The Best of the Oscars – Past & Present
By Darren Cunningham
With the award season for films all abuzz and Oscar being the biggest bite of the cherry, (for those films lucky enough to be nominated), lets look at some of the best, (all subjective of course) the Oscars had to offer and those films that truly deserved the accolades lauded over them:
John Schlesinger’s Midnight Cowboy – (1969) was an awakening best picture award for the Academy and a film that I would label as tremendous in many aspects. It came at the end of a decade that was starting to change the face of cinema with themes and styles that were less superficial and tackling subject matter in grittier and more realistic terms. This paved the way for one of the best decades for film - the 1970’s.
One of my favourite best picture winners of all time is the Jack Nicholson classic One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest – (1975). This film took away the top 5 honours - one of only 3 films thus far in Academy Awards history– Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Adapted Screenplay. This emotionally searing film rarely hits a false note and showcases the human condition in all its flaws and celebrations. It also gives us one of the silver screens most despised villains in the manipulating and psychologically abusive Nurse Ratched, masterfully acted by Louise Fletcher.
Another best picture winner that took away the same 5 top honours was the smash hit The Silence Of The Lambs – (1991). Unique in that the film was a horror themed thriller, (a genre that the Academy usually tends to ignore), it skilfully represented its dark tale with tight and taut direction and editing. There is plenty of suspense and while a disturbing theme, it gave us two memorable leading characters that audiences loved for different reasons.
The Shape Of Water – (2017) was another bold choice by the Academy for best picture. A hybrid film that had its essence extracted from mid-20th century sci-fi/creature feature films. It beautifully blended drama with horror tones yet kept at its core a touching love story between a captured exotic lagoon creature and a mute woman who worked as a cleaner at a cruel laboratory that housed him.
While the nature of human cruelty in a myriad of forms might appear at the forefront of Oscar best picture choices that held a mirror to our faces and called upon us to look at our own humanity and behaviours: The Godfather parts 1 and 2 – (1972 & 1974), The Deer Hunter – (1978), Amadeus – (1984), Platoon – (1986), Dances With Wolves – (1990), Schindler’s List – (1993), Braveheart – (1995), Gladiator – (2000), 12 Years A Slave – (2013), it wasn’t always so austere.
Throughout the 1960’s, big budget musical films were very popular winners with 4 classics taking home best picture: West Side Story – (1961), My Fair Lady – (1964), The Sound Of Music – (1965) andOliver – (1968). Any dramatic edges in these films were mitigated by musical interludes that had showcase entertainment at the forefront, with the deliberate intention of keeping offense at bay.
Comedy films weren’t forgotten either and while not a favoured genre of the Academy a handful have managed to sneak in the last laugh. The first film in Academy Award history to take home the top 5 awards, was Frank Capra’s romantic screwball comedy It Happened One Night – (1934).
Another well-known comedy film to win an Oscar for best picture was Woody Allen’s Annie Hall – (1977), a delightful musing on relationships. This sophisticated comedy may not have appealed to all yet was still popular with discerning film goers.
Time however is always the true teller of a classic over any film awards, yet films being recognized and honoured can also have meaning, especially when one feels the Academy got it right.
Don’t forget to check out our display of Oscar winning best picture films in the Main Library from Week 6. Click on the title links to watch these above mentioned films online via Informit Edu Tv.