Academy Award Week (2013): Best Director (No Your Pick Can't be Ben Affleck)

This year one of the most interesting, if not the most interesting race is Best Director.  Over the years at the Academy Awards Best Picture and Best Director often match up.  Over the last twenty years (from 1992-2012) Best Picture and Best Director have matched up 16 times, which is an impressive statistic.  This year Argo's name is chiseled on the statue already, and unless if you have been living under a rock you know Ben Affleck was snubbed.  Affleck has won this award at the BFCA, Golden Globes, DGA, and BAFTA.  Without Affleck nominated this makes this race a lot more interesting than I can remember.

While I am not going to go on a rant about sexism within the film industry I am a bit baffled at why more people over cited Affleck's snub instead of Bigelow's snub.  I do believe that this will go down as one of the biggest mistakes in Oscar history.

How do you define great direction, and who was "snubbed?"  One way at looking at great direction is by using auteur theory.  Auteur theory "holds that a director's film reflects the director's personal creative vision, as if they were the primary "auteur" (the French word for "author"). In spite of—and sometimes even because of—the production of the film as part of an industrial process, the auteur's creative voice is distinct enough to shine through all kinds of studio interference and through the collective process."  While this perspective is a bit more old school and looks at film as a one man show, many would attribute this vision to greats like Orson Welles, and Alfred Hitchcock.  These men controlled the vision for their films.

If you look at this year's director race many would describe David O. Russell's direction using auteur theory.  O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook is a passion project dedicated to his son.  O. Russell's film is about a bi-polar man returning home to his family.  O'Russell has talked openly about his son being bi-polar and what it meant for him to make this film.

Benh Zeitlin who directed Beasts of the Southern Wild directed the script and scored the film.  This was Zeitlin's first film and made on a shoe string budget.  Zeitlin's heart and soul went into this film, and his vision drives the heart of the film.

One of the reasons auteur theory is widely criticized is because it negates the contribution of other people who worked on the film stating the the director is the end all be all.  Zeitlin and O. Russell did not create their films out of thin air, no man is an island after all.  If you look at Steven Spielberg's work in Lincoln and here him talk about Tony Kushner's script, and every aspect of the film you feel this sense of teamwork.

This couldn't be more true with Ang Lee and his direction of Life of Pi.  Lee's work with his cinematographer, visual effects team, screenwriter, and son on created an beautiful experience from a book that was thought to be impossible to adapt to the big screen.  The use of 3D technology along with many other elements transcends most traditional aspects of film making, and made this an incredible achievement.

The nominees are 

Michael Haneke-Amour

Ang Lee-Life of Pi

David O. Russell-Silver Linings Playbook

Steven Spielberg-Lincoln

Benh Zeitlin-Beasts of the Southern Wild

Who will win?  Without a previous winner/front runner in the group this leads things wide open.  While many would probably say Spielberg I just do not think he is going to win.  My gut tells me this is a race between David O. Russell and Ang Lee.  In the past director's win in this category have won a good deal of the time because the film "feels important" or because it has an "epic" nature."  Think Ben-Hur, Lord of the Rings, Schindler's List, Out of Africa, The Sound of Music.  There are location shots, visual effects, and so on.  This could be Beasts, Pi, or Lincoln.  Zeitlin is in fifth leaving Lincoln and Pi to fit that category.  Pi and Lincoln are both well respected films, from respected directors.  Before I go on about those two films like Silver Linings Playbook rarely win director, Annie Hall fits within that category, but that rarely happens.  So I am going to go with my gut and say Ang Lee.

Will Win: Ang Lee-Life of Pi

Spoilers: Steven Spielberg and David O. Russell

Oscar Roundup 2012: Director's Guild Aim to Narrow Down a Crowded Field

Within a shortened awards season the Director's Guild Awards (DGA), may or not matter with regard to the actual Oscar nominees.  The ballots for the Oscars were due on January 3rd, but got pushed back to the 4th.  With the timeline changing and the Director's Guild have more members who vote on the award from people who direct both commercials and television shows the nominations for this award are apt to be different from Academy Award nominees.

