Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 345-347: Cruise Control

In the last couple of posts I've concentrated on actors who were some of the biggest box office stars of the decade. That trend continues with our focus on three films from Tom Cruise, who had already proved to be a hit at the box office during the late 1980s. Cruise started off in action films such as Top Gun but later expanded his repertoire to feature in more serious roles. We first saw Cruise in the final Best Picture winner of the 1980s; Rain Man and he went on to wow the academy by starring in three Oscar-nominated movies throughout the decade.

A year after Rain Man won the Best Picture, Cruise found himself nominated for his first of three acting nominations for his role in Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July. Cruise's matinee idol good looks were well-utilised as Ron Kovic an All-American boy who lives in a small New York town. Stone presents Ron as a good-looking, popular student who excels at sports and who is a member of a highly religious family. Ron is soon won over by a rousing speech given by the Marines and soon signs up himself eventually being deployed to Vietnam. Unlike Stone's previous work, Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July doesn't spend long in Vietnam itself and instead looks at the after-effects on Ron's time during the war. During his second tour, Ron is deeply affected by his accidental killing of a fellow platoon member and later finds himself paralysed from the chest down after being critically wounded. Most of the rest of the film deals with Ron's struggle to deal with his condition and struggles to deal with the fact that his efforts in Vietnam aren't being appreciated. Where once being a military veteran was a mark of respect, the war is now being seen in a new light with a lot of protests springing up all over the place. The film takes some interesting detours, including a trip to Mexico, before Ron finally realises that being a Marine has done him no good. His work as a war protester ultimately saw him become a notable figure especially after writing a compelling book. It is that book that Stone adapted for the film itself but, as I've noticed with other Stone films, the message he gives throughout is pretty heavy-handed.

Just like with JFK and Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July really demonstrates Stone's liberal viewpoints and his message that war is bad is hammered home throughout the film's two and a half hour runtime. The picture postcard world of Ron's adolescence is soon replaced by plenty of heartbreak as we see his problems adjusting back into a community who no longer accepts him. The scenes I enjoyed the most were those in the veterans hospital in which Ron tried his best to prove he could walk again. Stone presents the hospital as a dirty and dilapidated place in which the patients have been forgotten by those in the outside world.  The Mexican scenes are also interestingly portrayed as a place in which the paraplegic former soldiers can escape to a world in which they're treated well. Born on the Fourth of July evokes memories of many war films I've watched throughout the course of this journey including All Quiet on the Western Front, Coming Home and Stone's own Platoon. But the film it has the most in common with is Best Picture winner The Best Years of Our Lives which also deals with the struggles of former soldiers in a small town community. Whilst it occasionally feels as if Stone is spoon-feeding the audience, there's no denying that he constructs a brilliant final chapter to the film which presents Ron as the hero he wants to be. Part of the reason that Ron is seen as such a compelling character is down to Cruise who brilliantly portrays the character's transformation throughout the course of the film. There's a depth to Cruise's performance in the latter scenes which proves that the actor isn't just a one trick pony and can thrive in drama as well as action. One of the other problems I had with the film is that there weren't any supporting characters to identify with primarily as none of the B-players seemed to stick around for very long. This is a shame as both Kyra Sedgwick and Willem Dafoe gave memorable turns but really weren't around long enough to make a lasting impression. Technically Born on the Fourth of July was a triumph as Robert Richardson's cinematography keeps the audience thoroughly gripped during all of the film's various scenes. Stone won his second Best Director award for the film and I can see why although I would argue that Born on the Fourth of July isn't as much of a masterpiece as Platoon. In fact the best element of the film was Cruise's lead performance as I found him utterly captivating and more than deserving of his Best Actor nomination.

