What makes a Best Director?
We have already witnessed great directors like Steven Spielberg, Ang Lee, Martin Scorsese, Roman Polanski and even more winning their well-deserved Oscars. They all share one thing in common which is their capacity and vision to deliver unusual stories and views in life. Through their organisation in the acting, screenplay, production, costumes and technical aspects of films, they are pioneers in impressing the audience and convincing the voters that they have led their film cast and crew outstandingly. Moreover, they earn respect in return from the cast and crew. This is quite evident when you see this year's nominee David O. Russell being regarded as the "actors' director", with four of his actors nominated for the acting categories at the Oscars this year: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in American Hustle.
However, when you see recent technical breakthroughs in filmmaking, such as what you saw in Life of Pi and Gravity, you start to wonder if the perception of outstanding achievement in direction starts to shift from acting to the technical side. It is debatable if you look at recent Best Director winners, right before Ang Lee's win for Life of Pi in 2012 and very likely a win for Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity this year, which would strengthen the importance of innovative technical achievements.
Listing the winners before 2012, we have:
2011 - Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
2010 - Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)
2009 - Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) [First female director ever to win an Oscar.]
2008 - Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
2007 - Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)
2006 - Martin Scorsese (The Departed)
They all share one distinctive feature, which is their story or focus of the screenplay has brought something new and different to the audience without any excessive use of visual effects or technology. Their direction were more interactive with actors which are the key to grasp the emotions of audience, therefore we witnessed Jean Dujardin and Colin Firth winning Best Actor in The Artist and The King's Speech respectively. Without the leadership of a director, actors will not understand the meaning and vision behind the screenplay, and the other crew in Sound, Costumes or Production Design will misinterpret the story. This is why the audience can clearly differentiate on whether some films would contradict itself because of the disorganisation of elements presented on screen. A good director is not only a good leader, but also one who has compassion for every crew unit, or else the ultimate goal will not be shared and the audience will not be able to see the 'meaning' behind the film.
However, times have changed and when exciting things emerge, critics and audience will just recognise and appreciate the growing power of technology to be combined with acting in order to put forward a convincing achievement in directing. Thus, Gravity is clearly the leading example when it has nominations in the technical titles with Sandra Bullock nominated for Best Actress.
After all, how a director delivers a film is down to his/her own judgment, and how people view their works is a totally different manner, especially when the Academy voters in the Director branch tend to be unpredictable. We would all have our own 'Best Director' choice in mind every year that would vary with the 5 final nominees.
Listing the winners before 2012, we have:
2011 - Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
2010 - Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)
2009 - Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) [First female director ever to win an Oscar.]
2008 - Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
2007 - Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)
2006 - Martin Scorsese (The Departed)
They all share one distinctive feature, which is their story or focus of the screenplay has brought something new and different to the audience without any excessive use of visual effects or technology. Their direction were more interactive with actors which are the key to grasp the emotions of audience, therefore we witnessed Jean Dujardin and Colin Firth winning Best Actor in The Artist and The King's Speech respectively. Without the leadership of a director, actors will not understand the meaning and vision behind the screenplay, and the other crew in Sound, Costumes or Production Design will misinterpret the story. This is why the audience can clearly differentiate on whether some films would contradict itself because of the disorganisation of elements presented on screen. A good director is not only a good leader, but also one who has compassion for every crew unit, or else the ultimate goal will not be shared and the audience will not be able to see the 'meaning' behind the film.
However, times have changed and when exciting things emerge, critics and audience will just recognise and appreciate the growing power of technology to be combined with acting in order to put forward a convincing achievement in directing. Thus, Gravity is clearly the leading example when it has nominations in the technical titles with Sandra Bullock nominated for Best Actress.
After all, how a director delivers a film is down to his/her own judgment, and how people view their works is a totally different manner, especially when the Academy voters in the Director branch tend to be unpredictable. We would all have our own 'Best Director' choice in mind every year that would vary with the 5 final nominees.
