A walk through some of the contenders for the Orange British Academy Film Awards
Feature by Richard Dilks
The list of BAFTA, sorry, Orange British Academy Film Award contenders this year is significantly more eclectic than it might have been.
The traditional traits first: a close mirroring of the Oscar nominations; the differences from that list are mainly centred around more British efforts; the foreign language nominations are the ones that have done well across the West; the nominations for director and best film are the same; the technical nominations will probably prove to be rather prescient in showing what films will be admired in years to come.
Thus far, so BAFTA.
The differences this year are that there is a broader spread of British talent, and that it has been a stronger year for cinema than the doom-sayers of the ‘80s and ‘90s would have had us believe possible. I am not referring to big box office for Hollywood’s big films, but to good box office for films which critics liked. On top of that, those films came from a whole variety of production origins.
Taking British talent ‘in the spread’ is necessary because it is spread around. ‘The Constant Gardener’ is counted as a British film, though its money was American and its director Fernando Meirelles is a famous component of the vitality of Brazilian cinema; ‘Festival’, nominated for best British film of the year and for the outstanding first feature for a British writer, director or producer, was written and directed by the American-born Annie Griffin. But the latter is about performers converging on Edinburgh from all over and the nature of the global film business is just that – convergent and global.
That this was a fine year for fine films is evident from the nominations list. To have ‘Brokeback Mountain’, ‘Capote’, ‘Crash’ and ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’, ‘Hotel Rwanda’, ‘The Constant Gardener’ and ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ in one year’s contenders is a tribute to the survival of a fascinating, if perhaps fragile, trend. The Hollywood multimedia conglomerates are no longer able to haul themselves up on a couple of big hits each year; they haven’t been having big hits.
The films stealing the limelight and greenbacks of Americans and other Western audiences have looked rather less staple and rather more stirring than we have been accustomed to. It seems that reports of the triumph of dull big flicks have been at least a little premature.
This is heavily reflected in the BAFTA list, and rightly so. Before looking at the list, it’s worth remembering that it is very close to the Oscar nominations. Whilst the BAFTAs are highly significant for Britain and British film, they are of course small beer compared to the Oscars. The latter have people frantically devising new methods of bribing the Academy members, such is the commercial benefit of a win or wins.
The nominations for Best Film: ‘Brokeback Mountain’, ‘Capote’; ‘The Constant Gardener’; ‘Crash’ and ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’. All are worth seeing, and it’s a relief to be able to write that. ‘Brokeback Mountain’ probably stands the best chance of victory with its combination of resonating performances and Ang Lee’s mastery of atmosphere. ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’, unusual and strong as it is, is probably too limited a film to win, though it is a fine directorial effort from George Clooney. ‘The Constant Gardener’ has been rather too equivocally received to be a really strong contender, though it does stand a chance. ‘Crash’ is wonderful and artful, though some of its plotting could be said to be a little overheated. It is also a more American film, lacking the universal appeal that Lee imbues his films with.
The David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction follows. Past form tells us that the odds are mildly against a film winning for both itself and its director. This category may be where ‘The Constant Gardener’ can triumph for its director, benefiting him for its flourishes whilst sweeping past some of the film’s perceived failings. But perhaps Paul Haggis may have done a sufficiently impressive job with ‘Crash’ to have got out of its L.A. orbit and appealed to the British Academy’s judges. ‘Brokeback Mountain’, however, took both at the Golden Globes.
The Alexander Korda Award for best British film of the year nominations: ‘Festival’; ‘A Cock and Bull Story’; ‘The Constant Gardener’; ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Wallace and Gromit’. There have been weaker lists, and there have been stronger: it’s hard to imagine anyone rewarding ‘Wallace and Gromit’ or ‘Pride and Prejudice’ at many other awards ceremonies. The same goes for Martin Sherman’s nomination for Original Screenplay with ‘Mrs. Henderson Presents’. Assuming that the judges feel obliged to recognise outside the major release (‘The Constant Gardener’), ‘A Cock and Bull Story’ stands some chance. Michael Winterbottom’s films rarely garner universal praise and nor can they be easily dismissed. This one is no exception and could even be considered favourite in this category, though ‘Festival’ stands an outside chance as something different – a much lower-budget and more offbeat offering.
