relationship is Will's romance with student Skylar who seemingly grows to love him over time. But Will's self-destructive nature seemingly ruins the relationship when he refuses to tell Skylar that he loves too. The final scenes of Good Will Hunting are a little mawkish but at the same time I can't help but sob every time I see Matt Damon drive off in that car and Elliot Smith playing over the end credits.
As you can probably tell from that statement, I've seen Good Will Hunting countless times before and I feel it's definitely a film that stands up to repeat viewings. The storyline is pretty predictable which probably demonstrates the immaturity of debut screenwriters Affleck and Damon. At the same time Good Will Hunting survives thanks to the well-observed scenes most of which feel true to life. Will and Chuckie's scenes in particular are realistically drawn and the banter between friends Affleck and Damon feels genuine. Similarly the relationship between Sean and Will isn't the same that John Keating had with the boys of Dead Poets Society and instead is a lot harder to take at times. You also believe in the romance between Will and Skylar and I always find their date in the joke shop to be a realistic scenario. Even the more emotional moments are well-handled and I still find Sean's 'it's not your fault' scene to be particularly moving. Though he doesn't appear until the half hour mark, Williams really steals the show as the down-to-Earth yet damaged Sean. His performance here is a brilliant combination of naturalistic humour and a lot of pathos which really helps in the final scenes. Damon leads the film ably and is a charismatic enough presence to make you want to care about Will throughout. Minnie Driver gives Skylar her own personality and makes sure that she's not just playing the stereotypical girlfriend role while Stellan Skarsgard is on fine form as Lambeau. Even Ben Affleck shines however I feel that the role was written specifically with him in mind and I don't think he had to work very hard to perfect the Bostonian accent. The music in the film is beautifully scored by Danny Elfman and the aforementioned original song by Elliot Smith was also Oscar nominated. Good Will Hunting is ultimately a very human film about finding your place in the world and for that reason I think most of us can relate to it.
Next time I look at an all-star war film from a director that I've never been a fan of.
In Dead Poets Society, Williams still hasn't completely lost his comic roots but gives his most dramatic turn to date. The film sees him play John Keating, an unorthodox English teacher who shakes things up when he starts to teach at the stuffy Dalton Academy. Set in 1959, Dead Poets Society primarily focuses on a group of boys who Keating takes under his wing and who are all influenced by his words. The society of the title is a group that Keating himself set up when he was at Dalton and which the boys in his class resume upon meeting him. Keating's words about seizing the day speak to one of the boys, Neil, who decides to audition for a local play even though he knows his father wouldn't approve. Neil eventually wins a part but forges his father's signature on a consent form in order to take part. Meanwhile, new classmate Todd is struggling to live in the shadow of his academically gifted brother especially seeing as he's quite slow. Keating takes Todd out of his shell and allows him to express himself more freely. One of the other classmates, Knox, falls in love with a girl who is going out with a much more athletic guy from another school. Despite this Knox wins her over with his poetry and she agrees to go on a date with him. After a film that looks at coming-of-age and finding your way in the world, the final third of Dead Poets Society becomes increasingly dark. But there's a final heartwarming moment that anybody who has seen the film will remember.
I myself had previously seen Dead Poets Society at least once before and remember enjoy it immensely. On second viewing however I found that I didn't always believe in the characters and felt that Tom Schulman's Oscar winning screenplay was inconsistent. There's no denying that Williams' performance is the driving force of the film and definitely showcases that he's a fine dramatic performer. But in the classroom scenes I felt that Williams lapsed into his stand-up persona and goes for laughs over believable humour. Despite his Best Actor nod, I don't really consider Williams to be the star of the show as Keating is only on screen for a limited amount of time. Instead I think that Dead Poets Society is more about Neil, Todd, Knox and the other boys who are trying to find their way in the world. The stories about trying to find your way in the world, exploring your own identity and experiencing love for the first time all have universal appeal for audiences everywhere. Of the young actors, Ethan Hawke really lights up the screen as Todd as he gives a subtle portrayal of somebody who lacks confidence and feels inferior to his over-achieving brother. Hawke is able to convey emotion through facial expressions alone and I think he gives an incredible effort for one so young. Josh Charles puts in a spirited turn as the lovelorn Knox whilst Gale Hansen is full of energy as the rebellious Charlie. I was personally less impressed with Robert Sean Leonard's turn as the conflicted Neil and I didn't believe in him as much as I did the rest of the cast. Dead Poets Society was beautifully shot by John Teale and the period detail of the movie was well realised throughout. However, although I got the same goosebumps during the film's final scene, as a whole I believe that Dead Poets Society isn't as great as I remembered it to be.
Williams toned down his comedy routine completely in Awakenings to play a fairly withdrawn character albeit one who ends up doing miraculous work. In the film Williams plays Dr Malcolm Sayer who, in 1969, discovered that the catatonic patients in the hospital he worked in responded to certain stimulants. Director Penny Marshall is keen to portray Sayer as somebody who doesn't like human contact and he almost turns down the job at the hospital when he realises he'll have to work with patients. Although Sayer's superiors are sceptical of his findings he does have a supporter in Nurse Costello who tries to coax him out of his shell. After conducting a number of experiments, Sayer convinces his bosses to put one of the catatonic patients on a new drug to see if it will lull him out of his current state. The patient in question is Leonard Lowe a man who was just a child when he entered his current state and who has been communicating with Sayer via a Ouija Board. The drug is a success and Leonard eventually regains all his faculties much to the delight of his mother who had been faithfully attending to her son. However Leonard later opposes the fact that he's imprisoned in the hospital and wants to be free to do what he wants. These feelings are intensified when he meets Paula, the daughter of one of the patients, and falls in love. Meanwhile Sayer raises the funds to put all the former catatonic patients on the drug and they all experience similar recoveries to Leonard's. But not all of them are happy about their new awakening and one man in particular feels that he's been cheated by life. In the end it's revealed that the drugs are simply a quick fix and that most of the patients returned to their original state after a short while. Although this revelation his heartbreaking, the experience inspired Sayer to live his life a little bit more.
Of the three films in this post, Awakenings is the only one that I'd never seen before. It's also the only film of the trio that I never really relaxed into as I felt it contained Williams' weakest performance. I just feel that he's too reserved and that quality of Sayer's character makes it hard to care about anything he does. Although Sayer is an admirable character, I think that Williams doesn't make the most of the part and therefore I didn't really connect with the film whenever he was on screen. Despite this being the film in which Williams had the most screen time, it was Robert De Niro who was nominated for his role as Leonard. I think that De Niro's performance in the film demonstrates how much of a versatile actor he can be when given the chance. In comparison to the other film he starred in that year, Goodfellas, his performance as Leonard is a complete revelation. I completely believed in his childlike state and he brilliantly conveyed the innocent nature of Leonard coupled by his new adult feelings. Even in the scenes where we see Leonard in a catatonic state De Niro lights up the screen and gave one of the best performances of his I'd ever seen. Julie Kavner gives an incredibly sweet turn as Nurse Costello and makes you feel that her character could bring some life to the detached Sayer. Steve Zaillian's dramatisation of the film's events allows the supporting characters to really come alive and the majority of the catatonic patients are given their own identity. Zaillian adds enough factual material to make the film interesting while at the same time giving us characters that we care about. I personally found Marshall's direction quite safe and there was nothing visually stunning about Awakenings. At the end of the day Awakenings was a fairly standard tale about an extraordinary event which was completely unremarkable aside from De Niro's memorable turn.