This has been one of the best years for film, and while the Best Picture list is all but figured out, the Best Director category is harder to predict because there are only five as opposed to the potential ten Best Picture possibilities.

Here are the contenders for DGA in order of likelihood:

Locks:

Kathryn Bigelow-Zero Dark Thirty-Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty is the most critically acclaimed film of the year, and she has gotten praise all over the board.  Bigelow's proving to be a strong favorite, and ZDT is one of the two films to receive nominations from every guild, it will not fail here.

Ben Affleck-Argo-Argo is probably the most liked film of the year, and helmer Affleck is getting all of the credit.  Affleck has proven his growth as a director starting with Gone Baby Gone, and creating a masterful work here.  Like ZDT, Argo, is the other film which has recieved nominations from every guild.

Steven Spielberg-Lincoln-Spielberg did not get an Oscar nomination for War Horse this year, but this year he has the highest grossing film, and the film that's going to have the most nominations.  Spielberg is one of three locks with both the DGA and Oscar.

Strong Bets:

Ang Lee-Life of Pi-The film is one of biggest directorial feats of the year; he is a well respected director  who has been nominated three times, and won twice.  Life of Pi is seen as one of the films flying under the radar, and I think it will score a nomination here.

Quentin Tarantino-Django Unchained-Django is one every one's mind, and while controversial, Tarantino is a well respected director.  With a larger guild population voting; he seems to be a likely person people in television and film would nominate.

David O. Russell-Silver Linings Playbook-Never underestimate the power of directing the small intimate comedic drama.  O. Russell has cornered this market, received a nomination with The Fighter, and is becoming more respected by the day.

Long Shots

Tom Hooper-Les Miserables-Hooper's snub from Golden Globes was the shot heard round the award show world, and based on reviews his direction has been the biggest critique.  People pay attention to things like this, and while this guy received a nomination and won his first time around, I can't help but think he may be snubbed by this branch.

Paul Thomas Anderson-The Master-The Master is a well respected film from critics, but the guilds, except WGA and Golden Globes have been ignoring this film.  The Master was compared to last year's Tree of Life, but this film may not have the passion that film has, and I think it will be forgotten.

Benh Zeitlin-Beasts of the Souther Wild-The little film that could has a director, who helped right and score his own film.  Zeitlin's first feature film is a crowning achievement, and he could score nomination here out of respect.   The hard part is that this film has been ignored a lot as well, although being talked up by many.

Over the last few years DGA has matched Oscar solidly, but the changing time frame may prevent this.  Looking from 2001 through 2011, the DGA lined up well.

In 2001 DGA nominated Baz Lurhman for Moulin Rouge, and Christopher Nolan for Memento, they were replaced with veteran directors Robert Altman for Gosford Park, and David Lynch for Mullholland Dr.  In 2002 Pedro Almodovar's direction for Talk to Her was nominated for the Oscar, while Peter Jackson was nominated for the DGA  for Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.  The following year Gary Ross received a DGA nomination for Seabiscuit but was replaced at the Oscars with City of God director Fernando Mirielles.   There have been only two years within the last 10 where Best Director has matched up with the DGA and Oscar, and they were 2005, and 2009.  Statistically every other year DGA has predicted 4 of the 5 nominees.  So who will be the five for DGA, and who would most likely get replaced?

DGA Nominees

Ben Affleck-Argo

Kathryn Bigelow-Zero Dark Thirty

Ang Lee-Life of Pi

Steven Spielberg-Lincoln

Quentin Tarantino-Django Unchained

(My 6th Man-Tom Hooper-Les Miserables)

Come Oscar nomination time I think Michael Haneke from Amour will score a Best Director nomination, and replace one of these men.  This would follow a trend in this category.

Beasts of the Southern Wild is the Most Beautifully Lyrical Film this Year!

