OVP: Best Film Editing (2020)
The Nominees Were...
Yorgos Lamprinos, The Father
Chloe Zhao, Nomadland
Frederic Thoraval, Promising Young Woman
Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, Sound of Metal
Alan Baumgarten, The Trial of the Chicago 7
My Thoughts: After two categories that generally got a little bit more creative with their nominations, we are now settling into Best Editing, not only the category that has exclusively Best Picture nominees, but one could make a sincere argument are the five films that, save for Sound of Metal, would've been the Top 5 in a non-expanded field at the Oscars. We're going to see this a lot in the coming weeks that while 2020 wasn't as annoyingly uniform as 2019, it was decidedly less adventurous than it should've been, with the same names being pronounced over-and-over-and over...but when this happens, the question always becomes-is it a case where Oscar was boring, or just had good taste? In this case, a bit of both.
After all, you'd be hard-pressed to find a classier, more ingenious use of film editing than The Father, one of 2020's finest movies and easily one of the visually cleverest. For virtually the entire film we're stuck in the same lush apartment, one whose owner we can't initially (or eventually) identify. The Father is tricky. It needs you to feel like you've fallen into the mind of our protagonist Anthony, whose grasp on reality is slowly leaving him behind. The sense of anguish as the movie seamlessly moves around furniture, time spans, & even the actors playing each character is riveting, and totally on Lamprinos, giving us no reprieve from this world that feels like it's collapsing onto itself.
Nomadland has to accomplish something similar in the way it approaches its subject. Again, we have a movie with a limited cast, but one that needs to therefore give a sense of the expanse every corner of the movie is feeling. Nomadland is a challenging because it gives us a look into Fern's endless world free-of-judgment, but not necessarily free of perspective. We have to understand the beauty of this lifestyle, as well as its limitations. The editing does that well, giving us a smooth, quiet journey, where lasting connections happen in an instant, and might disappear forever outside of one's heart. I love the way the editors get us into Fern's world, both understanding why this life speaks to her as well as understanding the vast grief that no amount of road will totally remove from her life.
While The Father may have the best practical use of editing, Sound of Metal has the showiest editing, which is probably why it won. Though the sound work is the most critical to the film's success (the ebbing in-and-out of lead character Ruben's ability to hear), that goes hand-in-hand with the editing. The problem (for me) was that this feels more like a mixing trick in the actual film, and the editing in other scenes don't underscore the overall story, which I had problems with as I felt the filmmakers (which include the writers, editors, & lead actor) didn't have enough sympathy for what it was like specifically for a musician to lose their hearing in such a way...the story feels too disjointed in its second half for my taste. Still, I get why Oscar went here.
Promising Young Woman is also a showy kind of nominee, something I don't generally go for. There are scenes, like when we see screenshots in the very end of the movie of a cell phone that feel just a tad bit too overdone or wink-y. But that's really my only complaint. Each one of Cassie's encounters with men is perfectly edited, showing a different scenario but also giving us more dimension into her character with each scene, until her ultimate showdown with Al Monroe. Thrillers (and as potentially dismissive of the film's larger politics it is to categorize this film as a thriller, that's the easiest place to go) need tight editing to maintain suspense & not have the audience guess where things are going, and that's the case for PYW.
Our final nominee is also a "showy" kind of editing, maintaining a large cast & telling stories out-of-sequence as we recall the past. This isn't necessarily a problem-Aaron Sorkin's plotting generally works better without a central character for him to deify. The problem is, and this is largely on the writing but the editors must also share blame: the characters all sound the same. Sorkin is unable to differentiate between the figures onscreen, making them all sound like versions of the same person, trying to get out expositional dialogue to keep the audience in a very specific headspace. Not being able to tell the story without underlining is a job the writer does with the editor, and (in the exact opposite direction of The Father), calling attention makes it less effective.
Other Precursor Contenders: The ACE Eddie Awards split their categories between Drama and Comedy. Drama went with Chicago 7 as its winner atop Mank, Minari, Nomadland, & Sound of Metal while Comedy picked Palm Springs against Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, I Care a Lot, On the Rocks, & Promising Young Woman. BAFTA picked Sound of Metal for Best Editing, and actually duplicated verbatim the entire Oscar lineup. In terms of sixth place, I am going to assume it was Mank, just because I think Mank is that rare film that got a ton of nominations (ten), but probably was on the cusp of at least a few more (Original Screenplay, Editing, & Visual Effects were just within reach, and could've gotten it close to the record). If you wanted to make a case for Judas and the Black Messiah, though, which broke strong in the weeks immediately before the Oscars, I'd hear you out.
Films I Would Have Nominated: You know that comment I made above about thrillers? It's also true when the thrillers aren't in English. One of several places that the genius Quo Vadis, Aida? which handles great shots of crowds trying desperately to stay alive gets its strength is from the cutting room, making sure that you feel the omnipresence of the clock haunting one woman's worst day.
Oscar's Choice: Sound of Metal got dual wins for Sound & Editing, and in retrospect I can't quite tell if it was Nomadland or Chicago 7 that was in the place position.
My Choice: I'm going to go with The Father, which is in its own class when it comes to the editing category (it might be the best use of editing in the past five years), with Nomadland and Promising Young Woman getting silver & bronze respectively (and respectfully-both would've made excellent winners). Behind these three are Sound of Metal and Chicago 7 way in the back.
Those are my thoughts-what are yours? Are you onboard with The Father or do you want to stay with Oscar over in Sound of Metal territory? Do you think presumed frontrunner Chicago 7 was closer or was it eventual Best Picture winner Nomadland? And just how close were we to Mank getting 13+ nominations? Share your thoughts below!
No comments:
Post a Comment