The "sinful" case: why DiCaprio won't get an Oscar again
Two films are competing for the title of best feature film at the upcoming Oscar ceremony: the audience action movie "Battle for Battle" by Paul Thomas Anderson (13 nominations) and the record holder for the number of nominations (16) - "Sinners" by Ryan Coogler. In the acting category, attention is focused on the confrontation between Michael B. Jordan and Timothy Chalamet.: Leonardo DiCaprio, despite his participation, is not among the favorites. The winners will be announced on March 16 (Moscow time). Izvestia examines the key intrigues of the award and assesses whether Russia has a chance to win an Oscar.
Which movie will be named the best
This is usually the simplest question. The winners in this category almost always coincide with those who are awarded by the Producers Guild of America a few weeks before the Oscars. On February 28, at its 37th ceremony, the PGA gave the prize to Paul Thomas Anderson's "Battle for Battle." The Directors Guild also chose him. The film is also in the lead among bookmakers.
A shot from the movie "Battle after Battle"
It would seem that we can go home, everything is clear. And even the ceremony is not worth watching to the end. But it is embarrassing that one of the most reputable publications in the world of the film industry, Variety, still holds "Sinners" in its top. Perhaps this is the lobbying of the film, which the journalists decided to support for some reason. But there is still a possibility that the magazine, which has the broadest expertise, knows something about the moods of tens of thousands of members of the Film Academy. Let's see who turns out to be right.
"Battle after battle" seems like a more likely contender after all. The figure of Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the most respected in modern cinema. The film is based on the work of Thomas Pynchon, who is considered the greatest living American writer. The most complex structure, unexpected dramatic decisions, a combination of relevance, political hints and artistic merit, an excellent acting ensemble — all this makes "Battle after Battle" an ideal candidate for the main Oscar.
A shot from the movie "Battle after Battle"
It's like a signal that the film academy is sending to the whole world. While "Sinners" seems to be not only a more local film, but also deeply secondary to "From Dusk till Dawn" and "Away," with which it has too many parallels. But the Sinners raises the issue of racism, which is why the film has a very strong lobby in the United States. In any case, it seems that it will be easy to "separate" these films only in prizes for scripts. Most likely, "Sinners" will get for the original, "Battle after Battle" — for the adapted one.
Who will win in the other nominations
The women's Oscar can only go to Jessie Buckley for her role in the drama Hamnet. The actress won almost all the awards that preceded the Oscar. She doesn't have a single competitor in this category, although there are other outstanding works there, for example, Emma Stone in "Bugonia". But this film is too radical for most academics, and everyone really likes Hamnet. And Buckley deserved to be awarded an Oscar for a long time, because before that she only had a nomination for "Stranger's Daughter."
A shot from the movie "Hamnet"
Timothy Chalamet ("Marty the Magnificent") will compete with Michael B. Jordan ("Sinners") for the men's Oscar. The latter has an award from the Actors Guild, so there's a better chance, but Chalamet managed to get a lot of big awards for this film, including the Golden Globe. However, the latter cannot be considered an argument, because the results of the two awards often differ. But Leonardo DiCaprio has no chance at all. He won several awards at minor awards for "Battle after Battle", but all the main ones bypassed him. So this will be another one of his many nominations.
The main intrigues of the Oscar
One of the most important questions for us is whether Russian director Konstantin Bronzit will receive an Oscar for the animated short film "Three Sisters". It's difficult to predict something in advance, and we'll be rooting for him, but there's a problem. Bronzit's animation is too authorial for conservative academics. Besides, they might think that he's already a recognized artist with a name, so why would he want an Oscar? Currently, the favorite in this category is the cartoon "The Girl Who Cried with Pearls," a Canadian parable that can be interpreted in any direction of the modern agenda, including feminism, violence, the entertainment industry, exploitation, and more. The film had a warm reception in Toronto, it is well known. But this does not mean that after watching Bronzit, the voters will not prefer him.
Another intrigue is Iran. The film "A Simple Accident" by one of the most famous representatives of the "new wave" of the country's cinema, Jafar Panahi, was nominated for "Best Screenplay" and "Best International Film". But if there is definitely no prize for the script, then the choice among non-English-language films will largely indicate Oscar's position on the outbreak of war. Panahi's position is radical: he is against the regime, invasion and any violent solutions. The film won the Palme d'Or, but at the Oscars it may be bypassed by other films from the Cannes competition. By the way, four of the five nominees are from there, which once again underlines that Cannes creates fashion for the whole season, and the Oscar only fixes it. The Oscar could go to "Secret Agent" or "Sentimental Value," and that would be a gesture. And if it's a "simple accident", it's also a gesture, but with the opposite meaning.
A shot from the movie "A simple accident"
One of the most controversial releases of the year, "The Perfect Neighbor" from Netflix, is likely to be declared the best documentary. The film is entirely edited from recordings of surveillance cameras, most of which are required to be used by police officers in the United States. He tells how in the ghetto, a single woman called the police over and over again for many years, complaining that African-American children were running around her lawn, and then their mother shot them. And the court took a long time to decide whether it was self-defense, although if a black woman had shot a white woman, he would not have hesitated. This film stirred up the whole society and at the same time gave rise to a discussion about how ethical it is to use a police chronicle for a picture. The Oscar is highly likely to go to him.
Netflix has every chance to win in animation, too. "K-pop Demon Hunters" is clearly brighter than "Zootopia 2" and "Elio," so Pixar and Disney will have to work hard this year to regain their long-standing primacy at the most prestigious award in the world.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