Three years later Cruise would once again find himself being the top star at the Box Office and featuring in another Best Picture nominee. This time the film was A Few Good Men, directed by Rob Reiner and adapted by Aaron Sorkin from his own stage play. As a big fan of Sorkin's work I could tell almost immediately that he had written the screenplay as it was both fast-paced and witty. The film is based around the court case of two marines; Privates Dawson and Downey, who are accused of poisoning and murdering their colleague Private William Santiago. Cruise plays Lt. Daniel Kaffee, a military lawyer who is notorious for making plea bargains before cases go to court. Cruise excels as the smooth-talking lawyer and easily deals with Sorkin's unique brand of dialogue. Although Kaffee feels like it will be an open-and-shut case he didn't figure on the involvement of Commander Joanne Galloway, who thinks that the two privates deserve a proper trial. After getting herself involved in the case, Galloway convinces Kaffee to take the case to court after seeing that he believes that the men are innocent. Reiner and Sorkin let the audience in on the fact that the real men to blame are Dawson and Downey's commanding officers Col. Jessop and Lt. Kendrick who both gave them orders to scare Santiago after he criticised their leadership. Both men though are eager to cover up their orders and Dawson and Downey are seen as the sacrificial lambs who will go down due to Kaffee's inexperience in the courtroom. Although I've never seen A Few Good Men before I was aware of the film's big line delivered by Jessop in which he tells Kaffee 'You Can't Handle the Truth'. This line is brilliantly delivered by Jack Nicholson who was the only cast member to be nominated for his role in the film despite only appearing in a small amount of scenes.

The fact that Nicholson's performance in the film is so memorable is a testament to Sorkin as much as it is to the actor's brilliant screen presence. One of Sorkin's biggest strengths is to flesh out his supporting characters so the audience is able to understand their motivations and care about them. This is true here as the violent Kendrick, charming government prosecutor Cpt. Ross and Kaffee's assistant Sam are all given their chances to shine. Cruise is great at portraying Kaffee's growing care of the case as we saw him become more passionate as the film progresses. Kafee's understanding of what it truly means to be a military man is a plot point that is never over-emphasised but also provides one of the film's memorable final scenes. Cruise also has great chemistry with Demi Moore and they bounce off each other perfectly as they deliver Sorkin's screwball comedy-esque dialogue. Since we last saw her in Ghost, Moore has definitely improved as an actress and she's great playing a straight-laced Lt Commander who remains buttoned up throughout. One of the things I liked so much about A Few Good Men was the fact that Galloway and Kaffee never were romantically involved and instead remained colleagues. I'm sure other writers would've had these characters embark on a romance during the film and it's a testament to Sorkin that this didn't happen. Reiner's direction is equally impressive and he is able to make the courtroom scenes as tense as possible. The way the camera pounces back between Kaffee and Jessop during the film's most infamous scene makes it almost feel like a tennis match albeit one based on power. Although not a truly great film, A Few Good Men is a great piece of entertainment and I found it easy to digest in one sitting. Reiner, Sorkin and a fine ensemble cast are able to provide two hours of compelling well-written drama which doesn't hammer home its central message. Meanwhile, Cruise proved that he could handle snappy dialogue and shine in a lighter role to the ones he played in both Born on the Fourth of July and Rain Man.

Four years later, Cruise appeared in his final Best Picture nominee where he once again starred in a dialogue-heavy feature. This time he played the titular sports agent in Jerry Maguire a film that was both written and directed by Cameron Crowe. Initially portrayed as a cynical sports agent, Maguire develops a conscience and writes a mission statement condemning a lot of the immoral means that agents go through to secure clients. His words eventually get him fired from his agency and he later breaks up with his fiancée leaving him with few people to count on. The film focuses on Jerry's two major relationships after his firing the first being with his only client, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Rod Tidwell. I personally think that Jerry's friendship with Rod is the more compelling of the two relationships as it is their mutual respect that ultimately changes the protagonist's view of his job. Jerry's fear over Rod's potential injury at a game was the film's most emotional moment and it was followed by a moving embrace between the two men. I was therefore less interested in Jerry's relationship with single mother Dorothy Boyd, the only person from his old firm who agrees to join his new agency. I found Crowe's presentation of Jerry and Dorothy's romance to be quite clichéd and I felt that the former's marriage proposal came out of the blue. Additionally I wasn't a fan of Dorothy's cutesy son Ray, who felt out of place in what was otherwise an adult romantic comedy. What I did like was the fact that Jerry and Dorothy briefly separated due to the fact that he couldn't retain a romantic relationship with her. But, in one of the film's most famous moments, Jerry wins his wife over with the now classic line 'you complete me' which was followed up with Dorothy's own ' you had me at hello.' But in my opinion a couple of lines doesn't make up for quite a sickly sweet romance which I didn't feel particularly invested with at any time during the film.

