Long a critics’ favorite, veteran director Martin Scorsese had six previous Oscar nominations under his belt when Oscar finally smiled on him for his rousing crowd-pleaser, The Departed, a smash hit remake of the Hong Kong hit Infernal Affairs with the location switched to Boston.
Featuring an all-star cast headed by Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg, the film was nominated for five Oscars and won four of them: Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay and Editing. Wahlberg, the only actor nominated (in support) was the only nominee who did not win.
2006 may have been a great year for Scorsese, but it was also a good one for Clint Eastwood and a trio of Mexican born directors – Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Alfonso Cuaron and Guillermo del Toro.
Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers, which hit theatres in late October was a heartfelt examination of the lives of the men who placed the flag on the hill at the end of the bloody battle of Iwo Jima in the famous photo. Letters from Iwo Jima, given a limited Oscar qualifying run two months later, told the story of the battle from the Japanese perspective. Flags, which starred Ryan Philippe, Jesse Bradford and Adam Beach, received two Oscar nominations for Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. Letters, which starred Ken Watanabe, received four nominations for Best Picture, director, Original Screenplay and Sound Editing, winning in the latter category.
Gonzalez Inarritu’s Babel, reminiscent in its approach, if not its story line, to the previous year’s Oscar winning Crash, was like that film, a multi-cultural, multi-character study. It received the most nominations of the three films in contention directed by the trio of fast-rising Mexican born star directors. Starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Gael Garcia Bernal, it was nominated for seven Oscars and won one. Its nominations were those for Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Supporting Actresses Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi and Score, for which it won.
Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth came in with one fewer nomination, but won two more Oscars in the end. The fantasy war drama seen from the perspective of a little girl lost Best Foreign Film, Original Screenplay and Score, but won Best Cinematography, Art Direction and Makeup.
Curaon’s Children of Men, from P.D. James’ beloved novel about the imminent end of the world, which starred Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Chiwetel Ejiofor, received nominations for Adapted Screenplay, cinematography and Editing.
The surprise summer hit, Little Miss Sunshine about a little girl’s dream of becoming a beauty pageant winner, parlayed its box office success into four Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Supporting Actress Abigail Breslin, Supporting Actor Alan Arkin and Original Screenplay, winning the latter two categories.
A huge hit, Stephen Frears’ The Queen, to no one’s surprise, won numerous awards including the Best Actress Oscar for Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana. The film had also been nominated for Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, costume Design and Score.
Other films Oscar liked this year included The Devil Wears Prada; Little Children; Notes on a Scandal; Volver; Blood Diamond; Half Nelson; The Pursuit of Happyness; Venus
Garnering her fourteenth nomination, two time winner Meryl Streep once again proved her versatility with her portrayaol of a ruthless magazine editor in The Devil Wears Prada but had the misfortune of going up against Mirren’s tour-de-force. Also left in the dust by Mirren’s win were Kate Winslet receiving her fifth nomination for her adulterous wife in Little Children; former winner Judi Dench receiving her sixth for her predatory lesbian schoolteacher in Notes on a Scandal and future winner Penelope Cruz receiving her first for her middle-aged mother role in Volver.
In the Best Actor race, Leonardo DiCaprio, considered a front-runner for Oscar’s eventual Best Picture winner, The Departed was surprisingly nominated instead for his white South African in Blood Diamond. Ryan Gosling proved his star power as a dedicated teacher in Half Nelson while Will Smith enhanced his star power with his struggling father in The Pursuit of Happyness. Peter O’Toole, sight unseen, was an early sentimental favorite for his crotchety old codger in Venus, but once seen it was apparent that he faced an uphill battle to win on his eighth nomination. Forest Whitaker, on the cusp of a nomination for years for his many sensitive performances, proved his versatility with his uncompromising portrayal of brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland and so dominated Oscar’s precursors that by Oscar night was all but guaranteed a win.
Noted German actor Ulrich Muhe’s acclaimed performance as the secret policeman in The Lives of Others may have been left off the list of nominated actors, but the film itself won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film despite the high profile competition of Pan’s Labyrinth. Muhe’s performance was all the more remarkable considering that in real life the late actor was the victim of state spying in East Germany during the Communist years.
The year’s Best Director nominees, as noted, lined up with the Best Picture nominees except for Little Miss Sunshine’s directing duo of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. They were replaced by United 93’s Paul Greengrass. The film about the plane brought down by its passengers to prevent an even greater catastrophe on 9/11 was also nominated for Best Editing. Although the film had many supporters, others felt the material was better handled by the Emmy winning TV movie, Flight 93 seen earlier in the year. In fact, the original title of the theatrical film was Flight 93 which was changed prior to its release to avoid confusion.
Films competing in the supporting acting categories have all been discussed with one exception. As noted, Little Miss Sunshine’s Alan Arkin won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of the title character’s foul-mouthed, but loving, grandfather. It had been his first nomination since 1968. His competition includedBlood Diamond’s Djimon Hounsou as a courageous fisherman; Little Children’s former child star Jackie Earle Haley as a convicted child molester and the previously mentioned The Departed’s Mark Wahlberg as a courageous cop. Joining them was veteran star Eddie Murphy as a washed-up singer in Dreamgirls.
I’ve already mentioned three of the Best Supporting Actress contenders, Little Miss Sunshine’s child beauty contestant, Abigail Brslin and Babel’s confused baby-sitter Adriana Barraza and emotionally scarred teenager, Rinko Kikuchi. Also in the race was former winner Cate Blanchett as a married teacher conducting a clandestine affair with a student in Notes on a Scandal.
The winner of the category was Jennifer Hudson as the cast aside singer in Dreamgirls. Hudson, making a spectacular acting debut brought down the house with two songs, “And I Tell You I’m Not Going” and “I Am Changing”. Previously best known for her runner-up status on TV’s American Idol, Hudson’s subsequent acting career has been disappointing, but there was no denying her star power in this role.
The film itself, considered a major Best Picture and Director contender for Bill Condon, shocked many awards watchers by being left out of those categories despite having been a front-runner for the Broadcast Critics Award and having won the Golden Globe for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy. It was, however, nominated for eight Oscars overall, more than any other film this year. Its nominations included those for Best Art Direction; Costume Design and three songs. It also won for Best Sound Mixing.
All films discussed have been released on DVD in the U.S.
This week’s new DVD releases include the mammoth 10 disc 56 feature Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection and the Blu-ray debut of the Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy.
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