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 Day 321: Terry's All-Stars

I do feel that when a director has achieved particular acclaim he can get away with most things. Terrence Malick is one such director who was well on his way to being a legend after helming Badlands and Days of Heaven in the 1970s. Malick took a twenty year hiatus following Days of Heaven so when it was announced that he'd be returning to the screen plenty of actors wanted a role in his new film. Luckily he was able to accommodate a fair few big names into The Thin Red Line, a film focusing on the Battle of Mount Austin fought in the Pacific between the Americans and the Japanese. Malick's first cut of the film was supposedly five hours long and obviously had to be cut down substantially to half of that original length. Even then I feel that the copy of The Thin Red Line I watched was overlong and confusing in some regards. One of my main issues was that of the duelling narration between Jim Caviezel's Private Witt and Nick Nolte's Lt. Col. Tall. Witt's story is that of a man who is dissatisfied with army life while Tall is trying to prove himself to his superiors who feel that a man of his advancing years shouldn't still be at war. Because of this Tall makes some risky decisions and it's one of his final choices that has an impact on the team. Events become even more complicated when Malick introduces another story later in the film as Ben Chaplin's Private Bell discovers his wife wants a divorce. The fact that both Caviezel and Chaplin are given voiceovers was rather confusing as at times I couldn't really tell the pair apart. It was only after he nobly died to save his comrades was when I realised that Witt was meant to be the hero of the piece. That alone should tell you that Malick's script was confusing and that some of what was cut from the film may have been important.

Spare a thought then for poor Adrien Brody, who prior to the release of The Thin Red Line had told people that he was the main focus of the film. After watching the film Brody's appearance amounted to nothing more than a five minute cameo towards the conclusion. Brody was understandably upset by the decision and he feels that Malick should have at least have informed of the changes that had been made prior to the film's screening. But at least Brody made into the film which is more than can be said for the likes of Martin Sheen, Micky Rourke, Gary Oldman and Billy Bob Thronton who all had their scenes cut entirely. As there are so many big names floating around it's incredibly hard to single out one or two actors to praise their performances in the film. Nick Nolte probably gives the best turn as the weary Tall and both Sean Penn and John Cusack made good impressions during their extended cameos. Like with most Malick films, the strongest aspect of The Thin Red Line is in its visuals. John Toll's cinematography is outstanding, especially when we follow the soldiers inside the long grass where they hide during their attacks. Toll's point-of-view shots really make you feel part of the action and in a way add to our understanding of what war might have been like for these men. But to me there was almost too much of a focus on arty camerawork and not enough done on character development. I personally wasn't a fan of certain characters reminiscing about their families back home and thought these scenes represented Malick's undisciplined approach to film-making. Hans Zimmer's score really helped the film achieve the emotional tone it was looking for especially when it accompanied The Thin Red Line's battle scenes. But that being said, ultimately I found The Thin Red Line to be a beautifully shot war film that really never compelled me to care about specific character. Rather than changing my views about Malick as a film-maker its simply reinforced them and I've still not be able to see what others do in this supposedly great director.

Next time we look at three films from a respected British actor who appeared in two Best Picture winners during the 1990s.

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.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 317: Jack Minds the Cracks

Jack Nicholson is an actor whose career we've followed over several decades during this challenge. This latest entry catches up with him in the late 1990s as he enters his later years playing a cantankerous novelist in As Good as it Gets. The film, in which Nicholson plays the misanthropic Melvin Udall, sees the actor reunite with James L Brooks who he previously worked with on both Terms of Endearment and Broadcast News. Brooks' film explores Melvin's sheltered lifestyle as he tries to cope with OCD and attempts to deal with the world around him. The ironic thing is that Melvin's novels inspire romance in others but he does little to ingratiate himself to those around him. In fact Melvin's strongest relationship is with Carol, a waitress at his favourite diner who is seemingly the only person that will tolerate his madness. Meanwhile Melvin is forced into taking in the dog of his artist neighbour Simon and finds himself bonding with another living thing. When Carol leaves the diner to look after her ill son, Melvin reaches out to her and finds himself with a new friend in the process. The trio then head on a trip which has surprising consequences for all three while Melvin tries not to ruin the fact that he's attempting to turn over a new leaf. What I like about the film is that, though Melvin's OCD is a prevalent theme throughout, we never really feel sympathy for the man. However the disorder is represented perfectly by him skipping over the cracks in the road, a narrative device that plays into the final scene.

