About Those Oscars in 2022

Linda Winsh-Bolard

Predictions and expectations of major studios and media were partially fulfilled.

Jane Campion won Best Director
Dune won cinematography (Greig Fraser), visual effects, editing, production design and sound.
Belfast won Best Original Screenplay
The score was awarded before the ceremony even started, so no one was surprised, by Hans Zimmer' s Oscar (Dune).
West Side Story won Best Supporting Actress (Ariana DeBose)
CODA won Best Supporting Actor (Troy Kotsur)
King Richard won Best Actor (Will Smith)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye won Best Actress (Jessica Chastain)

and then the shock came:
CODA won Best Picture



Months and months of pushing for The Power of the Dog, even a feud between Jane Campion and Sam Elliot, did not win the film Best Picture.

Was it perhaps because the West is, after all, not a mythical place?

I don't really think so.

I predicted that Don't Look Up! would be nominated , as would be Belfast, Dune , West Side Story, Drive My Car. King Richard, The Eyes of Tammy Faye were possibilities, Licorice Pizza and Nightmare Alley I did not pick up.

I correctly guessed that Dune, West Side Story, Don't Look Up! and Belfast would get a snub, and so they did.

Don't Look Up! and Belfast committed the cardinal sin of being too close to reality, one sarcastically depicting today's government's internal dealings, the other the historic dealings of a close government. 

The corporate media is not fond of that. Politicians are neither.

Dune's sin is destruction and despair.

West Side Story is a remake, it is also a Spielberg film. It never had a chance. The Academy does not reward musicals remakes; it is far too lofty for that.

CODAstrong> won, something I did not expect, because it is the opposite- it is this "heartwarming", if you do not mind killing fish for commercial purposes, story of small people, with an additional handicap of a disability, winning over their predicament and even over hostile government workers.

A dream made for corporate media.

The unsubtle message being: if only you were good enough, you'd make it too!

It leaves out how minuscule the chance is and how many accidental and incidental circumstances must merge for even a chance of it happening. It does push the message: Do not be afraid! rather too often.

It is a nicely made, largely predictable film, with some very good acting; Marlene Matlin is the mom, and she is wonderful; Troy Kotsur is the dad, and he got an Oscar for the part; some beautiful scenery; and nothing new. 

It could have been told by any medium. The film craft only comes into it when it shows, truly nicely and humanely, just how boring certain activities of hearing people are for the deaf ones. But that was done, equally well, in The Children of the Lesser God, and Marlene Matlin got an Oscar for her performance in it.

The best film should be the one using the tools only film has to tell the story in the best possible way using this unique medium. 

By that measure, Belfast should have won. Kenneth Branagh created purely filmic moments that delivered the story and the feeling of what was happening at a particular moment in that story remarkably.

A little boy standing in his ordinary street , when his world collapses around him, is such a moment. At that moment, when everything you have known changes, time stands still, sound is gone, and you cannot comprehend what is happening. Only film can show this as we all have felt it at some time.Using that craft well is what the Award is for.

Belfast also has an amazing, and in my opinion, best, supporting actor: Ciarán Hinds. Hinds is the kind of actor who can play a role so well that you believe he is that person. He also has the rare gift of warm humanity that Morgan Freeman has. 

Troy Kotsur certainly made his Dad funny, annoying, loving and human. How hard it is to perform in the hearing world is nothing I can imagine. And yet, Hinds was that granddad in Belfast...

So, why did CODA beat The Power of the Dog? Because The Power of the Dog is a depressing film showing human weaknesses. It is also strangely unappealing to watch; it never really touches you, unless to annoy. All that power struggle, intimate threats and secrets were not going to make it this year.

Dame Jane Campion won, of course, by being the woman critics love. There is a great love among the critics for films where women overcome some kind of abuse; it makes one wonder why there are so few female critics.

Go and see CODA. It is an old fashioned, family-oriented (the sex is never naked) story that ends well. It is well made and will make you feel fine.

The sarcastic, bone-crushing Don't Look Up! is far scarier, but it is never boring. A lot might seem rather familiar as well.

Nothing this year beats the grand spectacle of Spielberg's Romeo and Juliet in West Side Story costumes.

Dune is all you'd expect, so if that's your cup of tea, you will not be disappointed.

To appreciate The Power of the Dog, you must love the genre. Within that genre, it is first class.

You must love movies and appreciate conflicts, brutal and ordinary, to love Belfast. 

The Eyes of Tammy Faye is a film about a corrupt preacher and his wife, who is the driving force behind his success. I cannot judge how well it was acted. I have no clue what the real Tammy Faye was like.

I can judge that the make-up was first class. Jessica Chastain plays the character through the decades, and always looks natural for the age she is playing.

Why was King Richard made, is a mystery. We know that behind all successful people are those who help, push, deal, and so on. Again, unless you know the real person-who is to tell how good the acting is?

No one can even tell if Will Smith will be known for his Oscar or for the living proof that a rich man can publicly assault someone and just walk away. He was not even escorted from the building, nor was he charged...

This was an Oscar's bow to political correctness as seen through the eyes of corporate money.

Hence, we had the oddity of watching the pictures of those who died last year , while a large dance number was performed onstage.

I'd take a moment of silence. Thank you.