It’s best chance, however, is probably in the Carl Foreman Award for best British filmmaker (I’m paraphrasing the title here somewhat; it’s on the long side) where the other contenders are a little weak.
The Original Screenplay nominations are a tribute to the fact that a screenwriting pedigree is no kind of prerequisite to the industry giving your script a chance. This is partly also an inevitable result of films being made outside not only the blockbuster model, but even outside the traditional Oscar model of worthiness. Keir Pearson (‘Crash’) and Cliff Hollingsworth (‘Cinderella Man’) have both written extensively for TV, but not for film. Although Martin Sherman (‘Mrs Henderson Presents’) has written his way up through films, it’s not exactly a list of hefty credits. Grant Heslov (‘Good Night, and Good Luck’) is more known as a TV actor; Dan Futterman has been on screen next to leading men and ladies for many a year before making his writing break with ‘Capote’, which is an extremely well-written script and a very strong contender here.
A look at the Best leading Actor and Actress nominations reinforces the impression of diverse quality in last year’s films. ‘Walk the Line’, ignored in the other main categories, makes its deserved appearance here with a nomination for Phoenix. What an enviable decision to have to choose between David Strathairn’s precise, punchy performance in ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’, Heath Ledger’s relatively contented anguish in ‘Brokeback Mountain’, Ralph Fiennes back in ‘English Patient’ territory with ‘The Constant Gardener’ and the somewhat inevitable nomination for Philip Seymour Hofman for ‘Capote’. That film is probably a little less easy on the judges’ tastes than Phoenix’s wildly acclaimed performance in ‘Walk the Line’, which must be the favourite.
The Best Actress nomination throws up Phoenix’s opposite in that film, Reese Witherspoon, as well as Charlize Theron in ‘North Country’, Judi Dench in ‘Mrs Henderson Presents’, Rachel Weisz in ‘The Constant Gardener’ and Ziyi Zhang in ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’. Frankly, it’s between Weisz and Witherspoon. Given the praise heaped upon Weisz’ performance as the enquiring and unfaithful wife of a British diplomat in the midst of the pharmaceutical industry’s dirty laundry, it’s hard to see her not winning, though her prize at the Golden Globes was for best supporting actress.
Speaking of which, the Supporting Actress nominations are Brenda Blethyn for the rather limp ‘Pride and Prejudice’, Catherine Keener in the Hoffman-dominated ‘Capote’, Frances McDormand, whose talent was somewhat wasted in ‘North Country’, the relative newcomer Michelle Williams in ‘Brokeback Mountain’ and Thandie Newton rather redeeming herself in ‘Crash’. Whether the judges will use this gong as a runner-up prize remains to be seen on the night, but Newton and Williams look to be the leading contenders. Williams’ role is large enough to border on the leading, whereas Newton’s in ‘Crash’ is inevitably smaller in that almost ensemble piece.
‘Syriana’ breaks cover for the first and last time in the Best Actor nominations, thanks to George Clooney. It may be his chance to win, for it’s a highly-regarded performance that suits his strengths. The same could be said for ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’, for which he’s also nominated here, but that’s a rather less award-winning performance – by which I don’t mean that it’s less good; just less central to the film and less attention-grabbing. Jake Gyllenhaal is placed here, somewhat unfairly in view of his roughly equal screentime with ‘Brokeback Mountain’ co-star Heath Ledger. Nominations for Don Cheadle and Matt Dillon, both in ‘Crash’, completes this section – one of the most hotly-contested.
Documentaries are following the trend of recent years, with a strong showing for those which have done well internationally. ‘March of the Penguins’ will prove hard to resist; remarkably, it is also nominated for Cinematography and Editing.
It’s not until we get to these technical awards that some of the more expensive and lucrative movies of 2005 get their chance: ‘King Kong’; ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’; ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ and ‘Batman Begins’ all get Production Design nominations, with only ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ flying a flag for films with less than stratospheric budgets. If the judges don’t mind awarding it to a computer-generated film, ‘King Kong’ may well get this one; though the chewy, gooey delights of ‘Charlie’ may prove irresistible.
‘The Beat My Heart Skipped’ looks likely to triumph in the foreign film category, having swept the Césars in France. These lists make my heart skip a little, for there is a range of talent in front of and behind the camera being given the chance to use their talents that is heartening. Who knows who will win – certainly not this reporter – but it’s hard to escape the conclusion that cinema already has.
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