Oscar Night 2008
I’m trying to put some last-minute notes up here before the Oscar ceremony actually begins in just a couple of hours. Since I last wrote, quite a few things have happened: the strike did end, Hollywood has happily geared up for the Oscars, and I did see a few more nominated movies. Some good Christian film critics I know also put off seeing some of the year’s important films until January, but I think few put it off, like I did, until February. In fact, I saw two of the front runners for the first time only yesterday, when I made a day-long excursion to the movie theater with a delicious dinner out. Those films were There Will Be Blood, and No Country for Old Men. Quite a grim double bill, and for me, a mixed bag.
I was surprised how much I loved There Will Be Blood, since it I knew that it had many Christian naysayers, including Act One founder Barbara Nicolosi. But it also had many supporters among the Christian film community, including the very articulate Jeffrey Overstreet. When I saw it, I was overwhelmed. The was only the second film by director P. T. Anderson that I’ve ever seen. It had the shape of a classical tragedy and more than a few hints of a deeper Christian meaning.
It tells the story of an oil man of the early 1900’s, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis), whose rise to wealth and power means the loss of his soul. Daniel has lived a harsh life, first silver mining, then working in the oil fields; he has few human relationships of any kind; there has apparently never been a woman in his life; outwardly a formidable man of drive, ambition, and a certainty that general makes everyone else cower, he is so secretive about his true motives that we can learn very little about his inmost feelings — except by observing his relationship with a little boy he adopts as a baby along the way and raises as his son, whom he names H. W. (Dillon Freasier). H. W. seems to be his only contact with human tenderness. Daniel “hates most people,” as he says, and can see no good in them, because they don’t have his drive to succeed.
When he is ready to strike out as an oil entrepreneur on his own, Daniel promotes himself and H.W. as a “family business.” He receives a tip about oil on the land of the Sunday family, who live in a frontier settlement called Little Boston, and schemes to buy their land, but runs up against the family’s baby-faced, but cagey son, Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), who is a preacher in the little religious sect most of the settlement belongs to. Daniel is immediately suspicious of Eli, because he has the same drive he has. Daniel eventually gets the land, but Eli extracts a special price: Daniel’s financial support for his church. Daniel agrees, but the battle isn’t over. Daniel reneges on the deal, and won’t allow Eli to bless his rig. But he does show compassion for the youngest Sunday child, Mary, who befriends H. W. Then Daniel’s oil begins to gush — and H.W., who is on the rig at the time, is deafened in the accompanying explosion. Daniel’s despair and his rejection of the preacher who can’t or wont heal his boy, begin his downward spiral. He begins to turn from the boy, whose condition seems to call for more love than he is able to give.
Another attempt at human communication with a long-lost brother also fails. Daniel finally turns to accept baptism in Eli’s church (for completely mercenary reasons). He is forced to confess his most secret sin, and to call out for immersion in “the blood of the Lamb” and it is one of the most extraordinary movie scenes I’ve ever seen. But the fight still isnt over, and if Daniel doesn’t really accept the blood of the Lamb, there will be blood in some other way. Some strange stylistic choices and a turn toward black comedy nearly derail the film’s tragic final scene, but it is an astonishing achievement nonetheless.
This is a very moving and even terrifying story of grace offered and rejected. Many Christians can’t see past the fact that the preacher Eli is clearly a greedy hypocrite, and so label the film anti-Christian. But for me, the complex story, along with the great direction and cinematography and Daniel Day Lewis’ towering performance, make this for me the film to beat at the Oscars.
