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Friday, August 8, 2014

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Director 1977

The Contenders:
Woody Allen: Annie Hall (winner)
Steven Spielberg: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Fred Zinnemann: Julia
George Lucas: Star Wars
Herbert Ross: The Turning Point

What’s Missing

Straight off the top, the biggest miss in my opinion is John Badham’s work on Saturday Night Fever. Another miss, and I’ll happily cop to the idea that this is just me who thinks this, is Richard Attenborough for A Bridge Too Far While not the greatest film ever made, it’s a hell of a good production. Wim Wenders’s work on The American Friend might (and only might) be worth a nod. Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep would be an interesting choice, and far be it from me to suggest Burnett wasn’t worthy. The last two I might toss out are Werner Herzog for Stroszek and Dario Argento for Suspiria. Argento would be an incredible long shot, but it’s a hell of a vision.

Weeding through the Nominees

5: I flatly do not understand the nomination for Julia at all. The movie itself was pretty unexceptional and I can’t really think of anything that special in the direction. I can’t for the life of me figure out why I’m having to talk about it here at all, in fact. Julia isn’t a terrible film, but it is a pretty boring one. Some of that is comes from the script, of course, but some of that comes from the director. Fred Zinnemann bears a share of the responsibility for making a film that was potentially interesting into something pretty plain.

4: With The Turning Point, we’re in a similar situation. I liked this film more than I liked Julia, but again, I don’t know that there’s anything exceptional in the direction. If the whole point of Best Director is to tell the story of the film in a unique and interesting way, what exactly did Herbert Ross do here? As with Julia, this is one that I could see being replaced with a different film very easily. This is despite the fact that I know more about ballet than the average person.

3: I may or may not agree with Annie Hall winning Best Picture, but I’m fine with Allen’s nomination here. This is a film that that would be much less directed by another person. Since Allen won, the Academy obviously agreed that he deserved the nomination. But the win? That might be pushing it. No doubt Annie Hall is directed within an inch of its life, but for all of that, I’m not sure it displays the sort of ambition necessary for Best Director. Allen’s risks here are more in the script than anywhere else. (Is it irony or coincidence that a shot from this film is used to indicate that this film shouldn't have won?)

My Choices

2: The fact that Steven Spielberg was even nominated for Close Encounters of the Third Kind is pretty remarkable, given the genre of the film and Oscar’s basic predilections. Compared with Annie Hall, though, this is a film that takes a lot of risks, and the ultimate conclusion of the film is so outside of the mainstream for a science fiction film that it’s hard to believe. While Spielberg wouldn’t be my choice, I could easily understand the Academy handing the award this way, and had they done so, I’d have to agree that they would have made a bold choice, if not quite the right one.

1: No, the right choice is Star Wars and George Lucas. Oh, I know all of the knocks against Lucas as a screenwriter and as a director. Fair enough. While those problems may be evident in Star Wars, I contend that you have to look pretty hard for them. Lucas took a cast of mostly unknowns and with ingenuity and technical wizardry produced one of the most beloved films of its or any generation. Lucas should have been recognized for that. He took a ton of risks to make that film and kept the whole thing together, and even made it all make sense. He’s my winner here.


Final Analysis

16 comments:

  1. I'll give you #1. But I'd probably switch your 2 and 3.

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    1. I'm okay with that. These are, after all, just my opinions.

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  2. As much as I love Star Wars my choice would be Close Encounters. That is a gutsy film and something entirely new. It could have been made as a fantastic film with a lame conclusion but the direction (and I suppose the script and the cinematograhy) made it a realistic film with a fantastic conclusion. This is a big WOW and, I am sorry, bigger than Star Wars, which is more vision, idea and cinematography than direction. It is great, but Close Encounters is awesome.

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    1. I toyed with that, Star Wars, though, had such potential to be just another dumb sci-fi film, and it really wasn't. Close Encounters could've done the same, but at least we'd have people on Earth instead of goofy aliens with mystic powers.

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  3. Hi, I have read your blog for a long time, and I really respect your writing style and opinions. I, however, agree with Nick. Star Wars should be the easy winner here. It changed cinema forever. I also would put Annie Hall second. Directing good comedy is very hard, as there is so much poor comedy around, in my view. I respect what Spielberg tried to do but for me Close Encounters is a bit uneven and overrated and some of that falls on Spielberg. As for the other two films, I admit, I have never seen them. Thank you for all your great work.

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    1. I'm totally cool with disagreement. This blog is nothing more than my opinion, after all--I try not to make pronouncements of absolute truth.

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  4. I think Star Wars is even more deserving for Best Director than Best Picture. I would give it that award too because I love it, but I can see a strong case for Annie Hall as an overall film. I've barely heard of the last two films, and I'm good with Close Encounters being up there. I was surprised at how good it was when I watched it again a few years ago.

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    1. I haven't done Best Picture for 1977 yet; it'll be interesting when I get there. I think it's a much closer race at the very least. But for director, I think Lucas took the most chances and had the furthest to fall if he failed.

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  5. Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner.
    The vision of this movie and the integration of technology, shifted the ground that Hollywood works on. I love Annie Hall but Allen's award here is for being the intellectual's favorite film maker rather than the outstanding achievement in directing this year. Spielberg would be a close second.

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    1. This was pretty much exactly my thinking. It'll be interesting when I get to Best Picture for this year.

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    2. You got the top three exactly right. All great films, Star Wars should have won. As a twelve year old, I was SHOCKED that Lucas didn't win. :-)

      With Close Encounters on its heels, this was the start of an epic decade of modern science fiction films.

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    3. Star Wars and Close Encounters are two of the most formative movies for me that I can think of. I love them both.

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  6. I was appalled in 1977 at the age of 17 that Star Wars didn't win Best Picture, and came to appreciate why it didn't decades later. Undoubtedly it had the biggest impact on popular culture and the movie industry of all the nominees - perhaps I was right after all? ;)

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    1. Well, this concerned director. I felt the same way when Star Wars lost for Best Picture. It's the first time I remember caring about the Oscars at all, in fact.

      I haven't decided where I stand on Best Picture 1977 yet, but I stand by the fact that Lucas, for as wooden as his directing became and as lousy as some of his screenplays were written in later years, knocked this one out of the park.

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  7. Even though it was made earlier, I believe Eraserhead was also a 1977 release. I know a lot of people don't get or hate this movie. I don't necessarily get it either, but I find it captivating. I would include Badham on my list as well. My overall choice would still be Allen.

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    1. I don't hate Eraserhead, but I'm not really sure it was worthy of mention here. As for Allen, most years he's not your worst choice.

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