It's very rare for a director to have had films nominated for Best Picture in five different decades and only a few have ever achieved that feat. Alongside Martin Scorsese, the latest director to do so was Steven Spielberg who helmed two Best Picture nominees in the last few years. Rather than being contemporary tales though, Spielberg's latest offerings featured on times gone by and were on the whole rather stagnant.
This is certainly true of Spielberg's cinematic interpretation of Michael Morpurgo's best-selling family book War Horse. The film tells the story of Joey; a horse who is initially bought by a Devonshire farmer who is keen to get one over on his arrogant landlord. Although unhappy with his purchase at first, Ted soon discovers that his son Albert has formed a bond with Joey. Joey's trust of Albert eventually leads to him surprising everyone when he ploughs Ted's field. But, as the title suggests, war is coming and a bad harvest leads Ted to sell Joey to the war effort. From there we follow Joey's journey as he undergoes military training and forms a bond with a fellow horse. However, with the British army under attack, Joey is then trained to pull ambulances for the Germans before being taken away by two deserting brothers. Oddly, Joey then spends time with a jam-maker and his ill granddaughter before going back into war again. Rather conveniently, Joey is eventually freed from some barbed wire by a member of Albert's platoon. Finally, horse and boy are reunited in one of the sickliest endings to a Spielberg film I've ever seen as Albert comes back to Devon with Joey in toe. Part of my problem with War Horse was that no character stayed on screen long enough for you really to connect with anyone but Joey. Whilst the animal actors were superb, I find it hard to get emotionally attached to a horse and I feel that that's the key conceit of the film.
Additionally, War Horse is a film that could do with losing a good twenty minutes off its overall running time with its first half hour being extremely tiresome. Indeed, the lead up to the ploughing of a field is hardly the excitement you'd expect from the man who created Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park. The Devonshire that Spielberg imagines is wonderfully shot by his long term collaborator Janusz Kamiński however I still feel the sunny skies of England are a little exaggerated. Of the cast I enjoyed Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch as the two army men who were tasked with caring for the horses. Peter Mullan and Emily Watson were also fine as Albert's parents even if the former's drunken routine was a little clichéd at times. Unfortunately the main focus of the human players is Jeremy Irvine, a young actor who lacks the charisma to pull of some of the cornier elements of the plot. I was quite surprised to learn that Richard Curtis worked on a second draft of the script as character development is usually his strong suit. However I thought the characters in War Horse were thinly drawn at best and were gone again before you got to know them properly. Even the usually reliable John Williams delivered an overblown score that did nothing but signify that War Horse was incredibly melodramatic. Like all Spielberg films, War Horse looks great and this was proven by the film's six Oscar nods which came mainly in the art direction and sound categories. Although I enjoyed War Horse the first time around, it's not a film that stands up to repeat viewings and is one of Spielberg's most tiresome films.
While War Horse is a very British tale, Spielberg's return to the Best Picture category a year later saw him take on an incredibly American story. The film saw Spielberg tell the story of Abraham Lincoln's attempts to have the thirteenth amendment passed by the US House of Representatives. The very straight-forwardly titled Lincoln also looked at the president's relationship with his wife and children during the final four months of his life. At the heart of Lincoln is the story of a man who fought hard to free the slaves despite opposition from elsewhere. The film doesn't paint Lincoln as a saint but instead as somebody who occasionally made dubious decisions for the greater good. Judging from how Spielberg directs the film I got the impression that this is a story that Americans know already and therefore he doesn't really allow international audiences any time to truly get to know the characters. In fact, for the majority of the film it was hard to tell one politician in a wig from another unless they were played by an actor I was familiar with. Although the story isn't one that particularly lends itself to a cinematic setting, I didn't think that the usual engaging Spielberg put enough time into the visuals of Lincoln. In fact the only memorable moments came courtesy of the Civil War scenes at the start of the film and Lincoln's death at the end. The most interesting parts of Lincoln didn't revolve around the political aspects of the story but rather his relationship with his family. I was particularly intrigued to learn that Mary Lincoln had mental issues and that Abraham only stayed with her after she became pregnant. I personally would've liked to have had more scenes between the Lincolns and less involving the political scheming of the president's associates.
