Best Pictures #58: 2019 (92nd) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: 1917

by A.J.

Best Pictures #58
 2019 (92^nd) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

1917

“Come back to us.”

There are not many films about World War I. The most well-known ones are anti-war dramas: All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Grand Illusion (1938), Paths of Glory (1957), Gallipoli (1981). On the surface 1917 is a well-done, thrilling action-war movie. It is also such an immersive and intense experience that without making any overt political statement it is firmly an antiwar film. It may be a good, thrilling movie but it is never exciting in the way an adventure movie is exciting. Even in the quiet moments 1917 makes you want to be as far away from this war as possible and hope another one like it never happens.

The plot is simple and very straightforward. Two young British soldiers are selected to deliver a message to a distant regiment calling off an attack the next morning. If the attack goes forward 1,600 soldiers, including the brother of one of the messengers, will charge into a trap. The encounters Corporals Blake and Schofield (Dean-Charles Chapman and Georgy MacKay) have as they make their journey across enemy territory are what you might expect from a story about soldiers on a mission: attacks from the enemy, crossing paths with another group of soldiers, finding shelter that is actually dangerous, even stumbling across a villager trying to care for a child. 1917 isn’t a total onslaught to the senses for two hours though. There are respites here and there that allow us to get to know Blake and Schofield. There are some surprising cameos by well-known British actors along the way too (or unsurprising if you’ve seen the trailer or the cast list on IMDb). Fortunately, none of these cameos take you out of the movie (Andrew Scott and Mark Strong could slip comfortably into just about any movie).

Director Sam Mendes employs long takes and expert, precise cinematography by Roger Deakins and stealthy editing by Lee Smith to make the film look and feel as though it exists in one long unbroken shot. This gimmick works well for the movie when it is not distracting. In its successful moments the one-shot effect is largely responsible for the film’s frantic, immersive effect. The climatic sequence of Schofield running like mad across the top of a trench as a battle begins to find the colonel to call off the attack makes excellent use of the one shot effect; it had me gripping the armrests of my seat. Also, the nighttime sequence in a bombed-out village where flairs illuminate the night with a bright, eerie white light and a fire rages in the distance is surreal and terrifying. Other scenes, however, like when a group of soldiers (and the camera) climb into the back of a truck, then get out to push the truck, then climb back in again feel like they are straining to keep the shot unbroken. Though I think there’s nothing in 1917 that couldn’t have been achieved with conventional editing, I understand why Mendes chose to present his film as a single unbroken shot. It puts us right there with the two soldiers and we are as unsure as they are of what will happen next.      

There are two consequences of using the one-shot/single-take gimmick in a war film. 1) Whether intentional or not, the one-shot effect, which keeps the camera right behind, or in front of, or over the shoulder of the characters, along with the nature of the story makes the film feel like a video game at certain times. This is not really a fault against the film. It is more likely due to video games being influenced by movies and then filtering back into the culture, but the comparison comes to mind nonetheless. 2) I think all of the focus and talk surrounding the one-shot effect actually diverts attention away from the harrowing experience of the characters in the film. 1917 has already won several awards and praise as a technical achievement (which it certainly is). I just hope people can get past the film’s style to fully appreciate and experience the events on screen.

1917 only tangentially touches on the larger scale of the war. One character makes a background comment on the unimpressive patch of land they’ve been fighting the Germans over for years. Mendes chose not to focus on the politics of the war but instead tell the story of the enlisted men that fought in the trenches and in open fields. This movie is based in part on the experiences of Lance Corporal Alfred Mendes, Sam Mendes’s grandfather, to whom the film is dedicated. Mends co-wrote the screenplay, his only writing credit. For all the unrelenting action in 1917, the final shot makes this an emotional and affecting movie.

Nominees: Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Jayne-Ann Tenggren, Callum McDougall

Director: Sam Mendes

Screenplay: Sam Mendes, Krysty Wilson-Cairns

Cast: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman

Production Companies: DreamWorks Pictures, Reliance Entertainment, New Republic Pictures, Mogambo, Neal Street Productions, Amblin Partners

Distributor: Universal Pictures

Release Date: December 25^th, 2019

Total Nominations: 10, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Director-Sam Mendes; Original Screenplay- Sam Mendes, Krysty Wilson-Cairns; Cinematography-Roger Deakins; Makeup and Hairstyling-Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis, Rebecca Cole; Production Design-Dennis Gassner, Lee Sandales; Original Score-Thomas Newman; Visual Effects-Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler, Dominic Tuohy; Sound Mixing-Mark Taylor, Stuart Wilson; Sound Editing-Oliver Tarney, Rachael Tate

Best Pictures #38: 2016 (89th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee, Hacksaw Ridge

by A.J.