I'm personally a big fan of Crowe's and even though he's been involved with a  few misfires over the years, namely Elizabethtown, he has a likeable style and is a great writer and director. Although Jerry Maguire earned him his only Best Director nomination to date, I don't feel that it stacks up with his best films. Instead I feel that it's a pleasant enough romantic comedy which contains a few memorable moments that have gone down in film history. The film is at its best when concentrating on Jerry's job as a sports agent as it lets Crowe's ear for brilliant dialogue shine through. It also allows Cruise to demonstrate how great he not only is as a fast-talking businessman but also as somebody who learns the true meaning of friendship. Cruise has great chemistry with Cuba Gooding Jr who, as Rod, won that year's Best Supporting Actor Oscar. I initially wasn't won over by Cuba's performance and it was only in the second half of the film that he really shone. Although the film marked her big break, I thought that Renée Zellweger gave a rather weak performance as the single mother looking to embark on a new romance. Zellweger later proved that she was a great romantic comedy lead but here I found that there was no spark between her and Cruise. The casting of Jonathan Lipnicki as Ray was another misstep for the film as I found him annoying rather than endearing. Crowe has proved that he is able to write memorable supporting characters, but the quirky turns in Jerry Maguire leave a lot to be desired. The film was definitely a relaxing watch but I don't think it's a film that would ever be described as a classic in the romantic genre nor is it particularly memorable. In fact, although I've watched the film before, I remembered very little of it aside from its much-quoted lines of dialogue. Jerry Maguire also demonstrated how former music journalist Crowe could use a pop soundtrack to enhance the mood of a film. It was his love of music that would later produce his best work, and one of my favourite films; Almost Famous which saw him pick up an Oscar for his screenplay.

Meanwhile Cruise would go on to win his final acting nomination for his supporting turn in Magnolia which I still consider to be one of his best roles. But in the 2000s he concentrated more on action films most notably the Mission Impossible franchise whose four instalments all dominated the Box Office. Unfortunately Cruise became another actor who became better known for his personal life than his acting and that's a shame as this post has proved that he can really excel in the right role.

Next time we focus on an actor/director combination which triumphed at two 1990s Oscar ceremonies.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 322-324: A Fiennes Trio of Films

Today Ralph Fiennes is considered one of England's finest actors and it's interesting that his success came quite quickly. After appearances in two TV movies, Fiennes' feature film debut saw him play Heathcliff in a 1992 adaptation of Wuthering Heights. His performance caught the eye of Steven Spielberg who decided he was the perfect person to play the despicable SS Officer Amon Goeth in Schindler's List.

In the film, which later went on to win Best Picture, Fiennes' performance is just one highlight in one of the best movies of all time. The film centres around Liam Neeson's Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who wants to keep the Nazi officers on side as the war begins. Throughout the film, Spielberg present Schindler as somebody who tries to keep everyone happy and who plays the fool in order to manipulate those around him. As Schindler builds a factory in Krakow, he enlists the help of Jewish accountant Itzthak Stern to draw up a list of workers. As the building of Schindler's factory coincides with the Nazis attack on the Polish Jews, Stern tries to save as many people as possible by employing them at the factory. Schindler is initially presented as somebody who doesn't care about the struggle of the Jews and turns a blind eye to Stern's recruitment process. Indeed he views the murder of the workers as a hindrance to productivity rather than a needless loss of human life. The first time we get the impression that Schindler's views are changing is when he witnesses the liquidation of the Polish ghetto. The brilliantly shot sequence features the iconic girl in red scene in which we see a hint of colour in an otherwise black and white film. Schindler's eye is drawn to the girl and it's only when we sees her red coat once again that he realises he must do something. Meanwhile the brutish Goth is won over by Schindler's bribes and agrees to let him build a new factory which is a front to save as many Jews as possible from going to Auschwitz. Compiling his titular list, Schindler's role as a saviour is documented in the final scenes in which the Jews thank him for saving their lives. 