As Good as It Gets is currently the last film to have its stars win both the Best Actor and Best Actress Oscars on the same evening. I certainly feel that Jack Nicholson's award is more than deserved as he put in a really complex turn as Melvin. He uses his manic energy well but also comes into his own in the film's more sensitive moments and, despite his antisocial nature, you can't help but find him likeable. Previously best known for her television work, Helen Hunt is equally fantastic as the harassed waitress with the ill son. She gives a tender portrayal of a woman who tries to help those around her and has always put herself last. Nicholson and Hunt are fantastic together and their odd chemistry helps the film move along during its final third. Greg Kinnear, who was also nominated for an Oscar, provides fine support as the gay artist trying to find some meaning in life following a brutal attack. Of the three Brooks films I've watched over the course of this blog, As Good as it Gets is certainly the most accomplished in terms of script. Brooks combines the witty banter of Broadcast News with the sensitivity of Terms of Endearment without making the film ever lapse into sentimentality. Even though I've seen the film at least four or five times before I still laughed at certain moments and had tears in my eyes during others. I will admit that Brooks' film is too long but is better paced than either of the other two movies that I previously mentioned. Hans Zimmer's bouncy score contributes perfectly to the tone of the film and is another soundtrack that I won't be able to get out of my head for a while. Ultimately As Good as it Gets is a satisfying comedy drama about how it's never too late to change and is presented admirably by the film's cast and crew.

Next time we focus on a comedian who changed up his act in order to feature in three Best Picture nominees.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 315-316: Hitting all the Right Notes

Welcome to another post with two films that similarly have little in common but are linked by a number of factors. The most obvious common theme running throughout Shine and The Piano are that both of its protagonists play the titular instrument. However the themes run deeper as both films are set in Australasia, both feature central characters with a disability and both saw their lead performers collect awards at that year's Oscars.
The Piano takes us to New Zealand of the mid-19th century as we see Scottish Ada McGrath and her young daughter Flora travel from Scotland. Ada has been mute since she was a child but has been promised in marriage to frontierman Alisdair Stewart. Early on in Jane Campion's film its established that Ada's piano is the most important thing to her and she uses it to let out her emotions. So it's a bitter blow to Ada when Alisdair decides that the instrument is too heavy to carry and too big for his small house. Eventually Ada's piano is bought by Baines, a man who is sometime in Aisdair's employ and who is seemingly torn between the area's white population and the Maori natives. Baines claims he wants piano lessons but this is later revealed a simple rouse to bribe Ada into giving her piano back. It's made clear that Baines is sexually frustrated and often walks round nude in front of Ada or gets her to pitch her skirt up. Somehow Baines' presence in her life has a positive effect on Ada and she misses him watching her when she finally gets the piano back. The stage is then set for somewhat of a love triangle as Alisdair soon learns of the relationship tht has started between Baines and his wife. Alisdair later takes some very bloody revenge against Ada which I found to be a very shocking yet memorable moment. Eventually Ada is able to decide who she truly wants to be with even though she is forced to loose her piano in the process.

Other than being a film that won a few Oscars, I knew very little about The Piano prior to watching it. I did find it hard to get into the film partly due to the fact that the main character didn't speak however this later became one of The Piano's most positive features. My previous experiences with Jane Campion's work had been incredibly poor as I didn't warm to her 2009 biopic Bright Star or the TV miniseries Top of the Lake. However the artistic direction added to the overall feel of the film with Stuart Dryburgh's cinematography perfectly capturing the Kiwi exteriors and adding to The Piano's period feel. Although we're into the mid-1990s by this point, Jane Campion's nomination for Best Director was the only second time that a woman had received recognition in that category something I find hard to believe. The Piano was a film that featured strong female characters both behind and in front of the camera so I'm glad that Campion won an award for her original screenplay. Holly Hunter's performance as Ada was truly captivating and she managed to communicate her character's feelings beautifully without ever opening her mouth. Although I felt that Hunter should have won Best Actress for her turn in Broadcast News her win for The Piano was more than deserved. The film's third Oscar went to young Anna Paquin who, in her debut performance, more than held her own opposite much more experienced co-stars. Paquin shared great chemistry with Hunter and you could really believe that the pair were mother and daughter. For a child star, Paquin was never annoying and at times was my favourite thing about the film. I was less keen on the male performances with Sam Neill being lumbered with the thankless part of Alisdair and Harvey Keitel struggling to settle on an accent for Baines. One of the film's most memorable attributes was Michael Nyman's haunting score, which was stuck in my head for days after watching The Piano, so I was shocked to learn that he didn't win an Oscar for it. Overall, The Piano was beautifully filmed and included two fantastic performances but still felt a little uneven for me to truly enjoy every minute of it.
As we know by now Oscar loves a biopic and therefore Shine's inclusion in the Best Picture category was a given. Shine is a very straightforward retelling of the life of pianist David Helfgott whose incredible talent was almost wasted due to his mental issues. Part of David's issues were due to his strict upbringing by a father who always felt he knew best and was very sceptical about outside interference. The first example of this is when a music teacher spots David at a competition and offers to train him on the piano. A teenage David is later offered the chance to study music in America but the dream is snatched away by his father. Thanks to his friendship with a local novelist, David soon picks up the courage to confront his father and take a scholarship in London. It's while in London that David's mental state starts to deteriorate as he attempts to learn a difficult piece of music for an upcoming competition. Although David wins the competition the practise drives him insane forcing him into an institution. Shunned by his father, David spends years in an asylum before being rescued by a volunteer who recognises his talents. But she eventually abandons him and leaves him in a hotel where his destructive tendencies appear once again. It's only through his friendship with a restaurant owner, who lets David play the piano there, does he start to rejoin society. David even finds love and makes a comeback at the end of the film.