For authentically capturing the period of the time, Lincoln's production design team were awarded with an Oscar for their hard work. However, it was the film's other Oscar recipient who deserves the most praise and who made history with his award win. That recipient is Daniel Day-Lewis who won his third Best Actor Oscar to date for giving another fantastic performance as Lincoln. Having watched him develop over the course of this blog, I think that Lincoln represents Day-Lewis' third era as a performer. Although his performance incorporates some of the more brusque elements of the characters he played in Gangs of New York and There Will Be Blood, he lends a much more sympathetic edge to his turn as the former President. Day-Lewis is utterly mesmerising as Lincoln and makes you know exactly what the President is feeling even when he isn't saying anything at all. To date, Day-Lewis is the only man to win three awards in the Lead Actor category and I would say that this record is utterly well-deserved. For playing Mary Lincoln, Sally Field earned an Oscar nomination and I felt her performance here was certainly better than her Oscar-winning turn in Places in the Heart. The final member of the cast to earn a nod was Tommy Lee Jones, who as campaigning Thaddeus Stevens, added some much needed grit to proceedings. I also felt James Spader gave a suitably scenery-chewing turn as the somewhat devious William N Bilbo. Though I didn't find it as captivating as others did, Lincoln is still a solid piece of film-making by a man who knows exactly how to put an excellent movie together. Despite not being visually engaging, I think Lincoln's strengths are in the performances especially those given by Day-Lewis and Field. I do think that its Day-Lewis' turn as Lincoln which will give the film its lasting legacy and I feel that it'll definitely be the time of movie that will be played in history lessons for years to come.
Next up another director who changed course in the second decade of the 21st century.
Showing posts with label Sally Field. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sally Field. Show all posts
Friday, 22 May 2015
Sunday, 20 July 2014
Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 351-353: Hanks for the Memories
We continue our look at some of the biggest stars of the decade with somebody who has maintained their star presence over time. Initially a sitcom star, Tom Hanks moved to the big screen with hits such as Splash!, Dragnet and Punchline. Hanks was nominated for his first of five Best Actor awards for his role in the mostly comedic Big but it was his progression into drama that really saw him thrive. He won his first Best Actor award for his role as an AIDs-sufferer in Philadelphia and followed this up with appearances in three more Oscar nominated pictures.
In fact Hanks' first appearance in an Oscar-nominated film went on to win both Best Picture and the star's second Best Actor award. The film in question was Forrest Gump, a movie in which Hanks plays the titular simpleton who becomes part of some of the twentieth century's most important events. As this was my first time watching Forrest Gump I was in two-minds as I'd heard differing things about the quality of the film. Whilst some cite it as their favourite film, others view it as far too saccharine for their tastes but I sat somewhere in the middle. I wasn't a fan of the narrative device of having Gump tell his life story to other people whilst they wait for various buses. However this may be due to the fact that I'm a regular user of public transport and hate it whenever a stranger starts a conversation with me. Although the exploration of Forrest's childhood was necessary, especially in regards to his relationship with Jenny, I felt the pace lagged significantly at the start. It was only during his time in Vietnam and the introduction of Bubba and Lieutenant Dan that I warmed to both the character and the film as a whole. Though I wasn't overly charmed by all of Forrest's accomplishments I thought that the film was well-paced and that no segment really outstayed its welcome. Personally I felt the film was its best in the sequences featuring Jenny as they featured some of Forrest Gump's darkest moments. It was this balance of light and shade that Forrest Gump lacked and this is partly because the lead character doesn't always understand social situations. I don't think the final scenes of Forrest Gump tugged on my heartstrings as much as they probably should have done but I still think that this is an accomplished bit of film-making.
I do think that Forrest Gump would have fared better in an earlier decade as Robert Zemeckis' film has more than an air of Frank Capra about it. Most of the film's success is due to Hanks' central turn as he never turns Forrest into a caricature and instead makes the audience believe in his character's naivety. One of Hanks' best attributes is charm and he utilises this to great effect in order to make Forrest seem as likeable as possible. Hanks deals well with Eric Roth's screenplay and makes you really care about the character as the film progresses. I personally felt that Robin Wright's turn as Jenny was equally impressive and she deserved to be Oscar-nominated for her role in the film. She plays Jenny as somebody who has never really found her place in the world and experiments with various activities during the episode. One of the film's most memorable scenes was Jenny's attempted suicide and Wright brilliantly executed this uneasy moment. Wright and Hanks bounced well off one another, with the latter able to demonstrate another side to Forrest namely the anger that he produced every time that Jenny was in trouble. Gary Sinise added a little bit of comedy to the film as the self-hating Lieutenant Dan, who isn't given the death he wants due to Forrest's intervention. Sinise's brilliant turn in the film earned him a Supporting Actor nomination and I for one felt that was well-deserved. One of Forrest Gump's most groundbreaking elements was its use of CGI to successfully implant Forrest in a number of historical settings. Forrest's interaction with many of America's presidents was almost seamlessly executed and the visual effects team won an Oscar for their excellent work. I also loved the film's soundtrack which brought together the best musical aspects from each year in which the movie is set. Ultimately I can see why Forrest Gump's nostalgia appealed to the elderly members of the Academy and I was rather charmed by certain elements of the film. But I feel that there were better films released in the same year and therefore I think that Forrest Gump's shouldn't have received that year's Best Picture award.
