HOLLYWOOD—There are some great competitors vying for the Best Director prize at this year’s Academy Awards. The nominees for 2013 include Alfonso Cuaron “Gravity,” Steve McQueen “12 Years a Slave,” Alexander Payne “Nebraska,” David O. Russell “American Hustle” and Martin Scorsese “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
When you look at the race, two candidates stand out amongst the race, but that doesn’t mean surprises aren’t possible. While I personally think “Nebraska” is a terrific film, Payne slipped into that final slot of a quite competitive race where his seat could have been taken by Paul Greengrass “Captain Philips” or even Spike Jonze for “Her,” so being nominated is a prize for the director.
When you hear the name Martin Scorsese, you think of one of the greatest directors of all-time. Just listing the films where the titan should have garnered an Academy Award is unfathomable. From “Taxi Driver” to “Raging Bull” to “Goodfellas” to “The Aviator.” The list goes on and on. “The Wolf of Wall Street” could be heralded as one of Scorsese’s best, but I beg to differ. While it’s a stellar film it lacks bursts of fire as seen in “Hustle,” “Slave” and “Gravity,” so because of that Scorsese is out.
David O. Russell is a director who has consistently delivered stellar filmmaking in the past four years. His 2010 picture “The Fighter” was a crowd-pleaser that I secretly rooted for the director to take the top prize at the Academy Awards. Last year he found himself back at the Oscars for his dramedy “Silver Linings Playbook” and this year he finds himself nominated once again for “American Hustle.” It’s important to note that Russell has become the first director to helm back-to-back Best Picture contenders where nominees appeared in all of the acting races.
Not only has he been responsible for Oscar-wins for Christian Bale and Melissa Leo for “The Fighter,” but he was responsible for Jennifer Lawrence’s win as Best Actress last year. He could also be responsible for Lawrence capturing a Best Supporting Actress win on Sunday or Amy Adams taking home her first Oscar after 5 nominations. So what is working against Russell? The popularity of “American Hustle” has waned a bit and this has turned into a race between Steve McQueen and Alfonso Cuaron. I’ll admit, if Cuaron wasn’t nominated, Russell would have a strong shot, he could be a dark horse if McQueen and Cuaron split the vote.
Speaking of Alfonso Cuaron, his technical and genius storytelling for the film “Gravity” has left so many people speechless. What he does behind the camera seems light years ahead of filmmaking tactics that some of us could only imagine. It’s nearly impossible to describe the genius technique, strategies and patience Cuaron exhibited during his time crafting such a phenomenal piece of work.
He has been the front-runner all season long taking home the Critics Choice Award, Golden Globe and Directors Guild of America prize for Best Director. At this point he appears to be the guy to beat and if there is one person who can do so it’s Steve McQueen. So why is McQueen, Alfonso Cuaron’s biggest threat? He’s helmed a picture of universal acclaim that has ignited discourse on a subject matter that is the darkest spot in American history: slavery.
There have been plenty of films to tackle the issue of slavery, but nothing to the point of the brutality, honesty and hatred that “12 Years a Slave” does. It’s an emotional masterpiece that like “Gravity” is impossible to describe with words. Hands down these are the two best pictures of 2013, without any argument. There are specific scenes in the movie that McQueen doesn’t shy away from ‘forcing’ the audience to see the pure intensity of a time period that only so many of us have heard about; as a director he visually puts us back into that time period as if it were happening today.
This prize is Cuaron’s to lose, but Academy members could deliver a shocking surprise to critics with a win for McQueen. They have a tough choice to choose between two very different pictures: one of technical advancement or one that exhibits a form of in your face storytelling never seen on the big screen in quite some time.
By LaDale Anderson