Interestingly Shine met with controversy over two of the film's main plot points. The first was David's mother's claims that her husband was never abusive towards his children. Shine's director Scott Hicks denies these allegations claiming that he'd had contact with David's siblings who corroborate the film's version of events. Secondly there have been claims that David's comeback performances weren't as brilliant as the film was suggest and that he definitely lost some of his early talent during his later years. Even after learning about these issues, neither really bothered me although I did have other reservations about Shine. Coming into the film, the only thing I really knew about it was the fact that Geoffrey Rush won a Best Actor Oscar for his role in Shine. Because of this I had high expectations about Rush's turn in the film and I'm sad to say they weren't met. Part of the reason for this is that Rush only plays David in the latter stages of Shine and the character is first portrayed by Alex Rafalowicz and then by Noah Taylor. Rush's performance put me in mind of Dustin Hoffman's portrayal in Rain Man as both played characters who have mental health problems. Just like Hoffman, I felt that Rush overdid that aspect of his character a little bit and his performance was a little over-the-top. It did almost seem as if the Academy had honoured the three actors playing the character but given the award to Rush who started and finished the film as David. In fact I personally preferred Taylor's interpretation of the character as a teenager and felt he particularly excelled in showcasing David's descent into madness. Armin Mueller-Stahl was similarly strong as David's overbearing father whilst the scenes depicting David's piano playing were well-shot and choreographed. Ultimately, I was a little disappointed with the film as a whole as it petered out towards the end. While individual elements of it should be applauded, Shine really wasn't as excellent as I thought it would be and I think that's a real shame.

Next time we catch up with a familiar screen star as he reunites with one of his favourite directors

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 313-314: Viva Italia!

As we've seen throughout the decades, films not in the English language rarely crop up in the Best Picture line-up. In fact, the last time I reviewed one was Cries and Whispers which was nominated during the early 1970s and was the final non-English language film to feature in the category for over twenty years.

That was until the 1996 ceremony when a little film from Italy caught everybody's eye partly because it was being distributed by the powerful Miramax. Initially known simply by its English name The Postman, Il Postino later took on its original Italian moniker following the release of the atrocious Kevin Costner movie. Set in the early 1950s, Il Postino stars Massimo Troisi as Mario, a bored fisherman who lives on a small Italian island but wants more of a purpose in life. Exiled to the same island, world-renowned poet Pablo Neruda finds himself temporarily stranded for political reasons. These two very different men end up becoming acquaintances when Mario takes on the job of assistant postman with Neruda being his only client. As he begins to see him every day, Mario starts to get wrapped up in Neruda's poetry and tries to understand it more. Neruda gives him lessons on metaphors and later helps him to try and woo attractive waitress Beatrice. Eventually Mario persuades Beatrice to marry him much to the annoyance of her aunt who feels that he won't be able to support her niece. After acting as Mario's best man at his wedding, Neruda gets the call that he'll be able to return to Chile. Despite leaving the island, Neruda's views appear to have influenced Mario who now has strong views on the local political scene. However Mario becomes increasingly despondent that Neruda hasn't been in touch but is later inspired to record sounds of the island for his friend. The final scene of the film sees Neruda return to the island to learn of Mario's death at a political rally and collect the aforementioned recordings. Rather tragically Troisi, who postponed heart surgery to star in Il Postino, died one day after filming had wrapped.