Alongside his charm, one of Hanks' other great qualities his ability to make many of the characters he play feel down-to-Earth. For example, in Apollo 13, Hanks makes you care about Astronaut Jim Lovell almost instantly as the opening scene follows him interacting with friends and family at a moon landing party. Here Hanks shows that Jim is a likeable guy, who really cares about his wife and is also incredibly passionate about his job. Ron Howard's film feels almost like a drama documentary as it recounts in detail the ill-fated trip that Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise took in the titular vessel. What makes the film special is the way in which William Broyles, Jr. and Al Reinert's screenplay allows us to get to know the characters before they embark on their mission. Particular time is taken in establishing the relationship between Jim and his wife Marilyn, who becomes the emotional centre of the film following her husband's perils in space. We also learn about Swigert's playboy lifestyle and are made to care about original Apollo 13 crew-member Ken Mattingly who is let go after fears that he may infect the rest of the team. After getting to know the characters, Howard and the writers then propel us right into the spacecraft as we feel every inch of the fear that the astronauts experience. I personally was gripped right from the infamous 'Houston we have a problem' line to the trio's landing safely on Earth. The cramped confines of the lunar module were brilliantly recreated by the film's excellent production design team and were effectively utilised to make us experience the claustrophobic nature of the voyage. Similarly well-produced was the mission control centre, which was constructed at Universal Studios, and felt very convincing from the first time we saw it on screen. Along the way the film comments on the meanings of family, friendship and survival as well as looking at how the media are only interested in the seedier aspects of life.
The characters in Apollo 13 were splendidly brought to life by the film's ensemble cast all of whom injected plenty of personality into their roles. Hanks made you understand just why people were so ready to follow Jim's word and just how much of a family man he was. Hanks brought a likeability to the role and demonstrated how Lovell's fame hadn't made him either arrogant or selfish. Oddly, Hanks wasn't Oscar-nominated for his role here although two fellow cast members ranked up nods in the Supporting categories. As Lovell's wife Marilyn, Kathleen Quinlan was superb at tugging on the audience's heartstrings and conveying just how worried any woman would be in her situation. Even the real Marilyn praised Quinlan's turn and commented on how she made he remember the feelings that she experienced at the time. Ed Harris was also nominated for his role as the mission's Flight Director Gene Krantz, a part in which he undertook a lot of training in order to understand every piece of technical dialogue. I personally enjoyed Gary Sinise's turn here more than I did in Forrest Gump as he was able to employ more emotion as dejected astronaut Ken Matitngly. Sinise did a good job at portraying Mattingly's loyalty to his fellow astronauts as he returned to mission control to help ease the voyage home. Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon were similarly on form as the other two crew members with the latter being particularly impressive as the inexperienced playboy Swigert. The film's art direction and costume design were superb throughout whilst Dean Cundey's cinematography was incredibly involving and helped to capture the mood of the crew. Surprisingly Cundey's work on the film was one of the only categories in which Apollo 13 wasn't nominated. The film did win two awards, in the Sound and Editing categories, however I feel that it was deserving of more accolades. Although this was another Oscar nominee that harked back to the past, I felt that Apollo 13's honouring of recent history was well-executed. Indeed I feel that its combination of visual effects, character development and superb direction made it one of the best films of the decade and therefore a fitting Best Picture winner. Unfortunately this wasn't to be the case as another historical film would triumph at that year's ceremony.
Three years later, Hanks would star in another film set in the past in which he once again proved how he was a master at portraying normal men in extreme situations. His character in Saving Private Ryan, Captain John Miller, is revealed to be a smalltown teacher who wants to get back home to his loving wife. But, as we see throughout the film, Miller is reluctant to be seen as anything else than a Captain to a group of men who appear to thoroughly respect him. As the title would suggest, the film deals with the search for a Private Ryan, a young soldier who is due to return home after all of his brothers were killed in action. The film follows Miller's squad of men on a quest that some of them are sceptical about and question why they're putting their lives at risk to save one man. Joining Miller's squad is nervous cartographer Upham who is drafted in as an interpreter having previously never been in the field. As the film progresses, tensions fray as two members of the group are killed in very different circumstances. What I like about Robert Rodat's script is the way in which each of the squad members are given very different characteristics which in turn allows the audience to get to know them individually. I think this is especially rare for a war film as I've previously found that a lot of the supporting players are given very little development throughout. Whether it be the loyal Hovarth, the realist Reiben, the practical Wade or the wise-cracking 'Fish' everybody has their own unique style. When Ryan is finally tracked down he doesn't want to abandon his team and this sets up a truly memorable final battle scene as the American soldiers do their best to defend a bridge. What spoiled the film slightly for me was the opening and closing scenes in the military graveyard in which the elderly Ryan visits Miller's grave. These scenes felt a little out of place as they were a lot cornier than anything that had happened previously and put a blemish on the face of what was otherwise a masterful piece of film-making.