Academy Members for Best Director category
Director branch has only 377 members, and to get a nomination, you need 63 votes statistically. It is a rather small circle of members within the massive film industry. I personally have no clue on the demographics of these 377 members, but some interesting patterns can be observed from past nominations, such as their support for foreign directors like Michael Haneke for Amour or Fernando Meirelles for City of God, and their appraisal for young directors like Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild. They may also be racially biased when you only see four women in history have ever been nominated in this category, with Kathryn Bigelow being the first and only female winner so far. Moreover, they strongly support great directors with big names such as Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen or Clint Eastwood, and they get nominated every now and then.
The biggest disappointments from them were:
The biggest disappointments from them were:
- Ben Affleck (Argo)
- Christopher Nolan (Inception)
- Steven Spielberg (Jaws)
and many more.... The above directors were snubbed mainly because of how such a small group can produce influential comments among its members and therefore coming up with surprising nods due to strong support from a certain group of passionate members for a particular director. Thus, these snubbed directors got voted down instead.
The branch for Best Director is really mysterious, and yet it gives a momentum of surprises.
Who will win?
Answer: Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity
Dates of other major awards have rather gone early this year. Based on what we witnessed at Golden Globes, Directors Guild Awards (DGA) and Critics' Choice, it is very likely that Alfonso Cuaron will receive his first Oscar on directing due to the strong support of voters in these awards. Moreover, he is nominated for Best Film Editing and Best Picture in Gravity as well, and such impression would build an add-on effect on voters' final decisions. Well, not to mention his previous recognitions in the writing categories when he was nominated for Children of Men and Y tu mama tambien. Finally, his technical achievements in filmmaking have said enough.
Why not the other 4?
1. Steve McQueen - 12 Years A Slave
12 Years A Slave is considered as the strongest frontrunner to win Best Picture this year, and it is valid to say Steve McQueen has a chance to win Best Director as well if based on previous Best Director winners from 2006 to 2011when their films won Best Picture. However, the strongest reason to go against Steve is that the story of 12 Years A Slave is heavily emotional itself which would overrule the our appreciation towards the director's inputs. What happened in the story was too heart-gripping through the actors' sensational performances. That is why the director of Dallas Buyers Club did not even get nominated this year because of strong performances from Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto who would potentially win Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively this year. The nomination for Steve, which differentiates from Dallas Buyers Club, goes down to his vision and revisit to the issues of slavery. More importantly, his strong support from his producer, Brad Pitt. Yet, a win for Steve is not the time when he can still contribute more in the future, especially when he is an emerging great British director. Sometimes, films have to possess the feel-good factor in order to gain wins, just like Tom Hooper for The King's Speech when the story itself is more pleasant to watch than 12 Years A Slave.
2. David O. Russell - American Hustle
On his third nomination for Best Director after The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook in less than four years, every actor in the world will just be the happiest man to sign on a contract for whatever his next film is. However, David has been displaying the 'classy' director style in using the cast he has faith in over and over again, such as Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Robert de Niro. He is simply great to be honoured, considering his two previous losses in the writing categories. Therefore his main drawback really lies in the story of American Hustle which tells of the collaboration of con-artists with the FBI in the 1970s. Although the story is creative and holds originality, its underlying meaning hardly affects one's thoughts immediately. It just feels good and entertaining to watch American Hustle as it is smoothly arranged with a mixture of humour and seriousness, particularly seen from its characters' behaviours and outlooks. Yet, David's style in scriptwriting has not changed at all from the way his characters interact with each other. I strongly feel conversations in Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle possess the same tone. If American Hustle is seen to win Best Picture, then David may stand a chance, but I hardly see this happening when 12 Years A Slave is socially influential and Gravity has Alfonso Cuaron to lead the sweep of technical categories.