From playing a teacher and then a doctor, Williams combines both to play lecturer and therapist Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting. Although Williams receives top billing he is a definitely a supporting player down to the fact that he won Best Supporting Actor at that year's Oscars. Instead the film is all about Matt Damon's Will Hunting an angry young man with a superior intellect who frequents bars with his best friends including Ben Affleck's Chuckie. The film has become famous for launching the careers of Damon and Affleck, who co-wrote the film's screenplay and won an Oscar for their script. The films story sees Will gain notoriety after serving a particularly hard maths problem at the university where he works as a janitor. One of the professors at the institution agrees to bail him out of prison on assault charges along as he agrees to a number of conditions. Alongside regular lessons with Professor Lambeau, Will is forced into attending therapy with Sean being the only shrink who'll put up with his behaviour. Widower Sean had previously been a classmate of Lambeau's and the pair had fallen out over that time which makes their time with Will all the harder. Sean and Will's budding friendship is one of the film's key strengths as the therapist finally gets the youngster to open up about himself and in turn decides to start living his life again. Alongside this relationship is Will's romance with student Skylar who seemingly grows to love him over time. But Will's self-destructive nature seemingly ruins the relationship when he refuses to tell Skylar that he loves too. The final scenes of Good Will Hunting are a little mawkish but at the same time I can't help but sob every time I see Matt Damon drive off in that car and Elliot Smith playing over the end credits.
As you can probably tell from that statement, I've seen Good Will Hunting countless times before and I feel it's definitely a film that stands up to repeat viewings. The storyline is pretty predictable which probably demonstrates the immaturity of debut screenwriters Affleck and Damon. At the same time Good Will Hunting survives thanks to the well-observed scenes most of which feel true to life. Will and Chuckie's scenes in particular are realistically drawn and the banter between friends Affleck and Damon feels genuine. Similarly the relationship between Sean and Will isn't the same that John Keating had with the boys of Dead Poets Society and instead is a lot harder to take at times. You also believe in the romance between Will and Skylar and I always find their date in the joke shop to be a realistic scenario. Even the more emotional moments are well-handled and I still find Sean's 'it's not your fault' scene to be particularly moving. Though he doesn't appear until the half hour mark, Williams really steals the show as the down-to-Earth yet damaged Sean. His performance here is a brilliant combination of naturalistic humour and a lot of pathos which really helps in the final scenes. Damon leads the film ably and is a charismatic enough presence to make you want to care about Will throughout. Minnie Driver gives Skylar her own personality and makes sure that she's not just playing the stereotypical girlfriend role while Stellan Skarsgard is on fine form as Lambeau. Even Ben Affleck shines however I feel that the role was written specifically with him in mind and I don't think he had to work very hard to perfect the Bostonian accent. The music in the film is beautifully scored by Danny Elfman and the aforementioned original song by Elliot Smith was also Oscar nominated. Good Will Hunting is ultimately a very human film about finding your place in the world and for that reason I think most of us can relate to it.
Next time I look at an all-star war film from a director that I've never been a fan of.
Wednesday, 4 June 2014
Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 311-312: A Gaggle of Gangsters
As the decades have gone on some of the films on the Oscar Challenge have become more violent as film-makers began to push the envelope. The 1970s in particular featured plenty of nominees that had a violent tone and often focused on those operating outside the law. The gangster genre was revived to an extent in the 1990s with two films focusing on mobsters with both being slightly different in tone.
The first was 1991 nominee Goodfellas, a film I'm ashamed to say I've never watched up until this point. The film covers 25 years in the life of Henry Hill who famously always wanted to be a gangster. The opening of the film sees Henry ingratiate himself into the gang and proves himself to them when he refuses to give them up when he first appears in court. Henry's main associate throughout the course of the film is the incredibly volatile Tommy DeVito, who even clashes with his friends on occasion. The other character who recurs throughout the film is the more senior Jimmy Conway who is seen as a gentleman by those who know him. The majority of the film's first half sees the glamorous life that Henry's new position has earned him especially after partaking in numerous robberies. At the same time Tommy's temper gets the trio in a lot of trouble and they end up trying to bury an important member of the mob who was trying to humiliate Tommy. In fact Tommy later kills a young bartender just for insulting him, this coming after he injured the boy's feet. As the years pass Henry find himself in jail, whilst his relationship with his wife Karen deteriorates when he takes on a mistress. The final third of the film deals with Henry's new line in drug-dealing, something he started in prison, and the gang's involvement in the Lufthansa Heist at JFK airport. These latter scenes strip away the glamour of the criminal life as Henry's associates are either murdered or jailed. Despite all that's happened to him Henry still longs for the glamorous life that he no longer has now he's in witness protection.
Goodfellas is often held up as one of the best films of all time but while I enjoyed it throughout there was nothing particularly remarkable about it. Narratively the film has issues as it is led by an expositional voiceover delivered by Ray Liotta as the adult Henry Hill. Voiceovers like this are one of my pet hates in visual storytelling as part of the film mantra is usually 'don't tell us, show us'. In fact Goodfellas really riled me up when it introduced a second voiceover by Lorraine Bracco who played Henry's wife Karen. Although it does have faults, the script moves along quite sharply so we get all of the key facts about Henry's life without every settling down for too long. Director Martin Scorsese really focuses on the opulent life the gangsters enjoy, both at home and in their social life at the Copacabana. I feel that both the art direction and the costume design deserved to be recognised at the Oscars with the latter brilliantly changing to indicate the style of the time. In the role of Henry, Ray Liotta was a dependable presence who really came alive in the latter scenes when his character started to develop a serious amount of paranoia. As we've seen him become a star name over the past couple of decades it's odd that Robert De Niro was used sparingly until the film's final third. I think it works quite well as Jimmy is an interesting character who is explored more as the film goes on. But obviously the most famous performance in the film, and the one that won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, was that of Joe Pesci as Tommy. From the moment he delivers his iconic 'Funny how?' speech you know you're in the presence of an actor at the top of his game. He employs a frantic energy which means you never know what Tommy will do next but at the same time he makes you sympathise with him when he unsuspectingly gets murdered on one of the happiest days of his life. Action-packed, well-shot and with a fantastic cast; Goodfellas is definitely a fun film to watch but I wouldn't add it to the list of my all-time favourites.
One of the films that I knew very little about before watching it was Barry Levinson's Bugsy which featured in the Best Picture line-up the next year. The film stars Warren Beatty as Ben Siegel who is known as Bugsy to everybody but doesn't like the nickname used in his presence. Bugsy looks at two aspects of Siegel's life both of which happen when he travels from New York to L.A. to sort outside business in the city's betting parlours. Almost instantly Ben falls in love with small-time actress Virginia Hill, who appears to really know how to play to a man's weaknesses. When they meet Ben is already married whilst Virginia is in a relationship with one of Bugsy's acquaintances. Despite that, after a night filled with banter, the two decide that they can't keep their hands off one another. The relationship between Virginia and Ben is rocky at best as he fails to get a divorce and he gets insanely jealous when she even looks at another man. Similarly Virginia is frightened of Ben's violent temper and occasionally he beats somebody up just because they annoy him in some small way. After being abandoned in the desert by Virginia, Ben realises that Las Vegas would be the perfect place to build a hotel and casino. Ben's mobster chums are less than thrilled by the prospect of ploughing a million dollars into a risky venture but they change their minds when they realise that gambling is legal in Nevada. While planning the hotel, Ben puts Virginia in charge of finances and so the project goes way over budget. Eventually Ben is facing problems from every side with his wife wanting a divorce and the mobsters needing a return on the money they've invested. Ultimately Ben's dream for hotel-filled Las Vegas survived but unfortunately he didn't.
