1995

Maborosi (Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda)
Nominees: The Usual Suspects, Dead Man, Sense and Sensibility, The Flower of My Secret, Toy Story, Before Sunrise, Se7en, Safe, Leaving Las Vegas, The Bridges of Madison County

Oscars pick:  Braveheart
Nominees: Apollo 13, Babe, Il Postino, Sense and Sensibility

Oscar winner Braveheart failed to fire me up. Mel Gibson often brutalizes his characters (in lieu of actual characterization), and while that seems to foster an emotional response in viewers, it actually drives a wedge between the movie and me. While others are drawn in, I pull away.

I liked Il Postino (internationally released in 1994) and was charmed by my introduction to Pixar -- Toy Story, the film that changed the face of animation. And while the art isn't as slick as it would become, and the series has arguably improved with each movie, I have a special place in my heart for the first. I was especially tickled by Buzz Lightyear's belief that he was the real deal, something that would be lost in the sequels.

1995 was Jane Austen crazy– Clueless, a modern telling of Emma -one of my favorite novels from the author- is a delightfully funny romantic confection, which for a time made Alicia Silverstone a big star. There were also prime BBC television adaptations of Persuasion (which played in theaters in the States), and Pride and Prejudice.

Ang Lee and screenwriter Emma Thompson offered up Sense and Sensibility. Thompson tightens up the story, takes out a few characters and situations while still retaining Austen’s voice. She does ramp up the romance (these were not romantic men), but you get the drama, the humor (though it's not as incisive), the sadness, the stifling decorum and uptight people of privilege who make life a misery for those they see beneath them. Lee's direction is picturesque, as you’d expect in a period piece like this. But it's his eye for composition and blocking that makes his work distinct and memorable.

As much as I appreciate all this Austen, I awarded the Felix to another...

Maborosi, Kore-eda's feature debut, doesn't rest on conventional narrative - so it's less about story than capturing a mood and feeling. It's slow cinema that manifests an overall calm amidst inner turmoil. It's a poem, about a woman who has suffered several losses -most recently the suicide of her husband- that haunt her dreams and her waking life.

The director is often compared to Ozu, probably because they are formal stylists. But here he conjures up Mizoguchi, in that many scenes are filmed in long or medium shot, even those that would normally call for close-ups. The picture is marked by repetitions in movement and sound (the bells). There are callbacks (conversations about freckles; the woman peering through the window of her husband's workplace). And that ubiquitous train. All of it is brought to life by Masao Nakabori's incredible cinematography, which is so thoughtfully framed, so expressive - whether he's filming in the city or nature (both serene and volatile).

This isn't a Hollywood production, the kind that tries to wring every single tear out of a viewer, and it doesn't provide answers. Why would this man, who had this beautiful family, and who showed no signs of depression, do this? The film isn't about unraveling a mystery but coming to terms with your grief. How little things will bring back the memories and tear away the scar tissue, returning you to square one... with heart aching and mind swimming with maddening questions.

In total, Maborosi is unhurried, painful, yet life-affirming. And one of Kore-eda's very best.

Photo courtesy of DVD Beaver, who consider the film essential viewing.

Best Actor: Morgan Freeman, Se7en
Honorable Mentions:
Ian McKellen, Richard III * Nicolas Cage, Leaving Las Vegas * Kevin Spacey, The Usual Suspects * Vincent Cassel, La Haine * Ethan Hawke, Before Sunrise * Joe Pesci & Robert De Niro, Casino * Kōji Yakusho, Kamikaze Taxi * Richard Harris & James Earl Jones, Cry, the Beloved Country * Stellan Skarsgård, Zero Kelvin

Best Actress: Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas
Honorable Mentions: 

Julianne Moore, Safe * Marisa Paredes, The Flower of My Secret * Nicole Kidman, To Die For * Kate Winslet & Emma Thompson, Sense and Sensibility * Parker Posey, Party Girl & Kicking and Screaming * Angela Bassett, Strange Days * Sandrine Bonnaire, Isabelle Huppert, La Cérémonie * Meryl Streep, The Bridges of Madison County

Supporting Actress: Chus Lampreave, The Flower of My Secret

Supporting Actor: Kevin Spacey, Se7en 

Also liked Don Cheadle, Devil in a Blue Dress







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