OVP: Best Director (2001)
The Nominees Were...
Robert Altman, Gosford Park
David Lynch, Mulholland Drive
Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind
Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Ridley Scott, Black Hawk Down
My Thoughts: We are nearing the end of our 2001 races, and we're now getting to maybe the most maligned Oscar race of my lifetime, certainly the most-maligned Best Director race of my lifetime. The Oscars have a very specific type of brand, and also a grand history of rejecting major names in directing. Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Akira Kurosawa, & Ingmar Bergman-all icons of cinema, all nominated for Best Director...all never won it. In 2001, Oscar decided in a field of no previous winners that Ron Howard was the most overdue for a victory, and to Howard's detriment, only one of the four directors competing against him has won since, making this look like he took the statue from three legends making better films.
I wish I could stand here and say that Howard is being misrepresented or defend the guy, but I can't. Howard is capable of directing good movies, and A Beautiful Mind is a good movie, but the direction is the weakest aspect of the film. The additions of the queer narrative at the edges, the way that Connelly's character feels like just a vessel for Crowe to pass through, and the schmaltzy ending all are choices by the director to lean into the sentimental, rather than the compelling or charming aspects of Crowe's leading work. It feels like a paint-by-numbers approach from a director who had been doing job-for-hire work for nearly two decades come 2001.
While the other three have the chance still to win a competitive Oscar (and Jackson, of course, already took one for this category two years later), the ship has sailed for Robert Altman. While Gosford Park is not his best movie, it is a very strong film, and one that encapsulates what he does well. I love the way that the camera feels like a spectator, passing between rooms & catching little conversations in real time. This is a staple of Altman's style, but it also works particularly well between the upstairs/downstairs angles, where you are catching things that the wealthy crowd missed because they're the ones talking.
Mulholland Drive is not showing up again from Oscar (I'll be talking through it a bit more in the My Ballot), so I want to profess my love of it on record since this was its only nomination. I think what Lynch does here is genius, giving us the world of a young woman, desperate for fame, and what happens to that young woman when it doesn't materialize. The way that it's structured is meant to be ambiguous, but it works well. The movies are about us projecting our insecurities, our desires, our revenges...all of it onto a beautiful pixilated figure coming out of the darkness. Lynch captures that essence while also showing the dangers of living your life as if it's destined for the stars.
Ridley Scott, a year after coming within centimeters of winning this trophy outright, got something of an afterglow nomination for Black Hawk Down. I think this is good-the attack scenes are tight, and the balance with what we learn from the other actors when they aren't in action is also good. I would've liked a bit more perspective, or maybe some sort of mix on the "war is hell" trope that I didn't already see from him, particularly given it's Scott (who we know is capable of such intellectual exercises). It's a good, solidly-constructed war film, but I want more when we're talking Oscar.
Peter Jackson would win an Oscar two years later for Return of the King, but this is a friendly reminder that with the OVP, you only judge what's in front of you (and not if they'll win a different year), and with Fellowship of the Ring, you get something pretty remarkable. The preamble is perfectly done, giving us exposition without it feeling that way, and the ending works pretty well too; yes, it's not a complete film like the other four, but it does stand alone too. In the middle, we get a dozen brilliant characters introduced, a long movie that never feels like it's serving up dishes to spare, and several miraculous performances.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Globes went with Robert Altman (I didn't remember that either), besting Howard, Jackson, Lynch, Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!), and Steven Spielberg (AI: Artificial Intelligence). The DGA went to Howard against Jackson, Luhrmann, Scott, & Christopher Nolan (Memento), while BAFTA went to Jackson against Howard, Altman, Luhrmann, & Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie). Of the crew...it's gotta be Luhrmann, right? I mean, he also got in with Best Picture and his leading lady was nominated-it screams sixth place.
Directors I Would Have Nominated: Luhrmann's miss here is so bizarre not just because he hit every checkmark headed into the night, but also because he deserved to be there. Totally robbed, and should've gotten his first (and for my money, only) directing nomination for Moulin Rouge!.
Oscar's Choice: I'm guessing there was at least some movement toward Jackson, but the acolytes for Altman & Scott also deserving trophies probably took some of his support, and Howard nabbed the statue.
Oscar's Choice: I'm guessing there was at least some movement toward Jackson, but the acolytes for Altman & Scott also deserving trophies probably took some of his support, and Howard nabbed the statue.
My Choice: Jackson, for sure...this birthed an entire new chapter in cinema, he deserves credit for that. Lynch, Altman, Scott, and then Howard follow.
Those were my thoughts-how about yours? Do you want to join me over in the Shire, or do I dare to ask if Ron Howard has his supporters? We know Altman's time has passed, but will Lynch or Scott get their trophy (or at least an Honorary) before their time is up? And why did Baz get skipped here? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Also in 2001: Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Original Screenplay, Foreign Language Film, Animated Feature Film, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Score, Original Song, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup, Previously in 2001
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