Although both feature characters that essentially rob and murder for a living, Bugsy and Goodfellas are very different films. The main difference is that a lot of the violence in Bugsy takes place off-screen whilst Goodfellas is incredibly graphic from the word go. Although we do see Bugsy get physical on a fair few occasions the key murders in the piece are either only heard or performed a lot more subtly than they are in Goodfellas. Even though Goodfellas had the odd funny line, Bugsy is incredibly comedic at times with the dialogue spoken between Ben and Virginia being reminiscent of that of a screwball comedy. This central relationship forms the basis for a film which has a lot of great one-liners and plenty of energy throughout. Most of this energy is provided by Warren Beatty, who probably gives the best performance that I've seen during this challenge. Beatty makes you care about Bugsy and I couldn't help but be one over by his frantic movements and undying love for Virginia. Beatty plays brilliantly off Annette Bening, who one year later would become his wife, and the pair utilise their real life chemistry to great effect. Brilliant support is also provided by Ben Kingsley Ben's associate Meyer Lansky and by Harvey Keitel as the quick-talking Micky Cohen. Unlike Goodfellas, Bugsy also took home awards for its outstanding period costumes and art direction both of which helped to give the film a glamorous look. Again, like with Goodfellas, Bugsy isn't a film that's ever going to be one of my favourites but overall I found it entertaining and surprisingly funny. Additionally, as he was definitely the star of the show, I feel that Beatty should have won his Best Actor Oscar for Bugsy as it is a prize that has eluded him his entire career.
Next time we head to Italy for the two foreign language films that were nominated for Best Picture in the 1990s.
The first was 1991 nominee Goodfellas, a film I'm ashamed to say I've never watched up until this point. The film covers 25 years in the life of Henry Hill who famously always wanted to be a gangster. The opening of the film sees Henry ingratiate himself into the gang and proves himself to them when he refuses to give them up when he first appears in court. Henry's main associate throughout the course of the film is the incredibly volatile Tommy DeVito, who even clashes with his friends on occasion. The other character who recurs throughout the film is the more senior Jimmy Conway who is seen as a gentleman by those who know him. The majority of the film's first half sees the glamorous life that Henry's new position has earned him especially after partaking in numerous robberies. At the same time Tommy's temper gets the trio in a lot of trouble and they end up trying to bury an important member of the mob who was trying to humiliate Tommy. In fact Tommy later kills a young bartender just for insulting him, this coming after he injured the boy's feet. As the years pass Henry find himself in jail, whilst his relationship with his wife Karen deteriorates when he takes on a mistress. The final third of the film deals with Henry's new line in drug-dealing, something he started in prison, and the gang's involvement in the Lufthansa Heist at JFK airport. These latter scenes strip away the glamour of the criminal life as Henry's associates are either murdered or jailed. Despite all that's happened to him Henry still longs for the glamorous life that he no longer has now he's in witness protection.
Goodfellas is often held up as one of the best films of all time but while I enjoyed it throughout there was nothing particularly remarkable about it. Narratively the film has issues as it is led by an expositional voiceover delivered by Ray Liotta as the adult Henry Hill. Voiceovers like this are one of my pet hates in visual storytelling as part of the film mantra is usually 'don't tell us, show us'. In fact Goodfellas really riled me up when it introduced a second voiceover by Lorraine Bracco who played Henry's wife Karen. Although it does have faults, the script moves along quite sharply so we get all of the key facts about Henry's life without every settling down for too long. Director Martin Scorsese really focuses on the opulent life the gangsters enjoy, both at home and in their social life at the Copacabana. I feel that both the art direction and the costume design deserved to be recognised at the Oscars with the latter brilliantly changing to indicate the style of the time. In the role of Henry, Ray Liotta was a dependable presence who really came alive in the latter scenes when his character started to develop a serious amount of paranoia. As we've seen him become a star name over the past couple of decades it's odd that Robert De Niro was used sparingly until the film's final third. I think it works quite well as Jimmy is an interesting character who is explored more as the film goes on. But obviously the most famous performance in the film, and the one that won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, was that of Joe Pesci as Tommy. From the moment he delivers his iconic 'Funny how?' speech you know you're in the presence of an actor at the top of his game. He employs a frantic energy which means you never know what Tommy will do next but at the same time he makes you sympathise with him when he unsuspectingly gets murdered on one of the happiest days of his life. Action-packed, well-shot and with a fantastic cast; Goodfellas is definitely a fun film to watch but I wouldn't add it to the list of my all-time favourites.
One of the films that I knew very little about before watching it was Barry Levinson's Bugsy which featured in the Best Picture line-up the next year. The film stars Warren Beatty as Ben Siegel who is known as Bugsy to everybody but doesn't like the nickname used in his presence. Bugsy looks at two aspects of Siegel's life both of which happen when he travels from New York to L.A. to sort outside business in the city's betting parlours. Almost instantly Ben falls in love with small-time actress Virginia Hill, who appears to really know how to play to a man's weaknesses. When they meet Ben is already married whilst Virginia is in a relationship with one of Bugsy's acquaintances. Despite that, after a night filled with banter, the two decide that they can't keep their hands off one another. The relationship between Virginia and Ben is rocky at best as he fails to get a divorce and he gets insanely jealous when she even looks at another man. Similarly Virginia is frightened of Ben's violent temper and occasionally he beats somebody up just because they annoy him in some small way. After being abandoned in the desert by Virginia, Ben realises that Las Vegas would be the perfect place to build a hotel and casino. Ben's mobster chums are less than thrilled by the prospect of ploughing a million dollars into a risky venture but they change their minds when they realise that gambling is legal in Nevada. While planning the hotel, Ben puts Virginia in charge of finances and so the project goes way over budget. Eventually Ben is facing problems from every side with his wife wanting a divorce and the mobsters needing a return on the money they've invested. Ultimately Ben's dream for hotel-filled Las Vegas survived but unfortunately he didn't.