I first saw Saving Private Ryan at the cinema when I was fifteen and it completely blew me away. From the opening half-an-hour reconstruction of the D-Day Landings to the aforementioned final battle; Saving Private Ryan draws its audience in to the horrors of World War II. I found it to be incredibly realistic in is depiction of the soldiers all of whom were just doing what they could to survive. Their reactions to risking their lives to save one man made sense as did Reiben's later attempt to leave the mission altogether. Saving Private Ryan was also a stylish war film due to its use of saturated colours and the fact that some of it was shot using handheld cameras. Janusz Kamiński's excellent cinematography was rewarded with an Oscar and it's fair to say he earned it for the opening and closing scenes alone. The film's editing, sound editing and sound effects editing were similarly honoured and it's fair to say that Saving Private Ryan was a technical triumph. Meanwhile Steven Spielberg won his second Best Director Oscar for what I consider to be one of his best ever films. If I was to give one criticism then it would be that it was a little too focused on the American efforts in the war and almost left out the other allied forces entirely. This criticism puts me in mind of the first ever Best Picture winner Wings, which similarly focused on how the Americans were the heroes in the First World War. As I previously mentioned, all of the members of Miller's troop were given distinctive personalities and they were brought to life by a brilliant group of character actors. Tom Sizemore and Edward Burns were captivating as Horvath and Reiben respectively whilst Adam Goldberg was perfect as the wise-cracking 'Fish'. I really enjoyed Jeremy Davies' performance as the rookie Upham, who was often astounded by the brutality of war. Matt Damon made the audience really care about Ryan's wellbeing in the final battle and his appearance really bolstered the latter part of the film. But ultimately this was all about Tom Hanks and I feel it's an outrage that he didn't win his third Oscar for the film. From the first time he arrives on screen, Hanks is utterly believable as a man who is forced into a leadership role and who is currently trying to cope with an uncertain future. Along with Hanks' snub, the film itself missed out on a rightful Best Picture win as Private Ryan is ultimately a modern-day masterpiece which should have won every award going.
Next time we stay in the past with a murder mystery set in 1950s California.
In fact Hanks' first appearance in an Oscar-nominated film went on to win both Best Picture and the star's second Best Actor award. The film in question was Forrest Gump, a movie in which Hanks plays the titular simpleton who becomes part of some of the twentieth century's most important events. As this was my first time watching Forrest Gump I was in two-minds as I'd heard differing things about the quality of the film. Whilst some cite it as their favourite film, others view it as far too saccharine for their tastes but I sat somewhere in the middle. I wasn't a fan of the narrative device of having Gump tell his life story to other people whilst they wait for various buses. However this may be due to the fact that I'm a regular user of public transport and hate it whenever a stranger starts a conversation with me. Although the exploration of Forrest's childhood was necessary, especially in regards to his relationship with Jenny, I felt the pace lagged significantly at the start. It was only during his time in Vietnam and the introduction of Bubba and Lieutenant Dan that I warmed to both the character and the film as a whole. Though I wasn't overly charmed by all of Forrest's accomplishments I thought that the film was well-paced and that no segment really outstayed its welcome. Personally I felt the film was its best in the sequences featuring Jenny as they featured some of Forrest Gump's darkest moments. It was this balance of light and shade that Forrest Gump lacked and this is partly because the lead character doesn't always understand social situations. I don't think the final scenes of Forrest Gump tugged on my heartstrings as much as they probably should have done but I still think that this is an accomplished bit of film-making.