Beasts of the Southern Wild (5 out 5 Stars)

Directed by Benh Zeitlin (first major feature)

Written by Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin (first screenplays)

Starring: Quvenzhane Wallis, and Dwight Henry 

After missing this film in the theatre I had to pay to rent this because this was a film I was excited about seeing.  As I hunkered down at my computer to watch the film, I was enveloped in one of the most engrossing and emotional films this year.  Beasts of the Southern Wild is in fact the most beautifully lyrical film the year!

 Beasts follows the story of a young girl Hushpuppy (Wallis) and her father Wink (Henry) who live in the most southern tip of Louisiana Bayou, entitled the Bathtub, which is cut off from the rest of the world.  As the ice caps start melting, and more and more storms hit the gulf, the residents of the Bathtub including Hushpuppy and her father are forced to deal with the changing structure of their home.  Hushpuppy's mother swam away a long time ago, and all that she has in life is her father.  As Hushpuppy's father teaches her independence; she is learning to be the the person her father wants her to be in an evolving world as he starts to get sick.

For Benh Zeitlin's first major feature film this is one of the most masterfully directed films.  Zeitlin's work with the camera, and his actor's, none have which had done any major motion picture, have proven that the energy and heart behind a director can make a film.  Zeitlin not only directed the film, but her helped write the screenplay, and helped compose one of the best scores of the year.  As you watch Beasts you would imagine that Zeitlin is an experienced film maker, who has mastered the craft of film making and has been making movies for years.  It's not the years that count, but the passion behind the auteur, and Zeitlin's work on this film is nothing short of masterful.

Zeitlin has created a world outside of our modern era, but builds connections that resonate within our current society.  While many will draw numerous comparison to way the various hurricanes have effected this area, and the way our changing environment has hurt people all over the world, these facts are true.  These natural disasters and our environmental problems have affected people in this way, but Zeitlin's direction, and script go much deeper than the simple evolution of the climate changes, but rather the effect society plays on the human soul.

Zeitlin and Alibar (both new to writing major feature length films) create a world that use archetypes that may seem as though they are something in which they aren't. Hushpuppy may have a father with whom most would consider drunk and abusive, but within this world, The Bathtub; he is struggling with the common human emotions of pride, anger, and the hope that he can raise his daughter to live within this world free of the society beyond the barrier.  

As you watch Dwight Henry in the role of Wink, you follow him on a different journey than the one with Hushpuppy; she is our narrator, and you see the world through her eyes.  Henry's performance as Wink a father who wants nothing more than for his daughter to be fearless, and brave, is one of the most heart wrenching performances of the year.  Wink wants his daughter to be a bold brave independent person.

Hushpuppy is wise beyond her years, but yet there is still innocence within her eyes.  Much of the credit to her performance can be seen in one of the most beautiful performances from Quvenzhane Wallis.  Wallis is a marvel; she gives one of the bravest performances of the year. At one point within the film Hushpuppy states  “I’m recordin’ my story for the scientists of the future. In a million years, when kids go to school, they gonna know: Once there was a Hushpuppy, and she lived with her daddy in the Bathtub.”  Wallis's brave performance proves Hushpuppy is an adventurer a titan, and like many who traveled before her, she is the brave soldier trying to survive the changing of her own environment.

 Hushpuppy exists within a world where she looks at those around her and wants to find a family, through love.  Hushpuppy has been abadoned by her mother, sees the community around her disappearing because of the polar ice caps, and the weather, and she wants to cling to the love she sees around her.  Zeitlin and cinematographer Ben Richardson help to create one of the most sumptuously visual worlds.  As you look at things through Hushpuppy's eyes you feel as though Zeitlin's direction knows exactly how to tell her story, and Richardson's camera work colors in between all the lines creating one of the visually stunning films of the year.  

Beats is a work of visual beauty, and most of the message of the film is something beyond the words on the page within the screenplay.  Whether is be a quiet look of Hushpuppy as she is held for the second time in her life, the haunting score from Zeitlin and Dan Romer as Hushpuppy confronts the beasts from the melting ice caps, or the stunning stills of The Bathtube from  Richardson.  Beasts of the Southern Wild is one of the most emotionally grossing journeys on film this year.