Although both feature characters that essentially rob and murder for a living, Bugsy and Goodfellas are very different films. The main difference is that a lot of the violence in Bugsy takes place off-screen whilst Goodfellas is incredibly graphic from the word go. Although we do see Bugsy get physical on a fair few occasions the key murders in the piece are either only heard or performed a lot more subtly than they are in Goodfellas. Even though Goodfellas had the odd funny line, Bugsy is incredibly comedic at times with the dialogue spoken between Ben and Virginia being reminiscent of that of a screwball comedy. This central relationship forms the basis for a film which has a lot of great one-liners and plenty of energy throughout. Most of this energy is provided by Warren Beatty, who probably gives the best performance that I've seen during this challenge. Beatty makes you care about Bugsy and I couldn't help but be one over by his frantic movements and undying love for Virginia. Beatty plays brilliantly off Annette Bening, who one year later would become his wife, and the pair utilise their real life chemistry to great effect. Brilliant support is also provided by Ben Kingsley Ben's associate Meyer Lansky and by Harvey Keitel as the quick-talking Micky Cohen. Unlike Goodfellas, Bugsy also took home awards for its outstanding period costumes and art direction both of which helped to give the film a glamorous look. Again, like with Goodfellas, Bugsy isn't a film that's ever going to be one of my favourites but overall I found it entertaining and surprisingly funny. Additionally, as he was definitely the star of the show, I feel that Beatty should have won his Best Actor Oscar for Bugsy as it is a prize that has eluded him his entire career.
Next time we head to Italy for the two foreign language films that were nominated for Best Picture in the 1990s.
Thursday, 24 April 2014
Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 299-300: De Niro Fights for Victory
One of the recurring themes of the Best Picture nominees of the 1980s has been the reappearance of plenty of featured stars from the 1970s. We've seen Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman, Jack Nicholson and more continue their careers by playing a variety of diverse roles. Somebody else who appeared in a few of the film we reviewed in the 1970s was one Robert De Niro, who himself won a Supporting Actor Oscar for The Godfather Part II. De Niro would see this success spread through into the 1980s where he'd become triumphant in the Best Actor category by teaming up with a regular collaborator.
The collaborator in question was director Martin Scorsese, who previously worked with De Niro on Best Picture Nominee Taxi Driver, and the film itself was Raging Bull. Based on the life of boxer Jake LaMotta, Raging Bull had long been a pet project of De Niro's since he'd read LaMotta's autobiography and become fascinated with the man. De Niro eventually convinced Scorsese to direct the film even though he was initially sceptical of the project as he didn't have the first idea about boxing. However I feel that Raging Bull isn't a boxing film but rather a film about a man that just happens to be a boxer. LaMotta is a man plagued by insecurities whether it be about his weight, if he's better than his opponents or if his wife is cheating on him. The aforementioned wife, and LaMotta's second, is Vicky a neighbourhood girl that Jake first meets when she's fifteen. Over a period of time Jake marries Vicky and also attempts to get a shot at the middleweight title thanks to his brother Joey's connections with the Mafia. Jake's goals don't come too easy as he's forced to take a dive but he does it in such a way that he is suspended altogether. Meanwhile, his personal life suffers ups and downs when he constantly believes that Vicky is cheating on him and even accuses Joey of sleeping with his wife. Although Jake eventually wins the title, and defends it in a physically gruelling match-up, his personal woes eventual impact on his in-ring career and he loses the belt eventually giving up boxing altogether. I personally found the latter part of the film incredibly sad as Jake piles on weight, opens a nightclub and eventually loses everything he holds dear. Though there is hint of redemption for LaMotta at the end of the film, I did feel it was a rather dour conclusion.
Raging Bull is an incredibly powerful film that takes its audience on an extremely emotional journey while at the same time getting us involved in every single fight. As well as being a passion project for De Niro, Scorsese was incredibly exacting in both the editing and sound mixing processes partly as he believed that this would be his first major feature. To me the editing and sound were two elements of Raging Bull that really stood out due to the way that certain sequences were put together and the sounds we hear when Jake is in the boxing ring. Thelma Schoomaker won her first of three Best Editing Oscars, all of which were for her work with Scorsese, and I feel that she more than deserved the prize. It's clear that every fight sequence is choreographed move for move which means that we really connect with Jake when he's doing what he loves. Michael Chapman's black-and-white cinematography is brilliantly imagined and adds to the artistic feel of the whole film. Additionally, I loved the home movies sequence that moved the action along which appeared to be more realistic due to the fact it was the only part of the film shot in colour. One of the things that most associate with Raging Bull is the fact that De Niro put on 60 pounds to play Jake in his later days. His commitment to the role alone earned him the Best Actor award and I believe that his performance throughout the piece was truly spectacular. De Niro portrays LaMotta as a talented boxer but one who has his vices which eventually overwhelm his life. However he's able to make what could be considered an unlikeable character into an incredibly sympathetic protagonist. The then unknown Joe Pesci was perfectly cast as Joey LaMotta and his chemistry with DeNiro (who suggested him for the role) is undeniably brilliant. Similarly new to acting was Cathy Moriarty who, as Vicky, was just astounding as he was able to play every stage of her characters development from wide-eyed teenager to jaded wife and mother. I personally can't believe that Raging Bull received mixed reviews when it was first released as to me it's an almost perfect film. I'm equally stunned that Raging Bull didn't win Best Picture and soon enough you'll be able to see my verdict on whether the right film triumphed over Scorsese's boxing masterpiece.
A film which I wouldn't describe as a masterpiece is the other 1980s Oscar nominated picture that De Niro starred in The Mission. Set in the 1750s, De Niro plays Rodrigo Mendoza a slave owner operating in South America who is one of the most powerful me in the region. Mendoza soon discovers that his half-brother Felipe is having an affair with his fiancée and kills the former in a duel. Although he is cleared of any wrongdoing, Mendoza later suffers a crisis of faith and nobody get help him out of his depression. Meanwhile, Jesuit priest Father Gabriel is attempting to build a mission for the Guaraní community who live in the jungle although he has previously come up against opposition from Mendoza. However it is Gabriel who becomes Mendoza's saviour when he challenges the former slaver to come up with his own penance. Mendoza eventually learns the errors of his ways and asks Father Gabriel if he can take vows and become a Jesuit himself, which he later agrees to. However, all is not well as the safety that the Jesuit missions had come under threat when the ownership of their land was transferred from the Spanish to the Portuguese. With the missions proving a threat to the Portuguese's potential enslavement of the natives, the papacy sends Cardinal Altamirano to discover if any of these institutions should remain open. Despite Altamirano's shock at the financial success of the missions, he ultimately has no choice but to shut them down. But Mendoza doesn't think the brotherhood should go down without a fight as he takes up his sword once again, but this time for the right cause.
The one thing I really knew about The Mission going in was that the score was fantastic. Indeed Ennio Morricone's soundtrack for The Mission was incredibly powerful throughout and really stayed with me after the end credits had rolled. But when a film is best known for its soundtrack you know you're in trouble and I have to say I found The Mission more than a little bit dull. I feel my primary issue with Roland Joffé's film was that it was incredibly earnest and was more concerned it providing an accurate historical story than it was in creating entertainment. Whereas I really enjoyed Joffé's previous work The Killing Fields, which dealt with similar themes of cultural identity and conflict, I never found myself truly immersed in The Mission. It didn't help that stars Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons appeared to be in two different films with the former channelling Don Quixote and the latter seeming like he's in some sort of BBC costume drama. I have to say that, while it's admirable that he wanted to extend his repertoire, I don't think The Mission was the sort of film that De Niro should be involved with especially due to his incredibly hammy turn. Irons fared better in the sincere role of Father Gabriel while it was also good to see Liam Neeson running around shooting foreigners, even if The Mission wasn't really on the same level as Taken. The best performance in the entire film came from Ray McAnally as Altamirano, the narrator of the piece and the only level-headed character that the picture had to offer. There's no denying the film looked fantastic, with Chris Menges' cinematography being awarded with The Mission's only Oscar, but at times this felt more like a History Channel documentary than a film made for our entertainment. Ultimately I have to say I was disappointed by The Mission, a film I had high hopes for, but at least Morricone's score didn't let me down.