Spielberg wanted Schindler's List to act as a documentary rather than a drama and this is clear in the final scene where the surviving members of Schindler's Jews arrive at his grave alongside the actors who portrayed him in the film. Spielberg clearly sets out to show that Schindler wasn't always a hero and when the film begins he is an unscrupulous charmer who is out for what he can get. His selflessness only manifests later on in the film and it's the brilliant performance from Liam Neeson that captures this perfectly. Neeson excels both in Schindler's early scenes as a charismatic businessman and in the more emotional moments as he breaks down in front of Stern just before the war comes to an end. Fiennes gives a scene-stealing turn as one of cinema's greatest villains as he coldly shoots Jews with no good reason and physically assaults his maid. But through Fiennes' performance we see that Goeth's actions are born out of a jealousy of people such as Schindler who are able to charm their way through life. Goeth's most sympathetic scene is when he tries to woo his maid as Fiennes briefly lets us see his character's more vulnerable side. But he doesn't stay sympathetic for long and by the end of the scene he becomes a monster once again. Praise must also go to Janusz Kamiński who cinematography is spellbinding as he helps Spielberg create the documentary-like feel he desired. John Williams' score is another of the film's triumphs as his Ben Kingsley's supporting turn as the quiet accountant Stern. In fact there are little negatives I can find in an almost perfect film and I think it deserved all the seven Oscars it won. I can't think that any of the other films nominated for Best Picture in that year was worthy of the accolade more than Schindler's List although you'll have to wait for me to make that decision when the decade is at an end. What I can say is that Ralph Fiennes was robbed of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar as he gave an absolutely compelling turn as one of cinema's most loathed characters. 

That being said Fiennes didn't even receive a nomination for his next film appearance which was in Robert Redford's Best Picture nominee Quiz Show. Fiennes role as the intelligent and handsome Charles Van Doren is a million miles away from the brutish Goeth. Instead he plays a man who is won over by the trappings of fame after becoming a contestant on the iconic 1950s quiz show Twenty One. Van Doren is chosen as the new regular competitor on the programme to replace the nervy Herb Stampel whose popularity is waning in the eyes of the public. Right from the start of the film it's made clear that the quiz show is being controlled by the head of the NBC Network and by the programme's sponsor, a supplementary gel called Geritol. As Herb is no longer a ratings draw, Twenty One's producer Dan Enright convinces Herb to lose the next programme to Van Doren. Here it's revealed that the producers have been feeding Herb the answers to the questions and continue to rig the quiz by giving Van Doren questions he knows the answers to. These methods completely go against the way the show is viewed by the American public who believe that Twenty One's question are kept in a bank vault. Soon enough Van Doren becomes adored by the public whilst Herb tries to get revenge by exposing the corruption behind Twenty One. Newly graduated lawyer Dick Goodwin takes it upon himself to investigate the scandal and soon finds it tough to know who to believe. As with the rest of the population, Goodwin is charmed by Van Doren and finds Herb to be a volatile personality. But Goodwin soon finds the evidence he needs and hopes to expose the corruption in both NBC and sponsors Geritol. But Redford's final message is that the corporations themselves never pay and instead it's the little people who suffer. Both Van Doren and Herb lose the public's respect as a result of the scandal whilst Enright and host Jack Benny are soon making their fortunes from television once again. 