I do think that Forrest Gump would have fared better in an earlier decade as Robert Zemeckis' film has more than an air of Frank Capra about it. Most of the film's success is due to Hanks' central turn as he never turns Forrest into a caricature and instead makes the audience believe in his character's naivety. One of Hanks' best attributes is charm and he utilises this to great effect in order to make Forrest seem as likeable as possible. Hanks deals well with Eric Roth's screenplay and makes you really care about the character as the film progresses. I personally felt that Robin Wright's turn as Jenny was equally impressive and she deserved to be Oscar-nominated for her role in the film. She plays Jenny as somebody who has never really found her place in the world and experiments with various activities during the episode. One of the film's most memorable scenes was Jenny's attempted suicide and Wright brilliantly executed this uneasy moment. Wright and Hanks bounced well off one another, with the latter able to demonstrate another side to Forrest namely the anger that he produced every time that Jenny was in trouble. Gary Sinise added a little bit of comedy to the film as the self-hating Lieutenant Dan, who isn't given the death he wants due to Forrest's intervention. Sinise's brilliant turn in the film earned him a Supporting Actor nomination and I for one felt that was well-deserved. One of Forrest Gump's most groundbreaking elements was its use of CGI to successfully implant Forrest in a number of historical settings. Forrest's interaction with many of America's presidents was almost seamlessly executed and the visual effects team won an Oscar for their excellent work. I also loved the film's soundtrack which brought together the best musical aspects from each year in which the movie is set. Ultimately I can see why Forrest Gump's nostalgia appealed to the elderly members of the Academy and I was rather charmed by certain elements of the film. But I feel that there were better films released in the same year and therefore I think that Forrest Gump's shouldn't have received that year's Best Picture award.
Alongside his charm, one of Hanks' other great qualities his ability to make many of the characters he play feel down-to-Earth. For example, in Apollo 13, Hanks makes you care about Astronaut Jim Lovell almost instantly as the opening scene follows him interacting with friends and family at a moon landing party. Here Hanks shows that Jim is a likeable guy, who really cares about his wife and is also incredibly passionate about his job. Ron Howard's film feels almost like a drama documentary as it recounts in detail the ill-fated trip that Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise took in the titular vessel. What makes the film special is the way in which William Broyles, Jr. and Al Reinert's screenplay allows us to get to know the characters before they embark on their mission. Particular time is taken in establishing the relationship between Jim and his wife Marilyn, who becomes the emotional centre of the film following her husband's perils in space. We also learn about Swigert's playboy lifestyle and are made to care about original Apollo 13 crew-member Ken Mattingly who is let go after fears that he may infect the rest of the team. After getting to know the characters, Howard and the writers then propel us right into the spacecraft as we feel every inch of the fear that the astronauts experience. I personally was gripped right from the infamous 'Houston we have a problem' line to the trio's landing safely on Earth. The cramped confines of the lunar module were brilliantly recreated by the film's excellent production design team and were effectively utilised to make us experience the claustrophobic nature of the voyage. Similarly well-produced was the mission control centre, which was constructed at Universal Studios, and felt very convincing from the first time we saw it on screen. Along the way the film comments on the meanings of family, friendship and survival as well as looking at how the media are only interested in the seedier aspects of life.
The characters in Apollo 13 were splendidly brought to life by the film's ensemble cast all of whom injected plenty of personality into their roles. Hanks made you understand just why people were so ready to follow Jim's word and just how much of a family man he was. Hanks brought a likeability to the role and demonstrated how Lovell's fame hadn't made him either arrogant or selfish. Oddly, Hanks wasn't Oscar-nominated for his role here although two fellow cast members ranked up nods in the Supporting categories. As Lovell's wife Marilyn, Kathleen Quinlan was superb at tugging on the audience's heartstrings and conveying just how worried any woman would be in her situation. Even the real Marilyn praised Quinlan's turn and commented on how she made he remember the feelings that she experienced at the time. Ed Harris was also nominated for his role as the mission's Flight Director Gene Krantz, a part in which he undertook a lot of training in order to understand every piece of technical dialogue. I personally enjoyed Gary Sinise's turn here more than I did in Forrest Gump as he was able to employ more emotion as dejected astronaut Ken Matitngly. Sinise did a good job at portraying Mattingly's loyalty to his fellow astronauts as he returned to mission control to help ease the voyage home. Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon were similarly on form as the other two crew members with the latter being particularly impressive as the inexperienced playboy Swigert. The film's art direction and costume design were superb throughout whilst Dean Cundey's cinematography was incredibly involving and helped to capture the mood of the crew. Surprisingly Cundey's work on the film was one of the only categories in which Apollo 13 wasn't nominated. The film did win two awards, in the Sound and Editing categories, however I feel that it was deserving of more accolades. Although this was another Oscar nominee that harked back to the past, I felt that Apollo 13's honouring of recent history was well-executed. Indeed I feel that its combination of visual effects, character development and superb direction made it one of the best films of the decade and therefore a fitting Best Picture winner. Unfortunately this wasn't to be the case as another historical film would triumph at that year's ceremony.
