OSCARS 2018 Film Review by Marianna Bukowski

I remember staying up late as a child to watch the Oscars on TV. The Academy Awards, then, felt like a truly unmissable event, where the very best films were going to be revealed… Perhaps in childhood things also felt more absolute. Nowadays, aside from marketing value, I feel many competitions in creative fields are somewhat redundant.  Of course, sometimes a film captures everyone’s imagination and stands out as a clear winner but often, films are so different from one another that it seems odd to be forced to choose between them, when they all hold different merits. I feel this year’s Oscars are a bit like that – for me, there is not one clear winner standing tall above the rest, and perhaps that is better, as it allows the spotlight to show many different films in their own light…

For Best Motion Picture, there are two films – both very beautiful and delicate love stories – that resonate surprisingly strongly and really stayed with me.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread with Daniel Day-Lewis is intriguing. Their previous collaboration ‘There Will Be Blood’ (2007) is one of my favourite films and I found their new film together fascinating. At each turn, just when you think: This is what this film is about – it changes into something else… It is a really unusual story.  The music by Jonny Greenwood nominated for Best Original Score is beautiful.

The other film is Call Me by Your Name. A wonderful coming-of-age story – with an outstanding performance by Timothée Chalamet filled with youthful vulnerability and ferocity in equal measure. I have not read the book on which the film is based, but I think it should win Best Adapted Screenplay. The difficulties in adapting books to films are numerous. One mistake often made is to “lift” long parts of written text from the book – and deliver it in the form of voice-over monologues retelling the story over moving images. This makes it neither a good film nor a good book. A film needs to have its own cinematic language – and James Ivory’s adaptation succeeds brilliantly in this, as it stands as a film in its own right. I also hope it wins Best Original Song.

In two films this year, ships sail towards 1940’s Dunkirk for the biggest military evacuation in history – Operation Dynamo. There is a temptation to critique historical inaccuracies in films but I think that often misunderstands the medium of film. That said, I did find some of the scenes in both films overly contrived. However, the Cinematography is absolutely stunning in both. In Nolan’s Dunkirk, the Spitfire shots in particular are truly breath-taking and I would argue that there are very few sounds more beautiful than the roar of Spitfire engines! Tom Hardy’s performance also stood out, despite sitting masked in a cockpit for most of the film. In Darkest Hour, Gary Oldman is really convincing, in all his mannerisms, as Winston Churchill.

So, should the Oscar for Best Leading Actor go to the young, truly gifted newcomer Timothée Chalamet or to Gary Oldman, who after a lifetime of work, delivers yet another career defining role? How do you choose between them?

I also thought Kristin Scott Thomas was brilliant as Clemmie, and her wardrobe was true perfection. I hope Darkest Hour will win Best Costume Design as well as Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

Meryl Streep was, as always, excellent in The Post. However, my favourite film this year is I, Tonya. It’s a comedy and tragedy at the same time – both funny and heart breaking. It is a biopic and a satire about class, family, ambition, fame and American society. My Oscar for Best Leading Actress goes to Margot Robbie, for her incredible performance as disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding; to Allison Janney, who plays Tonya’s mother, I would award Best Actress in a Supporting Role. I think all the actors in this film were great. I also really hope it wins the Oscar for Best Achievement in Film Editing. Had it been nominated in more categories, it certainly would have been my choice. I loved everything about this film.

For Best Supporting Actor, I would choose Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. His character is the most unsympathetic and horrible – yet pivotal to all the turning points in the story and it would not have worked without him. The storytelling was great and the ending most surprising! I think the film should get the award for Best Original Screenplay. 

Whilst ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ (2006) remains my favourite, director Guillermo del Toro’s latest film The Shape of Water, also beautifully creates its own dreamlike world. The other contender for Best Achievement in Production Design is Blade Runner 2049. The original Blade Runner (1982) is a true classic, so the sequel was always going to come up against tough scrutiny. My thoughts on 2049 are divided, as I liked the first part of the film, but not the second. However, throughout the film, its production design and visual effects were beautifully imaginative and also still true to its iconic predecessor. For Best Achievement in Visual Effects I would also consider War for the Planet of the Apes. Under their big action exterior, I find the ‘Planet of the Apes’ films are quite dark tales about human nature – and the films touch you because of the amazing visual effects work done to bring these characters to life.

I saw Loving Vincent at a special screening at POSK and thought it was a remarkable achievement. To make an animation film using oil paintings based on the works of Vincent van Gogh is really an extraordinary undertaking. Hopefully it will bring home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

Zvyagintsev’s film, ‘Leviathan’ (2014) is a true masterpiece, and I also remember seeing his first film ‘The Return’ (2003). I have not seen Loveless yet, but I think it will be an interesting film. Another contender for Best Foreign Film is a Swedish satire: The Square. It’s a clever take on Swedish society that makes for deliberately uncomfortable but interesting viewing.  However, I did feel the film lost momentum towards the end.

If there is one nominated film that I would like everybody to see, it is Icarus. I hope it wins Best Documentary Feature as it is a very brave film. It starts out as a personal doping experiment and then, as world events change in the course of making the film, it turns into a frightening exposé of state sponsored doping at Sochi 2014 and at the very heart of the Olympic Games. I don’t think it is possible to ever see the Olympics in the same light as before, after seeing this film.

I hope Best Director will go to Greta Gerwig or Jordan Peele. Their respective films, Lady Bird and Get Out, may perhaps not be my own personal favourites, but I want to support them, as I respect the huge achievement in getting nominated against the odds. It may seem odd to make choices based on other criteria than what you consider to be the best films, but it is impossible to write a piece about Hollywood and not consider the diversity issues that need to be addressed. I also hope the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements help create a lasting change and I support the #FemaleFilmmakerFriday and #FreeTheBid initiatives. These are all matters I have been dealing with throughout my own working life. It is important that we recognize women behind the camera, not only as producers and facilitators of great work, but also as directors and leading creative visionaries.

Marianna Bukowski