Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Director 1980

The Contenders:
David Lynch: The Elephant Man
Robert Redford: Ordinary People (winner)
Martin Scorsese: Raging Bull
Richard Rush: The Stunt Man
Roman Polanski: Tess

What’s Missing

1980 was a pretty good year for film. I agree with some of the nominations for director for this year, but genuinely wonder about some of the films that were left off. It’s not terribly surprising to me that Irvin Kershner was left off for The Empire Strikes Back, although I think it’s the best of the series. Michael Apted could’ve gotten a nod for Coal Miner’s Daughter, and while Oscar tends to hate horror, I might have tossed in a nod for Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. I’m guessing it was too much to ask for Ken Russell to be nominated for Altered States.

Weeding through the Nominees

5: I’m happy to put Roman Polanski as one of my favorite directors, and when I do that, I’ll be quick to point out that Tess is probably my least favorite of his films that I’ve seen. I won’t disagree that it’s lush and beautiful to look at, but it’s a film that almost seems to have been made to give Polanski some sort of credibility in terms of sexual dynamics to offset the accusation of statutory rape. Beyond that, and this is really what’s at stake here, I don’t see that Polanski did anything all that special. Everything that’s good here came from the costume designer and the cinematographer. Sorry, Roman.

4: I’m going to bump The Stunt Man right away, too. I enjoyed this movie to an extent, but everything that’s enjoyable about this movie comes directly from the performance of Peter O’Toole. He’s great, and there’s a reason he was nominated for this performance. But I can’t really understand the nomination for Richard Rush. The Stunt Man is a perfectly serviceable film, but I can’t see anything in the direction that makes me think “Best Director.” It’s good, but it’s not great.

3: I like what Robert Redford did with Ordinary People, but here I run into the same problem I do with the first two films. This is Redford’s debut as a director, and he’s smart enough with the camera to realize that he’s got a story that can tell itself without him interfering too much. And he doesn’t; he shows a lot of restraint in how he lets this story play out. That sort of restraint isn’t always evident in someone helming a picture for the first time. For showing it, Redford deserves a great deal of credit and our thanks. But Best Director? Not hardly.

My Choices

2: It’s strange that for 1980, my two choices were both filmed by directors who opted for black-and-white over color. I really liked The Elephant Man. This is a film that shows much of the restraint that Redford showed in Ordinary People, but it’s coming from David Lynch. I love the way he uses light throughout this film, and he manages to pull out some truly amazing performances from his cast. I’m not sure if this is my favorite film by David Lynch, but I am pretty convinced that it’s the best directed David Lynch picture. Since I have a tendency to appreciate David Lynch, that’s saying quite a bit. I’m not surprised that this didn’t win, but I’d have been happy to see it walk off with a statue.

1: I’ve said before that I view Best Picture as the story being told and Best Director as the way the story is told. Many people disagree with 1980’s Best Picture choice of Ordinary People over Raging Bull. That’s neither here nor there (we’ll get there eventually). What is relevant is that regardless of which story is better, Scorsese told his story better. Raging Bull manages to have a story of genuine substance and tells it with incredible style and class. This is far from my favorite Scorsese film, but it’s the best instance of storytelling in a visual medium in 1980. It would’ve gotten my vote then and still would.

Final Analysis