THE OSCARS
Guessing game
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It's that time of the year again for us to speculate about who will get it and who won't. GAUTAMAN BHASKARAN on the probables this time around...
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Tom Cruise in "The Last Samurai".
DENY it, if you like, but we humans love familiarity. We like to cuddle up in an accustomed environment, we tend to gravitate towards faces we can identify ourselves with. We crave for the food we are used to. We frequent places we have often been to.
The Oscars, cinema's most renowned awards, are no different. And, the presentation coming up on February 29 may well feature a parade of faces seen at the earlier Oscars. This time, at the 76th Academy Awards, we can well be watching Albert Finney, Sean Penn, Peter Weir and Tom Cruise.
Nothing, though, strange about this familiarity.
Paul Newman had to return home disappointed six times, before he was charmed with an Oscar the seventh time. The Academy nominated him six times, and every time he sat along with the other four hopefuls, the voting members perhaps had a strange sense of satisfaction in seeing a known face among the teeming number of celebrities.
Elizabeth Taylor died, or nearly did, before the Oscar fell at her feet. By then, she had launched a thousand ships, broken a million hearts, and walked up the altar and out of the court several times. She won for "Butterfield 8"; yes, this was a great performance, but she had done more challenging roles. These were overlooked.
James Cagney was a screen toughie, but the poor guy had to dance and sing for the Academy members to take note of him.
There, however, were some legends who were never honoured. At least, the way they should have been. Alfred Hitchcock, Peter O'Toole, Cary Grant and Steve McQueen never won a competitive Oscar. O'Toole was very reluctant when he was asked to accept a Lifetime Achievement Oscar last year.
Richard Burton got the nod seven times, but was never able to clinch a statuette, though he was considered number one on several occasions.
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Sean Penn and Marcia Gay Harden in "Mystic River",
Favourite Fred Astaire ("Towering Inferno") lost to Robert De Niro ("Godfather, Part II"). Everybody thought Lauren Bacall ("The Mirror Has Two Faces") would win, but Juliette Binoche ("The English Patient") stole the honour.
India's Satyajit Ray, undoubtedly a master of the medium, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Oscar on his deathbed. Till then, his excellent work went unsung in Hollywood, a place that Ray said had taught him the craft of cinema. He was never tired of repeating that his first lessons in film came from the Hollywood movies he watched mostly during his stint as an advertising copywriter in London.
This time, there are some past masters who have been nominated before. Australia's Peter Weir, who has currently helmed "Master and Commander" (a drama with a touch of the epic), may get the nod this season. In the past, he had been on the shortlist of five: "Witness" in 1985, "Dead Poets' Society" in 1989 and "The Truman Show" in 1998.
Sean Penn hoped that he would walk away with the trophy when he played outstanding parts in "Dead Man Walking", "I Am Sam" and "Sweet and Lowdown". But his dream ended with just the nods. He grew bitterly critical. However, he may, in February, prove to be the hero: he has done a wonderful job in Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River". Playing a reformed convict, Penn superbly blends sorrow and cruelty to make an unforgettable mark.
Albert Finney, as one journal wrote, should have had a shelf full of Oscars. Instead, he has been left behind with five noms, most notably, one for "Erin Brockovich" in 2000. His latest, "Big Fish" has a buzz about it. But Finney never campaigns, a minus point in the highly personalised setup of Hollywood.
On the other hand, Tom Cruise, some feel, is too well known for the Academy to put him on the pedestal. Nominated three times before — "Born on the Fourth of July", "Jerry Maguire" and "Magnolia" — Cruise's "The Last Samurai" this year has the right appeal to catch the Academy's eye. Will it?
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