3. Alexander Payne - Nebraska
Same as David O. Russell, he is on his third nomination as well after previous nominations for Sideways and The Descendants. Yet, he has won 2 Oscars for writing in the films mentioned. Although I have not seen Nebraska yet, Alexander's films tend to possess the feel-good factor when one can emotionally see the human factors and relationships addressed through the transformations of their characters and events. Alexander's bold decision in using black and white cinematography to tell the story is rather unique. However, he was considered the surprising nod among the five, and the reason to explain this is support from passionate voters who loved his previously nominated works. His circumstance is similar to the nomination for the Coen Brothers in True Grit, when one can obviously understand the appreciation of some Academy voters to a particular director's works. Unfortunately, these preferences will not gain most coherence from others, and thus lacks the momentum to sustain a huge amount of winning votes. Moreover, Alexander's stories share similarities where you can tell he still uses his same old formula to secure this successful nomination. This approach can be a disadvantage to win as his style is easily recognised and to a certain extent the Academy tends to favour in artists who have a change of style in their works. For example, Ang Lee and Steven Spielberg, being double-shot winners for Best Director, tell their stories in a totally different manner and perspective. From the romantic love story of two cowboys to the fantasies and wonders after a shipwreck with a boy and a tiger, Ang Lee has adopted different formulae and style to present his stories visually. Steven Spielberg's wins on Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan are heavily focused on the cruelty of warfare, but one is emotionally touching while the other goes for a more intensive approach with scenes of gunfire and casualties. Alexander's methods in storytelling are pleasing and fun, but it will not get him the honours if he still repeats the same old style.
4. Martin Scorsese - The Wolf of Wall Street
Finally winning an Oscar for The Departed in 2006 after getting snubbed back in 1990 on Goodfellas losing to Kevin Costner for Dances With Wolves, Scorsese managed to make a shift in style from gangster movies to the recently nominated Hugo in 2011 when Hugo swept lots of the technical awards as well. He is admired by Hollywood peers and in particular his own favourite casts: Robert de Niro who starred in Taxi Driver, which was an instant classic at that time; Leonardo diCaprio who is the lead for The Wolf of Wall Street, The Aviator and Gangs of New York. All of the mentioned works directed by Scorsese have different perspectives on the stories of gangster lives with their uprises and eventual downfall. Similar to The Aviator which depicted the legendary life of Howard Hughes, The Wolf of Wall Street went for the sexually and mentally extravagant life of Jordan Belfort who is a Wall Street stock broker as well as a drug addict. Scorsese's approach this time was rather daring and unbelievable which Academy voters have loved and hated. Some even criticised Scorsese for being too outrageous and hence led to disappointment rather than appreciation. However, some voters still really like Scorsese and considering how entertaining The Wolf of Wall Street is, Scorsese managed to put weight on his nod. The main drawback for Scorsese is his win in the past for The Departed as well as the style of The Wolf of Wall Street are not preferably the winning choices at the Oscars. This applies the same to Leonardo diCaprio who threw a wonderful performance but the story itself does not create a huge affection on voters. No matter how great the audience thinks of a film, most voters would stick to their own code on praising films that have great influence and social impact.
Dates of other major awards have rather gone early this year. Based on what we witnessed at Golden Globes, Directors Guild Awards (DGA) and Critics' Choice, it is very likely that Alfonso Cuaron will receive his first Oscar on directing due to the strong support of voters in these awards. Moreover, he is nominated for Best Film Editing and Best Picture in Gravity as well, and such impression would build an add-on effect on voters' final decisions. Well, not to mention his previous recognitions in the writing categories when he was nominated for Children of Men and Y tu mama tambien. Finally, his technical achievements in filmmaking have said enough.
Why not the other 4?
1. Steve McQueen - 12 Years A Slave
12 Years A Slave is considered as the strongest frontrunner to win Best Picture this year, and it is valid to say Steve McQueen has a chance to win Best Director as well if based on previous Best Director winners from 2006 to 2011when their films won Best Picture. However, the strongest reason to go against Steve is that the story of 12 Years A Slave is heavily emotional itself which would overrule the our appreciation towards the director's inputs. What happened in the story was too heart-gripping through the actors' sensational performances. That is why the director of Dallas Buyers Club did not even get nominated this year because of strong performances from Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto who would potentially win Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively this year. The nomination for Steve, which differentiates from Dallas Buyers Club, goes down to his vision and revisit to the issues of slavery. More importantly, his strong support from his producer, Brad Pitt. Yet, a win for Steve is not the time when he can still contribute more in the future, especially when he is an emerging great British director. Sometimes, films have to possess the feel-good factor in order to gain wins, just like Tom Hooper for The King's Speech when the story itself is more pleasant to watch than 12 Years A Slave.