In order for me to get this up in time, there won’t be time to write much more about the other films Ive seen. No Country for Old Men is clearly an accomplished work by the Coen brothers; it reminds me a great deal of their earlier work Fargo, but is much bleaker. It begins with a Vietnam vet with a will, Llewllyn Moss (Josh Broli) coming across the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong in the Texas desert. There are a great many dead bodies, as well as a suitcase with $2 million cash. Moss makes away with the money, and is determined to keep it at any cost, even after he becomes aware that there’s a homing device inside of it, and the guy who is tracking it is a hired killer (Javier Bardem) as implacable as the Grim Reaper himself. The bodies pile up rapidly, including a great many innocent bystanders. Tommy Lee Jones is on hand, doing his usual superb work as the wry, melancholy sheriff who tries to make sense of all these horrible crimes. Unlike the cheerfully heroic policewoman Marge in Fargo, he eventually gives up any hope of working for justice. The hired killer himself toys with his victims, killing emotionlessly and at will, allowing a few to have at least a chance of escape on the (literal) toss of a coin. The only question is how you will face death or its possibility when it arbitrarily comes. Some are confused, some afraid, some courageous, but the reaction of Moss’ wife, Carla Jean (Kelly McDonald) is the most surprising of all. The story has some allegorical implications about fate amid all the geysers of blood (much more than in the above film named after blood), and all the black humor. The ending is about the most strange and discombobulated I’ve ever seen. Because of all these extremes, I’m afraid the film didn’t really gel for me. And you really have to have a taste for the bleak to love it.
I thought that Michael Clayton, which I saw about three weeks ago, is a good but not great film. It has a terrific literate script and very accomplished writing and directing by Tony Gilroy (son of famous playwright Frank Gilroy). Amazingly, this is his first film as a director. It also has a very good performance by George Clooney, and a completely mesmerizing one by Tom Wilkinson, right up there as my favorite with Philip Seymour Hoffman for Best Supporting Actor. The story itself is something we’ve seen before in a number of guises. Clooney plays the title character, a “fixer” for a corporate law firm who has a crisis of conscience. The matter he’s now involved in “fixing” is the fact that his firm’s top negotiator, Arthur (Wilkinson), who is bi-polar and strictly medicated, has just had a monumental breakdown, while involved in a lawsuit where he’s defending a huge corporation responsible for some industrial waste that has caused death and illnesses. Arthur has found some information against their client, and wants Clayton to join him not in working for his firm, but rather for getting justice. Meanwhile, the corporation’s star lawyer (Tilda Swinton, also great and also nominated for Best Supporting Actress), does some very bad things to stop them. I liked nearly everything about the film, except for the horrendous decision to tell a good part of it in such a non-linear style. Because it shows so much of the conclusion first, it drains nearly all suspense from the film’s ending and doesn’t let us appreciate the main character’s arc of redemption in its natural order. This makes the film unnecessarily confusing and more emotionally flat than it should be.
I also got a chance to see Marion Cotillard in La Vie in Rose, playing the tragic French singer Edith Piaf. Her performance is indeed, as everyone has been saying a revelation; not only an exhibition of burning passion but an amazing physical transformation from young girl to ravaged old woman. Unfortunately, the film itself is largely a mess - due to the same reason as Michael Clayton. The director seems to have arbitrarily written his film’s scenes on index cards, thrown them up in the air, and filmed them in the order they came down.
Now a few quick predictions: Having seen at least all the films nominated for Best Picture, I can say that after consideration, I will pick Let There Be Blood as my favorite to win. Last minute odds-layers are saying No Country. They may be right, because the Coens are so well-regarded. I’m guessing that the two films will probably split the Best Picture/ Best Director Prizes. I agree with the overwhelming consensus that Daniel Day Lewis will win Best Actor. Best Actress is going to be very tough. Julie Christie has the odds in her favor (for a performance I unfortunately haven’t seen, in Away from Her), Marion Cotillard was fantastic, and richly deserves a prize for her role (she’s already won a Golden Globe), but Ellen Page (Juno) could sneak in over both of them. It will probably be Christie, though. I’ll pick Juno to win very narrowly over Ratatouille for Best Original Screenplay, and There Will Be Blood for Best Adapted Screenplay. Javier Bardem will win for Supporting Actor, and I’ve given my favorites above. Cate Blanchett has the odds for Best Supporting Actress. but I’m hoping Saoirse Ronan may have a choice.