Next time we have a father and son who, despite appearing in different films, are fighting in the same war.
The collaborator in question was director Martin Scorsese, who previously worked with De Niro on Best Picture Nominee Taxi Driver, and the film itself was Raging Bull. Based on the life of boxer Jake LaMotta, Raging Bull had long been a pet project of De Niro's since he'd read LaMotta's autobiography and become fascinated with the man. De Niro eventually convinced Scorsese to direct the film even though he was initially sceptical of the project as he didn't have the first idea about boxing. However I feel that Raging Bull isn't a boxing film but rather a film about a man that just happens to be a boxer. LaMotta is a man plagued by insecurities whether it be about his weight, if he's better than his opponents or if his wife is cheating on him. The aforementioned wife, and LaMotta's second, is Vicky a neighbourhood girl that Jake first meets when she's fifteen. Over a period of time Jake marries Vicky and also attempts to get a shot at the middleweight title thanks to his brother Joey's connections with the Mafia. Jake's goals don't come too easy as he's forced to take a dive but he does it in such a way that he is suspended altogether. Meanwhile, his personal life suffers ups and downs when he constantly believes that Vicky is cheating on him and even accuses Joey of sleeping with his wife. Although Jake eventually wins the title, and defends it in a physically gruelling match-up, his personal woes eventual impact on his in-ring career and he loses the belt eventually giving up boxing altogether. I personally found the latter part of the film incredibly sad as Jake piles on weight, opens a nightclub and eventually loses everything he holds dear. Though there is hint of redemption for LaMotta at the end of the film, I did feel it was a rather dour conclusion.
Raging Bull is an incredibly powerful film that takes its audience on an extremely emotional journey while at the same time getting us involved in every single fight. As well as being a passion project for De Niro, Scorsese was incredibly exacting in both the editing and sound mixing processes partly as he believed that this would be his first major feature. To me the editing and sound were two elements of Raging Bull that really stood out due to the way that certain sequences were put together and the sounds we hear when Jake is in the boxing ring. Thelma Schoomaker won her first of three Best Editing Oscars, all of which were for her work with Scorsese, and I feel that she more than deserved the prize. It's clear that every fight sequence is choreographed move for move which means that we really connect with Jake when he's doing what he loves. Michael Chapman's black-and-white cinematography is brilliantly imagined and adds to the artistic feel of the whole film. Additionally, I loved the home movies sequence that moved the action along which appeared to be more realistic due to the fact it was the only part of the film shot in colour. One of the things that most associate with Raging Bull is the fact that De Niro put on 60 pounds to play Jake in his later days. His commitment to the role alone earned him the Best Actor award and I believe that his performance throughout the piece was truly spectacular. De Niro portrays LaMotta as a talented boxer but one who has his vices which eventually overwhelm his life. However he's able to make what could be considered an unlikeable character into an incredibly sympathetic protagonist. The then unknown Joe Pesci was perfectly cast as Joey LaMotta and his chemistry with DeNiro (who suggested him for the role) is undeniably brilliant. Similarly new to acting was Cathy Moriarty who, as Vicky, was just astounding as he was able to play every stage of her characters development from wide-eyed teenager to jaded wife and mother. I personally can't believe that Raging Bull received mixed reviews when it was first released as to me it's an almost perfect film. I'm equally stunned that Raging Bull didn't win Best Picture and soon enough you'll be able to see my verdict on whether the right film triumphed over Scorsese's boxing masterpiece.
A film which I wouldn't describe as a masterpiece is the other 1980s Oscar nominated picture that De Niro starred in The Mission. Set in the 1750s, De Niro plays Rodrigo Mendoza a slave owner operating in South America who is one of the most powerful me in the region. Mendoza soon discovers that his half-brother Felipe is having an affair with his fiancée and kills the former in a duel. Although he is cleared of any wrongdoing, Mendoza later suffers a crisis of faith and nobody get help him out of his depression. Meanwhile, Jesuit priest Father Gabriel is attempting to build a mission for the Guaraní community who live in the jungle although he has previously come up against opposition from Mendoza. However it is Gabriel who becomes Mendoza's saviour when he challenges the former slaver to come up with his own penance. Mendoza eventually learns the errors of his ways and asks Father Gabriel if he can take vows and become a Jesuit himself, which he later agrees to. However, all is not well as the safety that the Jesuit missions had come under threat when the ownership of their land was transferred from the Spanish to the Portuguese. With the missions proving a threat to the Portuguese's potential enslavement of the natives, the papacy sends Cardinal Altamirano to discover if any of these institutions should remain open. Despite Altamirano's shock at the financial success of the missions, he ultimately has no choice but to shut them down. But Mendoza doesn't think the brotherhood should go down without a fight as he takes up his sword once again, but this time for the right cause.
The one thing I really knew about The Mission going in was that the score was fantastic. Indeed Ennio Morricone's soundtrack for The Mission was incredibly powerful throughout and really stayed with me after the end credits had rolled. But when a film is best known for its soundtrack you know you're in trouble and I have to say I found The Mission more than a little bit dull. I feel my primary issue with Roland Joffé's film was that it was incredibly earnest and was more concerned it providing an accurate historical story than it was in creating entertainment. Whereas I really enjoyed Joffé's previous work The Killing Fields, which dealt with similar themes of cultural identity and conflict, I never found myself truly immersed in The Mission. It didn't help that stars Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons appeared to be in two different films with the former channelling Don Quixote and the latter seeming like he's in some sort of BBC costume drama. I have to say that, while it's admirable that he wanted to extend his repertoire, I don't think The Mission was the sort of film that De Niro should be involved with especially due to his incredibly hammy turn. Irons fared better in the sincere role of Father Gabriel while it was also good to see Liam Neeson running around shooting foreigners, even if The Mission wasn't really on the same level as Taken. The best performance in the entire film came from Ray McAnally as Altamirano, the narrator of the piece and the only level-headed character that the picture had to offer. There's no denying the film looked fantastic, with Chris Menges' cinematography being awarded with The Mission's only Oscar, but at times this felt more like a History Channel documentary than a film made for our entertainment. Ultimately I have to say I was disappointed by The Mission, a film I had high hopes for, but at least Morricone's score didn't let me down.
Next time we have a father and son who, despite appearing in different films, are fighting in the same war.
Sunday, 26 January 2014
Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 242-243: Robert De Niro's Waiting
As you've seen so far in this blog, a lot of stars came into their own in the 1970s. One of them was definitely Robert De Niro, who we've already seen in Oscar-winning form when he appeared in The Godfather Part Two. However, it was only later in the decade that De Niro became a leading man and this was partly thanks to his association with director Martin Scorsese.