I knew very little about Quiz Show before watching it and I think that aided my enjoyment of the film. From the opening credits which play over a stylised version of the 1950s you know you're watching a classy film. Robert Redford's direction isn't incredibly original but he helps capture the fast-talking style of all of his characters and makes you care about the three central protagonists. Indeed this is a film about a trio of men; the impressionable Van Doren, the bland Herb and the ambitious Dick all of whom are corrupted by the quiz show scandal in different ways. As Dick, Rob Morrow is every inch the slick junior lawyer as he attempts to gain notoriety due to his part in uncovering the corruption at NBC. John Turturro is fantastic as Herb, a man who has a little charisma and who is visibly hurt by his rejection from Enright. Turturro especially excels at portraying Herb's volatile nature and how much it hurts him to get a certain question wrong. I personally felt that Ralph Fiennes put in a fine turn here as Van Doren, an intelligent man but somebody who is swallowed up the hype surrounding his Twenty One appearance. Fiennes demonstrates his charisma throughout the piece and his final speech to congress his delivered excellently. Fiennes has brilliant chemistry with Paul Scofield, the only nominated member of the cast, who plays his renowned poet father Mark. Scofield's performance makes up only part of a great supporting cast that includes David Paymer, Christopher McDonald and Martin Scorsese as a Geritol representative. The real star here is Paul Attanasio, who was Oscar-nominated for his fantastically well-paced and snappy adapted screenplay. Attanasio's screenplay launches attacks on well-known brands and lets us know that they don't care who they sacrifice along the way as long as the money keeps coming in. Ultimately Quiz Show is an easy-to-watch film with fine performances and a great screenplay which has an identifiable message behind it. 

After appearing in Kathryn Bigelow's Strange Days in 1995, Fiennes' next film would see him get his only Best Actor Oscar Nomination to date. The film was The English Patient in which Fiennes played a character who, when we first meet him, is horribly disfigured after his plane crashes in Italy. As he won't live very long, French-Canadian nurse Hanna agrees to look after him primarily so she can get over the losses she's suffered recently. The mystery man, known as The English Patient, soon finds his life in danger when Canadian thief Caravaggio starts to take an interest in him. Caravaggio believes the man was directly involved with him being captured and tortured by the Germans so wants to take his revenge. Whilst all of this action takes place in 1944, the rest of The English Patient takes us back to Cairo of the late 1930s in which the mystery man is revealed as a map maker. In addition we learn he is not English but in fact the Hungarian Count László Almásy, who is part of the Royal Geographic Society. Joining The Count's expedition are married couple Geoffrey and Katherine Clifton the latter of whom catches the eye of our protagonist. It's not long before the attraction becomes mutual and the two begin an affair which they find easy to do when Geoffrey spends a lot of time away from his wife. But soon The Count finds himself being jealous of Katherine's interactions with other men and almost becomes abusive towards her. But there's no denying that there is still passion in their relationship and back in the Italian scenes The Count reveals the measures he took to care for the woman he loved. Ultimately The Count's words see both Carravagio and Hanna get what they want as he finally finds peace.

I remember my mum having a copy of The English Patient on VHS at one time and therefore snippets of the film seem familiar. However, as I was quite young I don't think I completely understood the fact that the film went backwards and forwards in time. When the film first began I was incredibly taken with Hanna thanks to Juliette Binoche's Oscar winning turn as the emotionally fraught nurse. Unlike something like The Thin Red Line where I never felt I really knew the characters, Anthony Mingella's adapted screenplay instantly made me warm to Hanna. Therefore it was the scenes set in Italy that I enjoyed more than the ones in the African desert mainly because the characters there were a little harder to like. It was only when Katherine appeared and the affair started that I began to care for The Count as Fiennes was able to portray his love for her brilliantly. It was great seeing Fiennes play the lead rather than take a supporting turn and his performance put me in mind of the classic film stars that we saw in the 1930s and 1940s. Every inch the charming lead, Fiennes made his character seem quite arrogant but also somebody who would do anything for love. Even in the scenes where he was covered in convincing make-up he still made us care for his plight right up to the bitter end. However, I felt that this film really belonged to the women as both of the central actresses really brought the film to life. As I previously mentioned Binoche lit up the screen as Hanna and she conveyed her characters loss as well as her capacity to find love with Sikh bomb disposal expert Kip. Kristen Scott Thomas is one of my favourite actresses and proved her worth here as the elegant Katherine. She and Fiennes also had a winning chemistry which made it easy to believe their love for one another.