Three years later, Hanks would star in another film set in the past in which he once again proved how he was a master at portraying normal men in extreme situations. His character in Saving Private Ryan, Captain John Miller, is revealed to be a smalltown teacher who wants to get back home to his loving wife. But, as we see throughout the film, Miller is reluctant to be seen as anything else than a Captain to a group of men who appear to thoroughly respect him. As the title would suggest, the film deals with the search for a Private Ryan, a young soldier who is due to return home after all of his brothers were killed in action. The film follows Miller's squad of men on a quest that some of them are sceptical about and question why they're putting their lives at risk to save one man. Joining Miller's squad is nervous cartographer Upham who is drafted in as an interpreter having previously never been in the field. As the film progresses, tensions fray as two members of the group are killed in very different circumstances. What I like about Robert Rodat's script is the way in which each of the squad members are given very different characteristics which in turn allows the audience to get to know them individually. I think this is especially rare for a war film as I've previously found that a lot of the supporting players are given very little development throughout. Whether it be the loyal Hovarth, the realist Reiben, the practical Wade or the wise-cracking 'Fish' everybody has their own unique style. When Ryan is finally tracked down he doesn't want to abandon his team and this sets up a truly memorable final battle scene as the American soldiers do their best to defend a bridge. What spoiled the film slightly for me was the opening and closing scenes in the military graveyard in which the elderly Ryan visits Miller's grave. These scenes felt a little out of place as they were a lot cornier than anything that had happened previously and put a blemish on the face of what was otherwise a masterful piece of film-making.
I first saw Saving Private Ryan at the cinema when I was fifteen and it completely blew me away. From the opening half-an-hour reconstruction of the D-Day Landings to the aforementioned final battle; Saving Private Ryan draws its audience in to the horrors of World War II. I found it to be incredibly realistic in is depiction of the soldiers all of whom were just doing what they could to survive. Their reactions to risking their lives to save one man made sense as did Reiben's later attempt to leave the mission altogether. Saving Private Ryan was also a stylish war film due to its use of saturated colours and the fact that some of it was shot using handheld cameras. Janusz Kamiński's excellent cinematography was rewarded with an Oscar and it's fair to say he earned it for the opening and closing scenes alone. The film's editing, sound editing and sound effects editing were similarly honoured and it's fair to say that Saving Private Ryan was a technical triumph. Meanwhile Steven Spielberg won his second Best Director Oscar for what I consider to be one of his best ever films. If I was to give one criticism then it would be that it was a little too focused on the American efforts in the war and almost left out the other allied forces entirely. This criticism puts me in mind of the first ever Best Picture winner Wings, which similarly focused on how the Americans were the heroes in the First World War. As I previously mentioned, all of the members of Miller's troop were given distinctive personalities and they were brought to life by a brilliant group of character actors. Tom Sizemore and Edward Burns were captivating as Horvath and Reiben respectively whilst Adam Goldberg was perfect as the wise-cracking 'Fish'. I really enjoyed Jeremy Davies' performance as the rookie Upham, who was often astounded by the brutality of war. Matt Damon made the audience really care about Ryan's wellbeing in the final battle and his appearance really bolstered the latter part of the film. But ultimately this was all about Tom Hanks and I feel it's an outrage that he didn't win his third Oscar for the film. From the first time he arrives on screen, Hanks is utterly believable as a man who is forced into a leadership role and who is currently trying to cope with an uncertain future. Along with Hanks' snub, the film itself missed out on a rightful Best Picture win as Private Ryan is ultimately a modern-day masterpiece which should have won every award going.
Next time we stay in the past with a murder mystery set in 1950s California.
Thursday, 20 March 2014
Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 276-277: Field of Gold
In my last post I looked at On Golden Pond which featured the final Best Actress winning performance from Katharine Hepburn. Hepburn is famous for being the only woman in history to win the Best Actress prize a total of four times a record that has never been matched. Despite all her nominations, Meryl Streep has only won the prize twice as have Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda and Luise Rainer.
One name whose missing from that list is Sally Field, whose two wins both came during ceremonies in the 1980s. In fact Field's first win came for a film up for Best Picture at the 1980 ceremony in which she played the title character of Norma Rae. Based on the story of Crystal Lee Sutton, Norma Rae Webster is a cotton mill worker in a small Southern town. When we meet her she has two children by two different men and lives with her parents both of whom work alongside her. We learn early on that Norma Rae makes ill-advised decisions as we see her conducting an affair with a married man. However she soon finds love with Sonny, a man with a young daughter who Norma Rae soon raises as her own. At the same time as meeting Sonny, Norma Rae also has several encounters with Reuben Warshowsky, a union organiser who has come to the town hoping to unionise the mill employees. However a lot of the residents are set in their ways and view the union as bad news especially considering how the mill bosses generally treat those who wish to join. But Norma Rae is unmoved in her determination and soon agrees to help Reuben in anyway she can, a move that upsets certain people around her. As she begins to devote more of her time to helping Reuben, Sonny begins to feel neglected and their relationship suffers as a result. But finally, after the death of her father, Norma Rae takes the biggest stand imaginable and this results in some really tear-jerking scenes.