Scorsese and De Niro's first Oscar-nominated collaboration came in the form of Taxi Driver. The film saw De Niro playing Travis Bickle, a former marine turned cabbie whose insomnia meant that he often trawled the streets of New York late at night. The episodic structure of Taxi Driver saw Travis struggle to comprehend the stresses of modern day life as we quickly learnt that he was a fairly unhinged young man. The first half of the film sees Travis attempt to woo young campaigner Betsy but their relationship is cut short after he takes her to see a fairly explicit Swedish film. Betsy's rejection sends Travis further down a dark street as he get himself into tip top condition and buys a gun which he later uses to stop an armed robbery at a convenience store. The final half of the film watches Travis' plan to assassinate presidential candidate Charles Palantine which is ultimately quashed when he is spotted by secret service guards. Instead, Travis sees it as his mission to prevent young prostitute Iris from being corrupted by her pimp Sport. The relationship between Travis and Iris is an interesting one as he attempts to be a positive influence on this young soul. As the film reaches its violent and bloody conclusion, the once incredibly isolated Travis finds himself becoming something of a hero.
From the first strains of Bernard Hermann's haunting score, I was completely entranced by Taxi Driver. Though I have seen the film before, I think that I appreciate it a lot more than I did when I first saw it ten years ago. I personally feel that this was the film that put Scorsese on the map and showed what an interesting film-maker he could be. Oddly, he wasn't nominated for Best Director and there was no love either for Paul Schrader's brilliantly dark screenplay. I have to say Schrader's script perfectly constructs one of film's most memorable anti-heroes and he and Scorsese do a brilliant job of making us identify with someone who is as mentally unstable as Bickle. But I believe that the primary reason that we want to follow Travis is because of De Niro's Oscar-nominated performance. I feel that he makes you understand Bickle's mind and the reasons he has behind all of his ideas from taking Betsy to the adult cinema to attempting to rescue Iris from Sport. De Niro is ably supported by Jodie Foster, the only other cast member to be nominated for an Oscar, who is absolutely brilliant as the aforementioned Iris. Foster plays Iris as someone who has plenty of experience beyond her years but you can see behind her eyes that she's just a frightened little girl. Cybil Shepherd is equally great as the stuck-up Betsy while Harvey Keitel is fairly frightening as Iris' pimp. As with a lot of Scorsese's films, Taxi Driver is an ode to New York, a city which is captured here by Michael Chapman's superb cinematography which lets us see the area through the eyes of Travis. Not always an easy watch, Taxi Driver isn't as violent as I remembered and instead Scorsese really makes you anticipate the violence by building up the tension. I'm personally not sure if the ending makes sense after what has come before, but ultimately I feel that Taxi Driver is one of the best films of the 1970s and the fact that it didn't win one Oscar is a literal travesty.
Another De Niro starring feature that did a lot better at the Oscars was The Deer Hunter, which won the Best Picture prize at the 1979 ceremony. Set over three acts; The Deer Hunter tells the story of a group of smalltown steel workers who go to war in Vietnam and are later unable to shake the horrors of the conflict following the fighting. De Niro plays the de facto leader of the group, Michael Vronsky, a strong silent man who loves to hunt deer but isn't great with talking about his emotions. The first act sees Michael and his friends celebrate the impending wedding of their friend Steve before the pair journey to Vietnam alongside Steve's best man Nick. The scenes before and during the wedding appear to be there to set up the relationships between the characters namely the fact that Michael has a crush on Nick's girlfriend Linda. This almost hour-long act concludes with the characters going on the first of two infamous deer hunts. The second act is definitely the film's most powerful; as we see the trio put in a Prisoner of War camp and forced into playing Russian Roulette. Though Michael engineers their escape, the resulting rescue sees Steve lose his legs and Nick being mentally scarred by their actions. Michael later returns home alone and can't seem to fit into the life that he once had. He attempts to start a relationship with Linda but feels he must return to Saigon, if only to find out what happened to Nick.
The Deer Hunter is often held up as one of the best films of all time, and according to the Academy it was the best film released in 1978, but I have to say I was a little unimpressed. Firstly the positives, Vilmos Zsigmond's brilliant cinematography which brought the entire film to life and put the viewer firmly in the middle of the action. Zsigmond was able to shoot everything to perfection whether it be an incredibly bloody scene in Vietnam or a simple bowling came back in America. The performances were incredibly involving throughout with De Niro underplaying his role as Michael. Unlike the characters he's previously played; Michael really is a man of action and so De Niro really had to tone down his usually animated expressions. I feel that he pulled this off, even if it did mean he was outshone by several members of the supporting cast. Christopher Walken in particular was the stand-out here, and the only member of the cast to win an Oscar, as Steve who goes on a dark journey after his time in Vietnam. Walken was absolutely spellbinding in the final Russian Roulette scenes and he more than deserved his Best Supporting Actor award. Another performer who became a big name thanks to The Deer Hunter was Meryl Streep, who garnered her first of many Oscar nominations. As Linda, Streep really added an emotional core to the film as she sort of let us know how the war had affected those in America. The Deer Hunter sadly marked the end of the career of John Cazale, who died of cancer before the film was completed. In fact Cazale's role of Stanley was almost re-cast before his real-life girlfriend Streep threatened to walk out if this was done. As he has done throughout all of the films we've seen him appear in, Cazale adds a nervous energy to the role of Stanley. Just like with Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter has a similarly memorable score and I do feel that composer Stanley Myers deserved at least a nomination for the film's music.
To me the biggest negative about The Deer Hunter is that it feels a little over-indulgent, primarily due to its almost three-hour running time. I do feel that Michael Cimino really needed to edit down some of the scenes, especially those in the first act, as a lot of them don't seem particularly necessary. While I understand the importance of letting us get to know the characters, some of the scenes at Stanley's wedding added nothing to the overall story of the film. The film's screenplay was similarly baggy and some of the dialogue felt a little clunky and uneven. The final scene in particular was a little too patriotic for my liking as we see the surviving characters spontaneously break out into a chorus of 'God Bless America'. That's not to say The Deer Hunter was a poor film, it just needed to have been cut down a little bit more as the pace was poor at best. The ironic thing is that a film that needed serious editing down actually won the Oscar for Best Editing.
Next time we have a right royal film which features a well-told story.
Scorsese and De Niro's first Oscar-nominated collaboration came in the form of Taxi Driver. The film saw De Niro playing Travis Bickle, a former marine turned cabbie whose insomnia meant that he often trawled the streets of New York late at night. The episodic structure of Taxi Driver saw Travis struggle to comprehend the stresses of modern day life as we quickly learnt that he was a fairly unhinged young man. The first half of the film sees Travis attempt to woo young campaigner Betsy but their relationship is cut short after he takes her to see a fairly explicit Swedish film. Betsy's rejection sends Travis further down a dark street as he get himself into tip top condition and buys a gun which he later uses to stop an armed robbery at a convenience store. The final half of the film watches Travis' plan to assassinate presidential candidate Charles Palantine which is ultimately quashed when he is spotted by secret service guards. Instead, Travis sees it as his mission to prevent young prostitute Iris from being corrupted by her pimp Sport. The relationship between Travis and Iris is an interesting one as he attempts to be a positive influence on this young soul. As the film reaches its violent and bloody conclusion, the once incredibly isolated Travis finds himself becoming something of a hero.