The English Patient's other main strength is in its extremely striking visuals and so it's not surprising to learn that the film was showered with Oscars. John Seale's superb cinematography really brought the Tunisian and Italian exterior locations to life. Seale succeeded in taking the film's audience into both the African desert and the Italian countryside which helped to separate the two storylines. In his book, editor Walter Murch claimed that he initially struggled to intercut the two different timelines of the story. But I think he did an excellent job especially in the final scene in which we see both Katherine and Hanna reading the same story aloud. Gabriel Yared's score also adds to the overall feel of the film, particularly during the African scenes. Bringing all these elements together was the late Antony Mingella, who won awards both for his direction and screenplay. Mingella's vision for the film was perfectly realised in a film which I came to really enjoy over the course of the two and half hour runtime. What I liked most about The English Patient was the fact that this was a film set during war time but which focused more on how the fighting prevented the characters from ever truly being loved. Whether it was explosives ending lives or the paranoia that was present on both sides, the war really affected all the film's characters in different ways. However, I wouldn't describe The English Patient as a war film but rather a love story set during the time of war and I found that to be a refreshing change.

Next time we focus on a film that deals with both sexuality and race during a time of conflict. 

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 301-302: Sheens at War

Most of the war films I've encountered throughout the course of this blog have been flag-waving salutes to the boys and girls fighting the good fight. Although occasionally bleak in tone, these films have nonetheless praised those in command of the missions and have led us to believe that everything is being done for the greater good. However, starting in the late 1970s, some films started to tell a different tale altogether with movies such as The Deer Hunter and Coming Home showing what was really going on in Vietnam. Two more films were nominated during the 1980s ceremony and were linked by the fact that the earlier one starred a famous actor and the latter featured his now notorious son.

Nominated at the first Oscar ceremony of the decade, Apocalypse Now was the perfect example of a war movie which really saw how badly some missions were handled. Francis Ford Coppola's movie starred Martin Sheen as Captain Ben Willard, a special operations veteran who is tasked with a secret mission whilst serving in Vietnam. The already jaded Willard is instructed to track down Colonel Kurtz, a formerly respected officer who went rogue and later retreated to neutral Cambodia. Willard later joins a navy command with a ragtag group of men including a former surfer, a wannabe chef and the captain of the vessel who is constantly feeling undermined by Willard's presence. Along the way the crew encounters several colourful characters including the memorable Colonel Killgore, who loves the smell of Napalm in the morning. After plenty of time has surpassed, and with some of the crew members winding up dead along the way, Willard and the remaining men arrive at Kurtz's base. Here they find that Kurtz has already brainwashed the majority of the natives, as well as a free-loving war photographer and a former commanding officer who is now seen to be in an almost comatose state. Coppola does well building up to Kurtz's first reveal and his presence in the film is certainly a representation of how war can change a man. It's certainly very clear of how the film is going to end but Coppola and his actors make sure the final scenes really stay with you. It's unfortunate then that he didn't employ the same amount of discipline throughout the film as I did feel a large proportion of it was surplus to requirements.

These feelings were magnified due to the fact that the only version of Apocalypse Now available to me was the Redux cut. This version of the film included almost an hours' worth of extra footage which Coppola somehow deemed important enough to insert into this new cut of the film. I have to hold my hands up and say that this was my first experience of watching Apocalypse Now and therefore I wasn't aware of which scenes were exclusive to the Redux version. However, after watching, I read up on the subject and discovered that all the scenes I thought were unnecessary were the ones that Coppola was desperate to resurrect. Without the scenes, Apocalypse Now was definitely a stronger film with an involving narrative that is punctuated with some colourful characters. There are certain moments that  everybody associates with the film from Willard's opening hallucination to 'The Ride of the Valkyries ' scene and finally the first appearance of Kurtz. These scenes are made memorable due to a fantastic technical team including cinematographer Vittorio Storaro and the editing team who did an excellent job of cutting together the aforementioned hallucination as well as the descent of Kilgore's helicopters. Storaro's camera really captured the horrors of the Vietnam war as well as letting us see how different men reacted to it. In terms of its ascetic value and its musical choices, Apocalypse Now can't be faulted one iota.

