Nominees: Crimes and Misdemeanors, Do the Right Thing, When Harry Met Sally, sex, lies and videotape, The Little Mermaid, Monsieur Hire, High Hopes, Marriage of the Blessed, Suddenly, One Day
Oscars pick: Driving Miss Daisy
Nominees: Born on the Fourth of July, Dead Poets Society, Field of Dreams, My Left Foot
From time to time I'll read reviews where the writer expresses frustration over the fact that (such-and-such) a movie is so little known and so little seen. To them, I say, "It's not that I'm unwilling to catch these films, but rather that I am unable." Take the productions from the Kazakh New Wave, for example - the majority of which (at this writing) aren't available via streaming or DVD. I'd gladly watch them... but how?
Thankfully, Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project came through and provided access to one of these pictures. An arcane, ethereal, poetic, historical drama that spans 300 years and tells the story of a boy who is born into this world solely to avenge a murder.
There are traces of Tarkovsky and Angelopoulos here, especially in how time is malleable - and that there is significant cultural and political subtext at play. While revenge propels the story, in essence, this is about a displaced people and the journey that casts them to and fro.
There's some good reading material for this picture. Kent Jones Criterion essay is essential.
I also liked Kelley Dong's perceptive piece at Fandor.
As Kelley says, quoting Jones, "Revenge is tough, requiring some background context and an eye for subtle symbolism." Fortunately, both critics provided that background context, which helped a great deal. All told, I found the picture profound and haunting. A bona fide masterpiece.
As to other the contenders for the prize? There's a reason I keep coming back to highly rated films that originally failed to impress... Because sometimes you get something out of it that you didn't get before. You finally see what the hype was about. Though the final act is difficult (where few do the right thing), I found myself enjoying Do the Right Thing on a recent re-watch. While still not my #1 for the year, it's head and shoulders above the Academy's choices. I liked the energy and day in the life aspects of the picture, as well as meeting the various people of all colors and temperaments and histories that populate this neighborhood. I admire how it doesn't paint everyone with broad, black and white brushstrokes. Everyone is an individual, with their own thoughts and opinions.
Driving Miss Daisy? It was a safe, Oscary pick, and far from the overall best, however, it does feature some top-notch performances. I can't hate on it as some do. The other nominees were fine, I liked them all to differing degrees. Though I prefer my picks to theirs.
And in addition to the titans mentioned above, I also enjoyed, My Twentieth Century, Drugstore Cowboy, Glory, Mystery Train, Casualties of War, Valmont, Jesus of Montreal, Kiki's Delivery Service, Say Anything and Parenthood.
Honorable Mentions:
Matt Dillon, Drugstore Cowboy * Martin Landau, Crimes and Misdemeanors * Michael J. Fox, Casualties of War * Morgan Freeman, Driving Miss Daisy, Lean on Me * Michel Blanc, Monsieur Hire * Lothaire Bluteau, Jesus of Montreal
Honorable Mentions:
Jessica Tandy, Driving Miss Daisy
Jessica Lange, Music Box
Michelle Pfeiffer, The Fabulous Baker Boys
Meg Ryan, When Harry Met Sally...
Shabana Azmi & Uttara Baokar, Suddenly, One Day
Supporting Actress: Laura San Giacomo, Sex Lies and Videotape
Supporting Actor: Denzel Washington, Glory
Supporting Actor was loaded with talent, from James Earl Jones in Field of Dreams to Ray McAnally in My Left Foot and Brando in A Dry White Season. Glory was lifted by 3 incredibly moving performances from Freeman, Washington, and Braugher. Danny Aiello and Ossie Davis were standouts in Do the Right Thing, Landau in support was category fraud IMHO, he's a co-lead with Allen.
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