From the first strains of Bernard Hermann's haunting score, I was completely entranced by Taxi Driver. Though I have seen the film before, I think that I appreciate it a lot more than I did when I first saw it ten years ago. I personally feel that this was the film that put Scorsese on the map and showed what an interesting film-maker he could be. Oddly, he wasn't nominated for Best Director and there was no love either for Paul Schrader's brilliantly dark screenplay. I have to say Schrader's script perfectly constructs one of film's most memorable anti-heroes and he and Scorsese do a brilliant job of making us identify with someone who is as mentally unstable as Bickle. But I believe that the primary reason that we want to follow Travis is because of De Niro's Oscar-nominated performance. I feel that he makes you understand Bickle's mind and the reasons he has behind all of his ideas from taking Betsy to the adult cinema to attempting to rescue Iris from Sport. De Niro is ably supported by Jodie Foster, the only other cast member to be nominated for an Oscar, who is absolutely brilliant as the aforementioned Iris. Foster plays Iris as someone who has plenty of experience beyond her years but you can see behind her eyes that she's just a frightened little girl. Cybil Shepherd is equally great as the stuck-up Betsy while Harvey Keitel is fairly frightening as Iris' pimp. As with a lot of Scorsese's films, Taxi Driver is an ode to New York, a city which is captured here by Michael Chapman's superb cinematography which lets us see the area through the eyes of Travis. Not always an easy watch, Taxi Driver isn't as violent as I remembered and instead Scorsese really makes you anticipate the violence by building up the tension. I'm personally not sure if the ending makes sense after what has come before, but ultimately I feel that Taxi Driver is one of the best films of the 1970s and the fact that it didn't win one Oscar is a literal travesty.
Another De Niro starring feature that did a lot better at the Oscars was The Deer Hunter, which won the Best Picture prize at the 1979 ceremony. Set over three acts; The Deer Hunter tells the story of a group of smalltown steel workers who go to war in Vietnam and are later unable to shake the horrors of the conflict following the fighting. De Niro plays the de facto leader of the group, Michael Vronsky, a strong silent man who loves to hunt deer but isn't great with talking about his emotions. The first act sees Michael and his friends celebrate the impending wedding of their friend Steve before the pair journey to Vietnam alongside Steve's best man Nick. The scenes before and during the wedding appear to be there to set up the relationships between the characters namely the fact that Michael has a crush on Nick's girlfriend Linda. This almost hour-long act concludes with the characters going on the first of two infamous deer hunts. The second act is definitely the film's most powerful; as we see the trio put in a Prisoner of War camp and forced into playing Russian Roulette. Though Michael engineers their escape, the resulting rescue sees Steve lose his legs and Nick being mentally scarred by their actions. Michael later returns home alone and can't seem to fit into the life that he once had. He attempts to start a relationship with Linda but feels he must return to Saigon, if only to find out what happened to Nick.
The Deer Hunter is often held up as one of the best films of all time, and according to the Academy it was the best film released in 1978, but I have to say I was a little unimpressed. Firstly the positives, Vilmos Zsigmond's brilliant cinematography which brought the entire film to life and put the viewer firmly in the middle of the action. Zsigmond was able to shoot everything to perfection whether it be an incredibly bloody scene in Vietnam or a simple bowling came back in America. The performances were incredibly involving throughout with De Niro underplaying his role as Michael. Unlike the characters he's previously played; Michael really is a man of action and so De Niro really had to tone down his usually animated expressions. I feel that he pulled this off, even if it did mean he was outshone by several members of the supporting cast. Christopher Walken in particular was the stand-out here, and the only member of the cast to win an Oscar, as Steve who goes on a dark journey after his time in Vietnam. Walken was absolutely spellbinding in the final Russian Roulette scenes and he more than deserved his Best Supporting Actor award. Another performer who became a big name thanks to The Deer Hunter was Meryl Streep, who garnered her first of many Oscar nominations. As Linda, Streep really added an emotional core to the film as she sort of let us know how the war had affected those in America. The Deer Hunter sadly marked the end of the career of John Cazale, who died of cancer before the film was completed. In fact Cazale's role of Stanley was almost re-cast before his real-life girlfriend Streep threatened to walk out if this was done. As he has done throughout all of the films we've seen him appear in, Cazale adds a nervous energy to the role of Stanley. Just like with Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter has a similarly memorable score and I do feel that composer Stanley Myers deserved at least a nomination for the film's music.
To me the biggest negative about The Deer Hunter is that it feels a little over-indulgent, primarily due to its almost three-hour running time. I do feel that Michael Cimino really needed to edit down some of the scenes, especially those in the first act, as a lot of them don't seem particularly necessary. While I understand the importance of letting us get to know the characters, some of the scenes at Stanley's wedding added nothing to the overall story of the film. The film's screenplay was similarly baggy and some of the dialogue felt a little clunky and uneven. The final scene in particular was a little too patriotic for my liking as we see the surviving characters spontaneously break out into a chorus of 'God Bless America'. That's not to say The Deer Hunter was a poor film, it just needed to have been cut down a little bit more as the pace was poor at best. The ironic thing is that a film that needed serious editing down actually won the Oscar for Best Editing.
Next time we have a right royal film which features a well-told story.
Monday, 5 August 2013
Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 217-218: A Double Bill I Couldn't Refuse
Oscar has an uneasy relationship with the film sequel. Though there have been nominations for other entries into a franchise only two films that follow on from a feature have won the Best Picture award. The first of these is Return of the King, the third film in the Lord of the Rings saga, which arguably isn't a sequel because of the fact it comes later in the franchise. In fact the only proper sequel to win the prize is The Godfather Part II, a sequel that some feel is better than the original. In this post I will test that theory by looking at both films which launched many careers while at the same time becoming some people's favourite films of all time.
The first Godfather film introduces us to the Corleone family by way of a family wedding where sister Connie is getting married to Carlo Rizzi. The celebration is also traditionally where Connie's father Vito, known as the godfather, can answer any requests that are asked of him. Vito's youngest son Michael returns from the war to see his family first time and introduces Kay to the clan. Here we meet hot-headed older brother Sonny, dim-witted middle brother Fredo and adopted son and family advisor Tom Hagen. The Godfather is arguably about Michael's evolution from mild-mannered ex-soldier to eventual head of the crime family. Indeed, after Vito is shot and almost attacked in hospital, Michael feels he needs to avenge his father in some way so hits back at the family that attempted to assassinate him. When the hit goes down, Michael is shipped to Sicily while Fredo is despatched to Las Vegas. While in Sicily, Michael falls in love and marries a local girl, eventually finding a shred of happiness before the family catches up with him and his wife is killed by way of a car bomb. Returning to America, a harder Michael becomes Vito's right hand man and is eventually made the family's Don following Sonny's murder. Michael marries Kay and the two have a son together but the marriage is doomed right from the get-go due to Michael's change in attitude. Indeed the first film sees several hits arranged by Michael while he himself attends the Christening of Connie's youngest child.
The second Godfather film also opens with a religious ceremony as Michael's son Anthony has his first communion while the celebrations see a much-changed Connie who has now abandoned her children in favour of a party-girl lifestyle. At the same time Michael is unsure who to trust as he plays both Jewish businessman Hyman Roth and family friend Frank Pentangeli. Both make assassination attempts on Michael's life and he later discovers that Fredo had an involvement in one of them. Michael is later arrested as part of ongoing look into the world of organised crime. Though at first Michael gives a statement damming the trial, he later worries after Pentangeli reappears to give evidence. Luckily, Michael and Tom find a way to bring Pentangeli's brother over to America meaning that Frank changes his statement. As the film reaches its final third Michael gradually finds himself alone as Kay leaves him and Fredo is killed on his orders. The film's end sees Michael sitting alone, having won the battle against Roth and Pentangeli, but lost those that he used to care about. Running parallel to Michael's story in The Godfather Part II is that of Vito's eventual rise to power from poor Sicilian immigrant to respected mob boss. Initially talked into partaking in petty crimes, Vito finds power after he kills off a respected crime lord. During his ascension, Vito is given the power to avenge his father's death and ultimately finds himself as the most feared and respected member of his community.