That being said I did find the narrative aspect of the film to be a real struggle, primarily Willard's lead voice-over. Coppola overuses this storytelling device to the extent that it just feels like an actor reciting lines rather than a jaded officer reciting what happened during his latest mission. This feeling made the narrative feel incredibly lazy at times and I did feel somebody as adept as Coppola could've found a different way to tell the story. Marlon Brando was incredibly well-utilised as Kurtz, appearing in only a couple of the film's final scenes his enigmatic presence was perfect for that of the disillusioned officer. Robert Duvall brought a real sense of entertainment to the role of Killgore while Dennis Hopper perfectly embodied the hippie movement as the war photographer. But it was Martin Sheen who was tasked with leading the film and I felt he did an admirable job of playing the somewhat reliable Captain whose experiences during his latest mission scar him for life. Sheen benefits from looking like the All-American hero and his opening scenes in Saigon allow us to sympathise with before he heads off in search of Kurtz. Sheen is especially fantastic in the later scenes as we see him being tempted by Kurt'z words and whether what he did was actually the right thing. Ultimately Acopalypse Now has elements of being the perfect film however I did feel it's narrative structure let it down. That being said visually it looked fantastic and it's cast were generally spectacular especially Sheen who was a more than reliable anchor for the film's story.

Seven years later, Martin's son Charlie Sheen followed his father to Vietnam for Oliver Stone's film Platoon, which would go on to win the Best Picture prize at that year's ceremony. Charlie's character in the film is Chris Taylor, a young man who has decided to join the army and fight in Vietnam rather than continue his studies at college. From the very beginning of the film, Stone establishes the fact that Taylor's war will be a tough one as he struggles to carry his kit into camp and is taunted by the men who've been there a while. Chris does find somewhat of a mentor in Sgt. Elias who initially is the only man who is willing to help him when he first arrives in Vietnam. Meanwhile, similar to the way Willard does in Apocalypse Now, Chris has a similarly expositional voiceover but at least this time the narrative is told through letters to his grandmother. As his time in Vietnam continues Chris becomes one of the gang however he never wins round the somewhat ruthless Staff Sergeant Barnes. Barnes and Elias are constantly clashing with the former hating the fact that the latter has more power than him. Meanwhile Elias chastises Barnes for shooting an innocent Vietnamese woman which leads to an incredibly aggressive fight between the pair. Chris soon realises that every man has his own personal war and his experiences are haunted by those who have shaped his time in Vietnam. By the end of the film both Elias and Barnes have been killed, but neither by the men who they initially considered to be the enemy. The final scene, in which Chris surveys the dead bodies strewn across the Vietnamese landscape, perfectly demonstrates the message that the film is trying to give.

Platoon feels like an extremely personal account of Vietnam and is indeed based on Stone's own experience of serving in the war. Stone wrote the screenplay for the film and tried to get it made in Hollywood while writing the scripts for other films, including the Oscar-winning Midnight Express. Eventually he took the decision to direct Platoon himself which I feel was the right move as he would now be able to realise his vision exactly the way he wanted to. The film's cinematography, which was nominated but didn't win an Oscar, is incredibly documentary-like in tone and at times it's if some of it has been lifted out of the history books I used to read at school. Luckily, unlike some of the films I've watched recently, the narrative is as involving as the visual aspects of the picture. This is down to the character of Chris Taylor, a sympathetic everyman who the audience can easily identify with. Taylor's war hasn't been the one he expected and he soon has to adapt new coping mechanisms whilst at the same time maintaining his moral code. Whilst not as compelling as his father's performance in Apocalypse Now, Charlie Sheen at least makes us care about Chris. Sheen brings a type of innocence to the role and becomes almost the straight man to the gang of crazy characters that are part of Chris' platoon. Willem Dafoe definitely makes Elias the heart of the film and he's the character that I personally cared the most about, which made his death even the more shocking. Meanwhile Tom Berenger is perfect as the grizzled veteran who does whatever it takes to make people talk and doesn't really think the rules apply to him. Dafoe and Berenger's duelling performances are the standout aspect of Platoon for me and both men were honoured with Supporting Actor Nominations. Elsewhere familiar faces such as Johnny Depp and Forest Whitaker appear in supporting roles and all add a little bit to the make-up of the platoon.

