Year of the biopic
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This year's Oscar nominations reveal a marked preference for fact over fiction: The top acting categories are dominated by true-life biographical portrayals.
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IT WAS that classic `western' film, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, where a newspaper editor tells James Stewart, that he will still stick with the epic-sized myth about him rather than reveal the less flattering facts. "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend," he says. This has remained a sturdy principle down Hollywood way, where fiction and fact are often interchangeable and where script writers feel there is no life so boring that it cannot be made into riveting cinema, with a little fictional masala to season it.
Best picture
That may explain why three of the five contenders for the Best Picture Oscar and seven of the top acting nominations are firmly rooted in the genre of biographical cinema or biopic. The most-nominated film with 11 shots at an Oscar is The Aviator, based on the life — during the 1930s and 40s — of the reclusive millionaire, industrialist, newspaper magnate and moviemaker, Howard Hughes. In addition for nominations as Best Picture and for director Martin Scorsese, three of the film's stars are also on the acting shortlists: Leonardo DiCaprio who plays Hughes is up for a Best Actor Oscar; while Alan Alda (of MASH fame) who plays the wily senator Ralph Brewster and Cate Blanchett who plays the legendary actress and sometime Hughes paramour, Katherine Hepburn, are in contention as supporting stars.
Another Best Picture contender Ray, tells the story of the blind soul music pianist Ray Charles, and many think Jamie Foxx has got the Best Actor statuette sewn up for his title performance.
Another haunting true story is set in Rwanda, Africa, during a tribal genocide in 1994 that left a million dead. Don Cheadle plays Paul Rusesabagina, the manager of Hotel Rwanda who sheltered and saved hundreds of refugees and has been likened to a latter day Schindler. He is nominated for Best Actor; while Sophie Okonedo who plays his wife Tatiana, vies for Best Supporting Actress.
An unlikely subject for a biopic is Finding Neverland, the life of Peter Pan author J. M. Barrie. Johnny Depp hopes to get a Best Actor award for portraying the Irish writer.
The last of this year's crop of fact-based biographical films is Kinsey — the life of the famous sexologist. While Liam Neeson who plays Alfred Kinsey is ignored, Laura Linney who plays his wife is nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
Best director
Since the nominations were announced earlier this week, the betting is that Scorsese may have to contend with Clint Eastwood for a directing Oscar.
The former `spaghetti western' star-turned film maker, has a strong contender in his elegiac female boxing story Million Dollar Baby, whose lead star Hilary Swank has an Acting Oscar chance of her own. The film ties with Finding Neverland with seven nominations.
Will it be Leonardo DiCaprio for The Aviator?
The films shunned for major Oscar categories this year were no less surprising: The Passion of The Christ is shortlisted for cinematography, music and makeup, but Mel Gibson drew a personal blank.
And in a year of true life dominating, the most hyped piece of reality, cinema has been roundly rejected: Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 didn't make it. Maybe they thought it was too bizarre to be true.
The Oscars will be announced, starting at 6.30 a.m. (IST) on February 28.
ANAND PARTHASARATHY
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