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Oscar worth weight in gold

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Also by Alex Garens:

'Patapon' marches to praise (March 3, 2008)
Oscar worth weight in gold (February 25, 2008)
'Doctor' aids healthy expression (February 18, 2008)
'Scoop' on Woody's comedic career (February 11, 2008)
Long live the Virgin Queen, in history and DVD (February 4, 2008)

by Alex Garens

Monday, February 25, 2008

With the Academy Awards airing last night, I cannot ignore my growing disenchantment with the Academy. Perhaps the show has always been disappointing, but only in recent years have I begun to notice how much that disappointment also intrigues me. This week, my intention was to review two of the films with the highest nomination count but zero wins, “The Remains of the Day” and “The Color Purple,” as a comment of the award ceremony’s dying credibility. Tragically, however, the latter DVD was cracked while en route from Netflix. But let us persist.

“The Remains of the Day”

4 stars out of 5

A 1993 release, adapted from the novel of the same title by Kazuo Ishiguro, “The Remains of the Day” is a quiet, contemplative film, peculiarly centered around the butler (Anthony Hopkins, “Beowulf”) of an esteemed British politician (James Fox, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) who corresponds with the former housekeeper of the estate, Ms. Kenton (Emma Thompson, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”). Their letters evoke nostalgia in both, prompting lengthy flashbacks to when Ms. Kenton first came to the manor and the complicated relationship that ensued between them. The film largely attempts to portray the enigmatic and extremely emotionally stifled butler, Mr. Stevens, and to examine his odd, almost nonhuman thought process.

Like Ishiguro’s other works, the story moves sluggishly, progressively building a sense of uneasiness that “something’s not right.” Some may find this style boring, but with commanding leads it becomes hard to lose interest. Even if the plot itself is mundane, it is the very human nuances fleshed out in the characters that are so captivating. Furthermore, director James Ivory (“The White Countess”) creates a beautiful, yet detached universe in the manor grounds, in which he explores the dangers of acknowledging, and not acknowledging, one’s emotions. A story such as this, that is entirely dependent on the abilities of the players, could not have been better cast — Hopkins becomes an inward and stoic man, with only the subtlest twinge of inner conflict, while Thompson shines as an all-too-human woman, tormented by her inability to ignore her heart.

Although it made only a quiet splash at the box office, “The Remains of the Day” was nominated for an impressive eight Academy Awards, including best picture, best director, best score, best adapted screenplay and Hopkins and Thompson for best leads. The film also got nods for costume and art design. Sadly enough, despite being the film with the second-most nominations, it lost out to the strong competition of “Schindler’s List” and “The Piano” in nearly all its categories.

I’m not claiming that “Remains” is better than either of those, and in fact, I haven’t seen “The Piano” in many years, but it is a shame to not win a single category, isn’t it? One can’t help wonder if box office popularity played a role, or if there is an aversion to awarding the same person the same award nearly consecutively (Thompson won best actress the year before, and Hopkins won best actor two years before). Even glummer, “The Color Purple” received an impressive 11 nominations but not a single golden statue back in 1985.

Contrarily, and more recently, the Academy also tends to not even nominate wonderful films and actors. For example, the widely praised performance of Angelina Jolie in “A Mighty Heart” was completely overlooked. I don’t doubt it had to do with her stigma as an action-movie actress and the relative low hype of the film compared to, let’s say, “Juno.” Similarly, widely praised Japanese anime film “Paprika” was snubbed in the category of animated feature in favor of more senseless talking animals in “Happy Feet.”

Not only does the best film not always win, but also it’s not always even nominated. The Academy is furthering disappointment in its relative negligence to the comedy and horror genres. Though I’d probably die if I ever saw Jack Black or Rob Zombie nominated, it’s sad to think how few films of those genres have been praised — I can only think of “Annie Hall” and “The Silence of the Lambs.”

Are the Academy Awards really anything more than a popularity contest wrapped in an elegant gown? Are the members, primarily actors, really objective critics, or does bias tarnish their vote? I joke about how the Golden Globes “mean nothing,” but I’m starting to think an Oscar means little more than tradition. Honestly, this year, I’m watching the event just to see John Stewart.

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