Best Pictures #38: 2016 (89^th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Hacksaw Ridge

Hacksaw Ridge is a good film, but too uneven to be a great film. There is noticeable talent at work both in front of and behind the camera. It has received a total of six Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Director (Mel Gibson), Actor (Andrew Garfield), Editing, Sound Mixing, and Sound Editing. Noticeably, and rightfully, not among those nominations is the screenplay by Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan, which is by far the clunkiest element in an otherwise well-made, well-acted war film.

It seems like a paradox that a movie about a pacifist should be so bloody and gory, but the incredible true story of Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to win the Congressional Medal of Honor, is exactly that. Doss saved the lives of 75 fellow soldiers at the gruesome Battle of Okinawa in 1945 without even carrying a gun. Andrew Garfield plays Doss, a Seventh Day Adventist who enlisted as a combat medic during World War II, despite his vow to never touch a gun or take a life. His beliefs and refusal to use a weapon—not even for target practice—does not win any favor with his army superiors or fellow soldiers.

There are two distinct halves to Hacksaw Ridge: Doss’s life and experiences stateside at home in Virginia and at basic training, and his experience at the Battle of Okinawa. It isn’t just Doss’s religious beliefs that compel him to never use firearms. We see him as a child nearly kill his brother with a brick during a fight. There is also his abusive, alcoholic father, Tom, an emotionally and psychologically scarred veteran of WWI, played with a superb performance by Hugo Weaving. A brighter side of his life in Virginia is his sweet romance with a nurse named Dorothy, played by Teresa Palmer. They marry and he enlists in the army. If there were so many people taking life in the war, Doss thought, then he would be one person saving life. The movie stops just shy of making Doss into a saint thanks to Garfield’s performance. He makes Doss a believable person of strong conviction and goodwill.

When Doss arrives at basic training we meet characters with names like: Vito, Tex, Hollywood, Smitty, and Grease. You might think that Hacksaw Ridge accidentally used the screenplay of a war movie from the 1940s or 50s (and one that would’ve been clichéd even then). There is scene after scene of ham-fisted dialogue of people underestimating Doss, then realizing that they had him all wrong. It’s a bit much, but just as soon as you’re ready to write off Hacksaw Ridge, it wins you back, usually thanks to one of the strong performances. It’s at basic training that we meet Vince Vaughn (the lone American in a cast of Brits and Australians) as Doss’s tough and serious, but somehow hilarious, sergeant. It’s a role that is perfect for Vaughn. He’s great at delivering amusing insults to the new recruits, but his stern face and formidable stature, especially when confronting the slender Andrew Garfield—Vaughn is 6’5” after all—make him quite intimidating. Like Doss, he’s a character you believe because of the talent of the performer.

Hacksaw Ridge really shines in its second half at the Battle of Okinawa and the skillful direction of Mel Gibson takes the film to another level. Frantic, hellish, and horrific violence and battle sequences are what he excels at, but he never loses the underlying humanity that the first half of the film builds. The scenes set in Virginia are also well done, but only Gibson could craft the second half of this movie. Doss spends three days on the battlefield, day and night, finding wounded and dying soldiers and taking each one to safety by lowering them down a steep cliff one by one. Each time, Doss asks God to help him get one more. This film revels in blood and guts but it does not glorify or make war seem adventurous. It makes war look dirty and gross and frightening and bloody and scary and awful.

I’m perplexed that the movie telling the true story of Desmond Doss is steeped in war movie clichés. It’s almost frustrating. These clichéd scenes with stiff, uncreative dialogue occur throughout the movie. It is the excellently shot battle scenes and great performances from Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, and Hugo Weaving that make the film substantial. Despite its flaws, Hacksaw Ridge has enough quality moments and performances to make it well worth watching.

Nominees: Bill Mechanic, David Permut, producers

Director: Mel Gibson

Screenplay: Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington, Hugo Weaving

Production Companies: Pandemonium Films, Permut Productions, Vendian Entertainment, Kylin Pictures

Distributor: Summit Entertainment, Icon Films

Release Date: November 4^th, 2016

Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Director-Mel Gibson, Actor-Andrew Garfield, Editing-John Gilbert, Sound Mixing-Kevin O'Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie, Peter Grace, Sound Editing-Robert Mackenzie, Andy Wright

Best Pictures #5: 1927-28 (1st) Academy Awards Outstanding Picture Nominee, 7th Heaven (1927)

by A.J.