I’ll update if I can as the show goes on, and recap afterwards. (I actually ended up blogging live during the show).
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The show has just started . . . . Well, Keira Knightley’s green dress from Atonement didn’t win Best Costume design.
Jon Stewart has a really nimble wit; I’m enjoying him, though I didn’t particularly care for his last appearance at the Oscars, he has some good jokes here. A good enough monologue for someone whose writers have barely had time to prepare.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Ratatouille wins Best Animated Feature! Brad Bird gave such a wonderful speech — he thanked his junior-high guidance counselor, who kept asking him what he wanted to do with his life. “I want to work in movies.” “Then what do you want to do?” “I want to work in movies.” “What if it isn’t possible for you to do that?” “I’ll make it possible.” “What if movies hadn’t been invented?” “I’d invent them!” Bird finished by saying, “I only realized just recently that he gave me the perfect training for the movie business.”
Well, no matter what else The Golden Compass may have been, it is now an Oscar Winner for Visual Effects. I actually didn’t have time to blog anything about this film, which was supposed to be a big thing, but flopped so badly in the U.S. that it has come close to wrecking New Line Cinema, even after the zillions of dollars it earned for the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
It’s Javier . . . the guy is really charming, quite different from his character.
Wow! A surprise win for Tilda Swinton! The White Witch rules! (seriously, the roles are kind of similar).
They are really putting in a lot of filler; this is probably mostly the show they had planned before the writers’ strike ended and they genuinely didn’t know if they would have any scripted segments at all. (Seriously, a clip montage about binoculars?).
I’m seriously mixed up about the order I’m putting things here, as I’m trying to do a translation from the French for work at the same time.
There Will Be Blood lost Best Adapted Screenplay to No Country for Old Men. A sign of things to come?
Now they’re just about to announce the Best Actress, really early in the program, barely an hour and a half in. Will this be a short show? Would love to see Blanchett in Elizabeth the Golden Age. Marion is singing Edith Piaf’s songs in the clips - it’s really Piaf singing though. There’s Laura Linney’s clip . . . and Ellen Page. The winner is . . . . Marion Cotillard! She’s gorgeous in real life. And so much taller than the character she played! Why did she seem so small in the film? That’s acting! She gave a charming speech, in tears.
Once won for best song (”Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova); I’ve long wanted to see this film. From the applause, this seemed to be a very popular win.
There Will Be Blood just won for Best Cinematography!
The “obits” for the year included Heath Ledger, though he actually died not in 2007 but in 2008. He got huge applause.
Some of the soldiers in Iraq just gave a documentary award. That was a wonderful touch.
It’s JUNO for Best Original Screenplay!! (I got something right!) Diablo Cody is probably the most photographed screenwriter in history - mostly because she’s a former stripper and really pretty, but who cares! She began her speech by saying “This is for the writers!”
They’re about to do Best Actor. . . Helen Mirren is presenting. . . she’s a good actress here too . . . this is it. . . . the clips. . . Daniel Day Lewis is saying “I’ve abandoned my child . . . give me the blood, Lord, and let me get away!” George Clooeny, Viggo, Johnny. . . It’s Daniel Day Lewis!! He’s been nominated four times in all and won for another of my favorite films, My Left Foot, he mentioned “the mighty Dillon Freasier”; he gives a great speech!
Martin Scorsese has now come out to present Best Director — or as he reminds us there might be, Best Directors. The winner is . . .The Coen Brothers! This is their second, as they’ve already won for the screenplay.
Denzel Washington is going to name the 80th Best Picture. My heart is sinking, as I don’t think my film will win. It’s . . No Country for Old Men. Oh well. The picture in the race I liked least just won! That’s a wrap for now, because I’ve still got work to do.
