The Academy Awards Ceremony has finally ended with a twist
yesterday. I do not even dare to speculate what the hell is going on with the
Best Picture fiasco. This incident will become a milestone in Oscar history,
and if it is meant to be a joke or a deliberate prank of some kind, it has
certainly embarrassed a number of innocent, credible and talented workers in
the film industry. To be honest, if you are Warren Beatty, would you rather be
remembered as the partner-in-crime with Faye Dunaway 50 years ago, or your
funny facial expression when you saw 'Emma Stone' written on the Best Picture
announcement card?
Anyway, as I have done in the past few years, I would love
to say a few words about Oscar, as a tribute to a number of excellent films in
2016. Upon a survey of the nominations, it is interesting to note that most of
the films seem to fall into two consistent themes.
The first is about the struggle of a minority or marginalized
figure in an unsympathetic world, or in a similar manner, about individuals
chasing dreams in a world that few fulfillments have been offered. These
stories chronicle their striving, struggle and fight towards a world that can
be unlikely to fulfill their dreams. The protagonists can be underdogs, loners,
criminals, a divorced husband, a terrible singer, or individuals subject to
discrimination. Films like Moonlight, Manchester By The Sea, Hacksaw Ridge,
Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, Florence Foster Jenkins, even Zootopia, are
all addressing these themes. La La Land is also about chasing dreams, and it is
great to see it does not offer a Hollywood
ending. The film is to inspire us about the fact that, there often has to be
some form of sacrifice if we want to succeed. The film is a positive note that
can make the audience regaining the notion of hope, and that is why it is a
very popular film. The director's past work, Whiplash, is of course another
wonderful film. In all the above films, the protagonist is often alone and
alienated by the situation they are in. They often hold beliefs that are
contrary to the popular mindset, and their struggles, their will to change the
assumptions established by the popular, were often painful. Because the others,
who were feeling great and unperturbed in the comfort zone, did not have the courage
to go one step further. Maybe the film industry is offering a strong message to
the current politics of the United
States , and the filmmakers are trying
tremendously hard to offer some form of hope in a less than satisfying current
world. And, it is obvious that the winners this year are just reinforcing this
important message. Whether Moonlight or La La Land should have won, I suppose
it is still expressing an optimistic outlook.
The second theme, which I think is somewhat related to the
first theme, is the search for one's past or origin. Films like Fences, Lion,
Elle, Nocturnal Animals, have touched on this theme, while the latter two have
taken on a more thrilling tone. The searching for the mysterious past is often
instrumental for making sense of the characters' current situations, and even
more, a better understanding of themselves, which will prove important for
facing the future obstacles in their lives. True, some optimists may insist not
to look back at the miserable past, yet can we just obliviously detach
ourselves from the chain of cause-and-effect known as history? If we are
willing to solve the puzzle within reason, I suppose some insights will still
be gained from these odysseys into the past. We surely can learn something from
history.
I would like to say more about a film which was nominated in
2 categories, 'Passengers'. I am quite impressed that the film has attempted to
be Kubrickian, through the bartender reference in 'The Shining' and its general
resemblance to '2001: A Space Odyssey'. Sadly, while I think the idea behind
the film is an interesting one, it is a flawed film. (spoilers!) It is quite
creative that the trailer has misled a lot of possible audiences, suggesting
that the two protagonists are waking up simultaneously, so they met on the
space ship by a rather unfortunate accident - when you have to sleep like another
90 years before reaching the destination. Yet, it is not the case in the film ,
as it presents a moral or even existential dilemma - the young man woke up first,
and he was so isolated, and out of existential anguish and ennui, that he had
to cross the moral boundary and deliberately woke up JLaw's character. I have
to say that this is a very good plot because now the story takes a totally
different dimension, and it will provoke the audience to think about the moral
implications behind the whole situation. Does a person's existential well-being
outweigh another's potential freedom? Can Chris' character justify that his
action, out of loneliness and a potential destruction of himself (e.g. a
descent into madness due to intense isolation), outweigh the right of JLaw's character as a human being? (I have the feeling that 'The Shining' tribute has something to do
with the motif of 'madness' and 'isolation' here, but that is just my crazy
idea.) Unfortunately, I guess the film is more focused on the entertainment
aspect, and have undermined the fascinating aspect offered by such an ethical
dilemma. If the filmmaker has really worked on this, it will be a far better and memorable film. Anyway, this film is still worth a watch.
One final note is a congratulation to the sound re-recording
mixer Kevin O’Connell, who finally won his first Oscar after 20 times of
nominations since the 1980s. He has done a lot of impressive work on the sound
mixing of a number of great films – Top Gun, Crimson Tide, Spider-Man, a number
of Bay-hems, etc. He has every good reason to feel pissed off after being shut
out for 20 times – yet he continues to deliver great work. The message is
simple – just don’t give up, and fight for what you believe in!
That's it for cinema in 2016. It will be a great year for 2017
- with films like 'Alien: Covenant', 'Blade Runner 2049' and 'Dunkirk ', it is going to a really exciting
year!
by Ed Law
28/2/2017
Film Analysis