There are a lot of films like Norma Rae being made to this day and their sole intent is to be nominated for as many awards as possible. In fact films such as Erin Brockovich and North Country owe a enormous debt to the film as they share both a similar structure and a story about a single mother attempting to rise above the system and do the right. I feel that if I'd watched Norma Rae when it was first released I might have a bit less of a cynical attitude than I do it in 2014. However I have to admit that the film did move me in its final moments as the factory employees agree to be unionised. The film does do exactly what is says on the tin as this is a story about Norma Rae first and foremost. Screenwriters Harriet Frank, Jr. and Irving Ravetch make Norma Rae feel like a real person as she's a woman who has her faults but has a genuine heart of gold. In addition they paint the picture of the close-knit community perfectly a theme heightened thanks to Martin Ritt's assured direction. But, at the heart of Norma Rae, is the outstanding central performance from Sally Field who at the time was a relative newcomer. Field combines a strength and vulnerability to create a heroine that we just want to succeed at whatever she decides to do. Her performance is what makes the film so captivating and without her I feel Norma Rae could have lapsed into melodrama fairly easily. Ultimately, while not a classic, Norma Rae is a solid feelgood film that has a cracking central performance from an actress who would receive more accolades later in the decade.
Field's second Best Actress win was for her performance as a struggling widow in Places in the Heart. The film, set during the American depression, sees Field's Edna Spalding become a widow when her sheriff husband is accidentally shot and killed. Realising that her husband was still repaying money he borrowed to buy the family farm, Edna is faced with the prospect of moving of splitting up her family. Instead of leaving the house, Edna decides to grow cotton on the land with help from black drifter Moze. Edna gets another lodger when the banker who she owes money to suggests that his blind brother-in-law Mr Will moves in. Mr Will is initially hostile to Edna, and even scolds her children, but later he bonds with the Spalding brood. Edna's new ramshackle family eventually realise that they need to harvest the cotton as soon as possible and get the price for it so Edna can keep the farm. But soon Moze faces difficulty from the racist townsfolk and Will is forced to use all of his facilities to help his new found friend. If this were the only story in Places in the Heart then I may have enjoyed the film a lot more but unfortunately there was a subplot involving Edna's siter and her philandering husband. Edna's brother-in-law Wayne is seen to be having an affair with the local schoolteacher Viola and their story plays out alongside Edna's. However, I found this plot to be utterly pointless and it should have been written out of the film altogether.
In fact one of Places in the Heart's main issues is its script, so it makes it all the more surprising that the other Oscar it won was for Best Adapted Screenplay. Whilst I understand that the screenwriters wanted to remain faithful to the original story, I found the Wayne subplot really didn't fit in with what the rest of the film was trying to do. Like Norma Rae, Places in the Heart is another story of a single woman trying to cope in a male-dominated society. The theme of the outcast is quite prevalent throughout as we have a woman, a black man and a blind man all living together and trying to make the best of a bad situation. Although the story is disjointed, Places in the Heart more than makes up for it with some wonderful cinematography. The period detail is wonderfully realised and cinematographer Néstor Almendros shoots the Texas landscape beautifully. I personally feel that Field's performance isn't a patch on her turn in Norma Rae and she really didn't make me care about the character of Edna very much at all. The performance of the film actually came from John Malkovich as Mr Will as I found his transformation to be utterly believable. Danny Glover similarly excelled as the likeable Moze and his turn here was a million miles away from his performance in The Color Purple. Oddly, Places in the Heart's lasting legacy isn't anything in the film but rather Field's Oscar Speech in which she let out the iconic line, "I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!" Unfortunately, I didn't like the film as much as the academy like Field's performance as I found it overly sentimental with a disjointed story albeit one that has some fine supporting turns and some brilliant cinematography.
Next up we take it back a century with an adaptation of a classic piece of English Literature.