2. David O. Russell - American Hustle
On his third nomination for Best Director after The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook in less than four years, every actor in the world will just be the happiest man to sign on a contract for whatever his next film is. However, David has been displaying the 'classy' director style in using the cast he has faith in over and over again, such as Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Robert de Niro. He is simply great to be honoured, considering his two previous losses in the writing categories. Therefore his main drawback really lies in the story of American Hustle which tells of the collaboration of con-artists with the FBI in the 1970s. Although the story is creative and holds originality, its underlying meaning hardly affects one's thoughts immediately. It just feels good and entertaining to watch American Hustle as it is smoothly arranged with a mixture of humour and seriousness, particularly seen from its characters' behaviours and outlooks. Yet, David's style in scriptwriting has not changed at all from the way his characters interact with each other. I strongly feel conversations in Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle possess the same tone. If American Hustle is seen to win Best Picture, then David may stand a chance, but I hardly see this happening when 12 Years A Slave is socially influential and Gravity has Alfonso Cuaron to lead the sweep of technical categories.
3. Alexander Payne - Nebraska
Same as David O. Russell, he is on his third nomination as well after previous nominations for Sideways and The Descendants. Yet, he has won 2 Oscars for writing in the films mentioned. Although I have not seen Nebraska yet, Alexander's films tend to possess the feel-good factor when one can emotionally see the human factors and relationships addressed through the transformations of their characters and events. Alexander's bold decision in using black and white cinematography to tell the story is rather unique. However, he was considered the surprising nod among the five, and the reason to explain this is support from passionate voters who loved his previously nominated works. His circumstance is similar to the nomination for the Coen Brothers in True Grit, when one can obviously understand the appreciation of some Academy voters to a particular director's works. Unfortunately, these preferences will not gain most coherence from others, and thus lacks the momentum to sustain a huge amount of winning votes. Moreover, Alexander's stories share similarities where you can tell he still uses his same old formula to secure this successful nomination. This approach can be a disadvantage to win as his style is easily recognised and to a certain extent the Academy tends to favour in artists who have a change of style in their works. For example, Ang Lee and Steven Spielberg, being double-shot winners for Best Director, tell their stories in a totally different manner and perspective. From the romantic love story of two cowboys to the fantasies and wonders after a shipwreck with a boy and a tiger, Ang Lee has adopted different formulae and style to present his stories visually. Steven Spielberg's wins on Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan are heavily focused on the cruelty of warfare, but one is emotionally touching while the other goes for a more intensive approach with scenes of gunfire and casualties. Alexander's methods in storytelling are pleasing and fun, but it will not get him the honours if he still repeats the same old style.
4. Martin Scorsese - The Wolf of Wall Street
Finally winning an Oscar for The Departed in 2006 after getting snubbed back in 1990 on Goodfellas losing to Kevin Costner for Dances With Wolves, Scorsese managed to make a shift in style from gangster movies to the recently nominated Hugo in 2011 when Hugo swept lots of the technical awards as well. He is admired by Hollywood peers and in particular his own favourite casts: Robert de Niro who starred in Taxi Driver, which was an instant classic at that time; Leonardo diCaprio who is the lead for The Wolf of Wall Street, The Aviator and Gangs of New York. All of the mentioned works directed by Scorsese have different perspectives on the stories of gangster lives with their uprises and eventual downfall. Similar to The Aviator which depicted the legendary life of Howard Hughes, The Wolf of Wall Street went for the sexually and mentally extravagant life of Jordan Belfort who is a Wall Street stock broker as well as a drug addict. Scorsese's approach this time was rather daring and unbelievable which Academy voters have loved and hated. Some even criticised Scorsese for being too outrageous and hence led to disappointment rather than appreciation. However, some voters still really like Scorsese and considering how entertaining The Wolf of Wall Street is, Scorsese managed to put weight on his nod. The main drawback for Scorsese is his win in the past for The Departed as well as the style of The Wolf of Wall Street are not preferably the winning choices at the Oscars. This applies the same to Leonardo diCaprio who threw a wonderful performance but the story itself does not create a huge affection on voters. No matter how great the audience thinks of a film, most voters would stick to their own code on praising films that have great influence and social impact.
No comments:
Post a Comment