The film ultimately went on to win four Oscars, with Stone being honoured for his direction but not for his strong and harrowing script. I personally think that Platoon is the best Best Picture winner of the 1980s I've watched thus far and with just one more winner to go that's a compliment indeed. Overall I feel that Platoon is a film that combines the visual splendour of some films with the narrative depth of others. It cares about its characters which in turn makes me want to care about them and I do feel that it's a better film than Apocalypse Now. That being said both of these Vietnam war films featuring the Sheens are excellent movies and somehow worked as the perfect double bill.

Next time we head to one of America's most famous gambling destinations for a romantic crime drama.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 261: A Southern Gene

Continuing the theme of looking back at what the stars of the 1970s nominees were doing in the next decade, we come to the work of Gene Hackman. The star of two of my favourite 1970s nominees, The French Connection and The Conversation, Hackman only featured in one nominee in the 1980s. That film was Mississippi Burning, in which Hackman starred as FBI Agent Rupert Anderson who returned to his home state of Mississippi in order to solve the case of two missing civil rights workers. The film, set in 1964, centres around the rural community of Jessop County who don't take too kindly to two outsiders interfering in their business. At the time, segregation was rife and even staff in the sheriff's department are members of the Klu Klux Klan. The black members of the community are often at risk of having their churches set on fire or to find flaming crosses on their lawns. Anderson's superior Agent on the case is the much younger Alan Ward, a college-educated liberal who isn't as worldly wise as his new partner. Indeed, Anderson knows the area well and is able to get more information by popping into the local beauty parlour than Ward does when he formally questions a number of suspects. Feeling he's getting nowhere, Ward calls for more agents to descend on the area, followed soon by the press and members of the army. Eventually, a war of words breaks out between the locals and the agents, with the black members of the town caught in the middle. Ward and Anderson are later convinced that Deputy Pell had something to do with the death of the men and question his wife about her flimsy alibi. When Anderson appeals to Mrs Pell's better nature, he sets in course a chain of events which change the area forever.

In his other nominated film Midnight Express, director Alan Parker manipulated certain events of a true story in order to create a more compelling film. He did this again with Mississippi Burning, in which he fictionalised the investigation into the civil rights worker's disappearance to create a gripping narrative. I was quite enthralled throughout most of Mississippi Burning, which took the form of a standard police procedural albeit it one that dealt with deeper themes. Peter Biziou's Oscar-winning cinematography really encapsulates the mood of the time as he able to get the audience to experience the hatred felt between both sides of the community. His shots of the attacks on the churches were particularly exceptional and provided some harrowing imagery throughout the film. Just like in Midnight Express, the haunting score makes you feel uneasy at times, though this film was nowhere near as gritty as the Turkish prison epic. The disparate nature of the two agents is what's at the heart of the film and their both given life by two fantastic actors. As Ward, Willem Dafoe gives quite a methodical performance as the educated man forced to deal with customs that he sees as backwards. However, this is really Hackman's film and he delivers another outstanding turn as the agent raised in a similar community who is forced to return to the hatred that he thought he'd left behind. Hackman portrays Anderson as somebody who understands the people, but also disagrees with them and his mixture of humour and violence is an unsettling combination. Hackman was Oscar-nominated for his role here as was Frances McDormand as the timid Mrs Pell who later gets her chance at a new life. The one real problem I had with Mississippi Burning was that I found it to be a little bit too one-sided at times as in all of the white members of the community were shocking racists and all of the black civilians were victims. Whilst I feel that this is probably close to the truth, it does make both sides come off as caricatures at times. Luckily, Anderson and Ward feel like real people and this contributes to an incredibly satisfying, if harrowing film about the many forms that prejudice comes in.

Next time another previous winner offers us another film in which he writes, directs and stars.