One name whose missing from that list is Sally Field, whose two wins both came during ceremonies in the 1980s. In fact Field's first win came for a film up for Best Picture at the 1980 ceremony in which she played the title character of Norma Rae. Based on the story of Crystal Lee Sutton, Norma Rae Webster is a cotton mill worker in a small Southern town. When we meet her she has two children by two different men and lives with her parents both of whom work alongside her. We learn early on that Norma Rae makes ill-advised decisions as we see her conducting an affair with a married man. However she soon finds love with Sonny, a man with a young daughter who Norma Rae soon raises as her own. At the same time as meeting Sonny, Norma Rae also has several encounters with Reuben Warshowsky, a union organiser who has come to the town hoping to unionise the mill employees. However a lot of the residents are set in their ways and view the union as bad news especially considering how the mill bosses generally treat those who wish to join. But Norma Rae is unmoved in her determination and soon agrees to help Reuben in anyway she can, a move that upsets certain people around her. As she begins to devote more of her time to helping Reuben, Sonny begins to feel neglected and their relationship suffers as a result. But finally, after the death of her father, Norma Rae takes the biggest stand imaginable and this results in some really tear-jerking scenes.
There are a lot of films like Norma Rae being made to this day and their sole intent is to be nominated for as many awards as possible. In fact films such as Erin Brockovich and North Country owe a enormous debt to the film as they share both a similar structure and a story about a single mother attempting to rise above the system and do the right. I feel that if I'd watched Norma Rae when it was first released I might have a bit less of a cynical attitude than I do it in 2014. However I have to admit that the film did move me in its final moments as the factory employees agree to be unionised. The film does do exactly what is says on the tin as this is a story about Norma Rae first and foremost. Screenwriters Harriet Frank, Jr. and Irving Ravetch make Norma Rae feel like a real person as she's a woman who has her faults but has a genuine heart of gold. In addition they paint the picture of the close-knit community perfectly a theme heightened thanks to Martin Ritt's assured direction. But, at the heart of Norma Rae, is the outstanding central performance from Sally Field who at the time was a relative newcomer. Field combines a strength and vulnerability to create a heroine that we just want to succeed at whatever she decides to do. Her performance is what makes the film so captivating and without her I feel Norma Rae could have lapsed into melodrama fairly easily. Ultimately, while not a classic, Norma Rae is a solid feelgood film that has a cracking central performance from an actress who would receive more accolades later in the decade.
Field's second Best Actress win was for her performance as a struggling widow in Places in the Heart. The film, set during the American depression, sees Field's Edna Spalding become a widow when her sheriff husband is accidentally shot and killed. Realising that her husband was still repaying money he borrowed to buy the family farm, Edna is faced with the prospect of moving of splitting up her family. Instead of leaving the house, Edna decides to grow cotton on the land with help from black drifter Moze. Edna gets another lodger when the banker who she owes money to suggests that his blind brother-in-law Mr Will moves in. Mr Will is initially hostile to Edna, and even scolds her children, but later he bonds with the Spalding brood. Edna's new ramshackle family eventually realise that they need to harvest the cotton as soon as possible and get the price for it so Edna can keep the farm. But soon Moze faces difficulty from the racist townsfolk and Will is forced to use all of his facilities to help his new found friend. If this were the only story in Places in the Heart then I may have enjoyed the film a lot more but unfortunately there was a subplot involving Edna's siter and her philandering husband. Edna's brother-in-law Wayne is seen to be having an affair with the local schoolteacher Viola and their story plays out alongside Edna's. However, I found this plot to be utterly pointless and it should have been written out of the film altogether.
In fact one of Places in the Heart's main issues is its script, so it makes it all the more surprising that the other Oscar it won was for Best Adapted Screenplay. Whilst I understand that the screenwriters wanted to remain faithful to the original story, I found the Wayne subplot really didn't fit in with what the rest of the film was trying to do. Like Norma Rae, Places in the Heart is another story of a single woman trying to cope in a male-dominated society. The theme of the outcast is quite prevalent throughout as we have a woman, a black man and a blind man all living together and trying to make the best of a bad situation. Although the story is disjointed, Places in the Heart more than makes up for it with some wonderful cinematography. The period detail is wonderfully realised and cinematographer Néstor Almendros shoots the Texas landscape beautifully. I personally feel that Field's performance isn't a patch on her turn in Norma Rae and she really didn't make me care about the character of Edna very much at all. The performance of the film actually came from John Malkovich as Mr Will as I found his transformation to be utterly believable. Danny Glover similarly excelled as the likeable Moze and his turn here was a million miles away from his performance in The Color Purple. Oddly, Places in the Heart's lasting legacy isn't anything in the film but rather Field's Oscar Speech in which she let out the iconic line, "I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!" Unfortunately, I didn't like the film as much as the academy like Field's performance as I found it overly sentimental with a disjointed story albeit one that has some fine supporting turns and some brilliant cinematography.
Next up we take it back a century with an adaptation of a classic piece of English Literature.
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