Despite the tragic circumstances surrounding the film, Troisi still left a lasting impression and I feel his performance is one of the standout elements of the film. Troisi has a wide-eyed innocence about him which adds to the role of the initially simple Mario. Additionally Troisi is a brilliant physical actor which helps in the first scenes where Mario tries to woo Beatrice. Troisi is completely believable throughout the film and shares great chemistry with Philippe Noiret as Neruda. Noiret definitely holds his own here as he portrays Neruda as the elder statesman of the film's central relationship. Noiret conveys how Neruda softens as he spends more time with Mario and to me this friendship is at the core of the film. This is why I felt the film lost a lot of momentum after Neruda returned to Chile and left Mario and Beatrice. Whilst I enjoyed the scenes of Mario's tape recordings I don't feel the film quite maintained the level of quality that it had during the Neruda and Mario scenes. The film's cinematography was sumptuous and really captured the beauty of the two Italian islands on which Il Postino was shot. Meanwhile the brilliant score was rewarded with Il Postino's only Oscar of the five it was nominated. I really felt as if Troissi's performance should have won the Best Actor Oscar as to me it is almost faultless. What surprised me was how funny I found the film and it was definitely an enjoyable watch of a movie I'd not seen up to this point. Although it's odd that a foreign film was nominated to begin I can see why this light, entertaining drama appealed to a mainstream audience.

The same can be said for the other Italian film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, Life is Beautiful, which appeared in the category three years later. While its themes are definitely a lot darker than Il Postino's I feel the performance from director and star Roberto Benigni is  lot broader. Certainly the film's opening thirty minutes, in which Benigni's Guido attempts to woo schoolteacher Flora, sees the star get a little overly manic. Benigni's performance throughout the film sees him channel Hollywood's silent clowns and there's something Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton-esque about his turn in the film. I personally feel that Benigni spends too long building up the Flora and Guido romance and doesn't focus enough on their family life when they become parents to son Joshua. The parts of the film most will remember is when Jewish Guido and his family members are carted off to a concentration camp. Even though she isn't Jewish, Flora sacrifices herself to be close to her husband and son. In the concentration camp scenes Benigni obviously has to tone down Guido's physical comedy routine and I did enjoy the brief moments he portrayed his character's despair. To keep Joshua's spirits up, Guido pretends that they're partaking in a game to win a tank and all of the brutal punishments inflicted on them are only challenges to win points. It's an interesting narrative idea and one that works perfectly providing just the right balance between the horrors of the Holocaust and the innocence of Joshua. The film goes right through to the end of the war as Guido tries to find his princess before the Americans come to free everyone. Anybody who's seen the film knows of the emotional ending but I'm not here to spoil anything for you.

I had watched Life is Beautiful once before, as part of my film studies course, and at the time remember the film received quite an emotional reaction. Indeed I have to admit to still having a tear in my eye when hearing the voiceover by the actor plaing the older version of Joshua. What I hadn't remembered was how long the film took to actually build up to its main scenes at the concentration camp. On the one hand I can completely understand the need for character development but these opening scenes did seem to be a showcase for Benigni's comic mannerisms before the main plot of the film began. I think your enjoyment of Life is Beautiful is solely based on how much you like Benigni's performance and it did take me a while to warm to him. However I think the second half of the film showed him at his best and he delivered a calmer more reserved performance in which he balanced the tone of the story really well. Even though Benigni went on to win the Best Actor award for his role in the film I feel that, of the two, I preferred Troisi's more nuanced turn in The Postman. Praise must also go to Giorgio Cantarini as young Joshua, who captures all of the innocence of a young boy trapped in a world that he doesn't understand. It's in portraying this father and son relationship that Life is Beautiful really succeeds and I think that's why it appealed to a wider audience. Just like with Il Postino, Life is Beautiful was distributed by Miramax, who are known for influencing decisions at the Oscars. Unluckily for Benigni, another of Miramax's horses won the race for the Gold that year but at the same time I think he was satisfied enough with his own individual achievement. While I enjoyed the story of Life is Beautiful, I felt the first half of the film was too long and didn't really add much to my understanding of the characters. Ultimately Life is Beautiful provided an emotional story about a father and son which was told well and had some very realistic qualities throughout.

Next time we focus on two films that really struck a chord with the Academy.

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.