Oscar, why did not my movie win?
Earlier today, still in the hangover of the Oscar ceremony, I came across hundreds of messages in a Whats App group of film critics. There were messages of varying degrees, but the only thing in common was that there was no unanimity in virtually anything. I found this to be very amusing, for although to the outside world we are those experts who understand everything about the Seventh Art, deep down we are exactly the same as them – movie lovers.
I was amused by the group discussions, always passionate and vibrant, where philosophical concepts were opposed by angry comments to those who dared to speak ill of some idolized personality. Thus, award-winning Olivia Colman was scorned by Glenn Close fans, annoyed that her beloved star had been snubbed by the Academy for the seventh time, while others attacked or defended Spike Lee for his reaction to the announcement of the Green Book as Best Movie.
It is often imagined that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a powerful and Machiavellian organism that dictates the awards according to the most veiled interests. That is to say, a concept as fanciful and far from reality as what is thought of Freemasonry, for example.
In fact, the Academy is an honorary professional organization dedicated to the development of the art and science of cinema. It is made up of more than eight thousand members, all linked in some way to the film industry. To be a part of it, one must have been nominated for some Oscar category or be supported by two active members of the same category as the professional who wishes to associate.
For the prize nominations, the members of each subgroup choose among those entries that will participate in the final selection. So, directors choose the finalists for Best Director, actors choose the finalists for Best Actor and Actress, editors choose the finalists for Best Editing, etc.. In the final selection, all active members of the Academy can vote as they wish by secret ballot.
One detail that may have attracted attention this year was that “Roma” was nominated for both Foreign Film and Best Picture, as well as other categories. To compete in the Foreign Film category, the foreign language film must be in excess of 40 minutes, be produced outside the US and have predominantly non-English speaking dialogues. Each country indicates a representative. But the film can also be nominated for other categories. It was the case of “Rome”, which competed in ten categories and won the awards for Best Foreign Film, Best Direction and Best Cinematography.
This year’s Oscar was one of the most balanced of recent times, as there was no “Titanic” or “Avatar” in the dispute. And for that very reason, it was an award full of screams and teeth grinding of fans dissatisfied with the results. “Green Book” won Best Picture, Supporting Actor and Original Screenplay. “Bohemian Rhapsody” got Best Actor, Editing, Sound Mixing and Sound Editing prizes.
The good – and deserved – surprise were the Art Direction, Costume and Soundtrack awards for “Black Panther”, a type of film usually snubbed in the awards. Others did not do so well, as “Vice”, who had eight nominations and only won in the Makeup category. Another one that lost ugly was “The Favourite”, which had ten nominations and only took Best Actress – under my protests, because I was in the Glenn Close’s fan club!
Other awards also pleased me a lot, like Best Song for “A Star is Born”, Best Documentary for “Free Solo”, Best Animation for “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and Visual Effects for “First Man”. This diversity of results leads to the initial question: if all voters are film experts, why was there no unanimity?
Well, we could paraphrase Nelson Rodrigues, saying that all unanimity is stupid, and close the subject. But the truth is contained even within the lines of the witty chronicler. There is no unanimity, because each person has not only personal tastes and preferences, but also beliefs and ideologies, and above all a life story that leads him unconsciously to like or not something.
Personally, I found “Rome” a little bit savorless and I hated “The Favourite”, while some colleagues put Alfonso Cuarón between God and the Pope, and they were highly outraged by the scarcity of prizes for Lanthimos’ movie. Spike Lee won an Academy Award for “Blackkklansman” – which he had never won – and was angry at the release of Best Film for “Green Book”.
Incidentally, this was the Oscar that most awarded blacks and women, and included several films with thematic that refers to the issue of the American Negro. While exalted discussions arose about “Green Book” being an inverted version of “Driving Miss Daisy,” others wove insight into the cast and crew of “Black Panther,” predominantly black.
The most curious thing is that this award is absolutely symbolic. The fact of winning an Oscar will just be a phrase added to the movie poster, since what will make the movie seen and reviewed over time will be the emotional charge it arouses in the viewer. And as I said before, this is unique and non-transferable.