The parallel stories in The Godfather Part II are both equally engaging and really make the sequel a more impressive film from a storytelling point of view. Indeed, I found it rather brave that the majority of the scenes involving Vito's story are entirely spoken in Italian and I wonder if today's audience would cope with an American film that contained as many subtitled film. Personally I found the first Godfather film to have a better pace to it and a more simple story namely Michael's journey from someone who wasn't his father to someone who took his father's place. This gradual change in the character underlined how good a storyteller director Francis Ford Coppola is and I totally understood the motives of all of the characters. I personally can't say I was as engaged in Michael's story in the second film as it descended into more of a generic crime film. However, I found the set pieces more impressive and the film's final third was laced with plenty of tragedy namely Fredo's death which was beautifully played as was the scene in which Kay revealed that she'd had an abortion.
Both of the films benefit from having an incredibly strong ensemble cast and, as I previously mentioned, a lot of the cast became household names after starring in the films. The films won acting awards for Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro playing the older and younger incarnations of Vito Corleone. I was surprised that Al Pacino didn't also receive a Best Actor nomination for the first film and his place as supporting actor made him rightfully upset. Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall formed a great trio in the first film as the calm Michael, hot-heated Sonny and intelligent Tom. The second film benefited from the scenes featuring De Niro but also boasted scene stealing performances from Diane Keaton and John Cazale who both shone as Kay and Fredo. Apart from the performances, The Godfather is best known for Nina Rota's score which was disqualified from the Oscar category as it featured music previously recorded. Oddly the same score went onto win the Oscar for the sequel despite being eerily similar. The first two Godfather films are also heralded as brilliant today due to the intricate art direction and costume design the latter of which gave each character its separate identity.
Overall it's hard to say if The Godfather Part 2 bests The Godfather in terms of quality. The sequel definitely has the great prequel element however the modern day story is a bit more lacklustre. The first film is better paced but doesn't have as intriguing a plot as the evolution of Vito Corleone. Overall I would say both films were more than deserving of the Best Picture award but, if pushed, I would say that the original just outweighs the sequel but feel free to correct me.
A little bit of a change of pace in the next post as we turn our attention to a quirky romantic comedy.
The first Godfather film introduces us to the Corleone family by way of a family wedding where sister Connie is getting married to Carlo Rizzi. The celebration is also traditionally where Connie's father Vito, known as the godfather, can answer any requests that are asked of him. Vito's youngest son Michael returns from the war to see his family first time and introduces Kay to the clan. Here we meet hot-headed older brother Sonny, dim-witted middle brother Fredo and adopted son and family advisor Tom Hagen. The Godfather is arguably about Michael's evolution from mild-mannered ex-soldier to eventual head of the crime family. Indeed, after Vito is shot and almost attacked in hospital, Michael feels he needs to avenge his father in some way so hits back at the family that attempted to assassinate him. When the hit goes down, Michael is shipped to Sicily while Fredo is despatched to Las Vegas. While in Sicily, Michael falls in love and marries a local girl, eventually finding a shred of happiness before the family catches up with him and his wife is killed by way of a car bomb. Returning to America, a harder Michael becomes Vito's right hand man and is eventually made the family's Don following Sonny's murder. Michael marries Kay and the two have a son together but the marriage is doomed right from the get-go due to Michael's change in attitude. Indeed the first film sees several hits arranged by Michael while he himself attends the Christening of Connie's youngest child.
The second Godfather film also opens with a religious ceremony as Michael's son Anthony has his first communion while the celebrations see a much-changed Connie who has now abandoned her children in favour of a party-girl lifestyle. At the same time Michael is unsure who to trust as he plays both Jewish businessman Hyman Roth and family friend Frank Pentangeli. Both make assassination attempts on Michael's life and he later discovers that Fredo had an involvement in one of them. Michael is later arrested as part of ongoing look into the world of organised crime. Though at first Michael gives a statement damming the trial, he later worries after Pentangeli reappears to give evidence. Luckily, Michael and Tom find a way to bring Pentangeli's brother over to America meaning that Frank changes his statement. As the film reaches its final third Michael gradually finds himself alone as Kay leaves him and Fredo is killed on his orders. The film's end sees Michael sitting alone, having won the battle against Roth and Pentangeli, but lost those that he used to care about. Running parallel to Michael's story in The Godfather Part II is that of Vito's eventual rise to power from poor Sicilian immigrant to respected mob boss. Initially talked into partaking in petty crimes, Vito finds power after he kills off a respected crime lord. During his ascension, Vito is given the power to avenge his father's death and ultimately finds himself as the most feared and respected member of his community.
The parallel stories in The Godfather Part II are both equally engaging and really make the sequel a more impressive film from a storytelling point of view. Indeed, I found it rather brave that the majority of the scenes involving Vito's story are entirely spoken in Italian and I wonder if today's audience would cope with an American film that contained as many subtitled film. Personally I found the first Godfather film to have a better pace to it and a more simple story namely Michael's journey from someone who wasn't his father to someone who took his father's place. This gradual change in the character underlined how good a storyteller director Francis Ford Coppola is and I totally understood the motives of all of the characters. I personally can't say I was as engaged in Michael's story in the second film as it descended into more of a generic crime film. However, I found the set pieces more impressive and the film's final third was laced with plenty of tragedy namely Fredo's death which was beautifully played as was the scene in which Kay revealed that she'd had an abortion.
Both of the films benefit from having an incredibly strong ensemble cast and, as I previously mentioned, a lot of the cast became household names after starring in the films. The films won acting awards for Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro playing the older and younger incarnations of Vito Corleone. I was surprised that Al Pacino didn't also receive a Best Actor nomination for the first film and his place as supporting actor made him rightfully upset. Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall formed a great trio in the first film as the calm Michael, hot-heated Sonny and intelligent Tom. The second film benefited from the scenes featuring De Niro but also boasted scene stealing performances from Diane Keaton and John Cazale who both shone as Kay and Fredo. Apart from the performances, The Godfather is best known for Nina Rota's score which was disqualified from the Oscar category as it featured music previously recorded. Oddly the same score went onto win the Oscar for the sequel despite being eerily similar. The first two Godfather films are also heralded as brilliant today due to the intricate art direction and costume design the latter of which gave each character its separate identity.
Overall it's hard to say if The Godfather Part 2 bests The Godfather in terms of quality. The sequel definitely has the great prequel element however the modern day story is a bit more lacklustre. The first film is better paced but doesn't have as intriguing a plot as the evolution of Vito Corleone. Overall I would say both films were more than deserving of the Best Picture award but, if pushed, I would say that the original just outweighs the sequel but feel free to correct me.
A little bit of a change of pace in the next post as we turn our attention to a quirky romantic comedy.
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