1927-28 (1^st) Academy Awards Outstanding Picture Nominee

7^th Heaven (1927)

7^th Heaven received a total of 5 Academy Award Nominations, the most of any film at the 1^st Academy Awards. It had 3 wins for Best Actress-Janet Gaynor (her award was given for her performance in this and 2 other movies that year), Best Writing Adaptation-Benjamin Glazer, and for Best Director, Dramatic Picture-Frank Borzage. Borzage brings style and skill to the production of 7^th Heaven making this film worthy of its nominations. There may not be as much artistic use of the camera and memorable shots as in the Unique and Artistic Picture nominees, but there are still some visually impressive moments and a good story.  

In this silent film, Charles Farrell plays Chico, a sewer cleaner in Paris. He dreams of climbing the “Ladder of Courage” from the sewer to the stars. He sees himself as remarkable, full of courage, and destined to rise up out of the sewer. Janet Gaynor plays Diane, who flees her abusive, alcoholic sister and ends up on the streets where she is found by Chico. She tries to kill herself with Chico’s knife and though he says she’d be better off dead, he stops her. Diane’s sister is arrested and tries to get Diane arrested too, but Chico tells the police officer that Diane is his wife and that prevents her from being arrested, but now they have to pretend to be married until a police inspector follows up with them. Chico takes her to his apartment which is on the 7^th floor of the building. In an impressive shot, as Chico and Diane ascend up the stairs, the camera pans up each floor of the building. To create this shot a seven-story set was built and the camera placed on an elevator along the side to rise as the actors climbed the stairs. Chico tells Diane, “I work in the sewer—but I live near the stars!” and we see a pretty shot of city rooftops and the starry night sky. For this humble pair, this modest apartment filled with dreams is the titular 7^th Heaven.

The tone of 7^th Heaven is optimistic and sentimental, despite the obstacles the characters face. Chico and Diane at first just pretend to be married, but then actually do fall in love and his courage rubs off on her. She has the courage to stand up to her sister and to reach for happiness. Chico, an unrepentant atheist, begins to regain his faith slowly as his love for Diane grows and his fortunes take a turn for the better. He is awarded a job as a street washer by a bishop (who can do that apparently). It is a rise not only in occupation, but also in the social class. His neighbor Gobin can now be friends with him since he is also a street washer. Chico and Diane decide they want to get married for real, but then, seemingly out of nowhere, World War I breaks out and their plans for a happy future are suddenly threatened.

You have little doubt that things will turn out all right for Chico and Diane, but you still worry about them and wish the best for them. 7^th Heaven is a film full of hope and meant to uplift its audience. The characters are fully fleshed out, sympathetic people. Chico is arrogant, but likably so; he is a good natured, good hearted person. Diane is meek and timid, but also kind and loving. The themes and content in this film are not as challenging as The Crowd or Sunrise, but 7^th Heaven is no less effective or moving.

7^th Heaven is an adaptation of a play and it does what all good adaptations of stage plays should do: it gives us a version of the story that we could not experience by attending a stage performance. In the stage play when Chico first takes Diane to his apartment the curtain lowers and rises again on Chico’s 7^th floor apartment. In the scene after Chico stops Diane from killing herself we see Diane sitting head in hand utterly defeated in the foreground. In the background we see Chico from the waist down as he walks away from her, then turns back, then away again, then back to her again. The scenes of WWI, the Battle of the Marne specifically, are very impressive. The battalions of marching troops are real people and seeing that many extras assembled for a scene in a movie is quite a sight. The battle sequence uses miniatures, process shots, and matte paintings mixed with real actors to create the kind of grand spectacle you could only experience at the movies. The miniatures are the only special effect that has not aged well. Everything else about the battle sequence holds up well, even better when you remember that the visual effects were made almost 90 years ago.

7th Heaven has gone out of print on DVD, but, as of the time of this writing, is available to watch in its entirety on Youtube.com. I have not seen very many silent films, but I imagine that 7^th Heaven is what good but typical Hollywood melodrama was like. I do not mean to belittle the qualities of this movie, but merely note that 7^th Heaven was more likely to give audiences what they wanted to see -- characters bettering themselves and each other and overcoming obstacles with romance, some laughs, and a happy ending – rather than challenging their expectations. There is of course nothing wrong with that at all, as long as it is done well, and in 7^th Heaven it is done very well.

Nominee: Fox

Producer(s): William Fox, Sal M. Wurtzel

Director: Frank Borzage

Screenplay: Benjamin Glazer, based on a play by Austin Strong

Cast: Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrel, Ben Bard

Release Date: May 6^th, 1927

Total Nominations: 5, including Outstanding Picture

Wins: Actress-Janet Gaynor, Director-Frank Borzage, Writing, Adaptation-Benjamin Glazer

Other Nominations: Art Direction-Harry Cliver

Classic Movie Picks: May

Each month, I scour the Turner Classic Movies Now Playing guide for upcoming films that I can't miss. The highlights are posted here for your reading and viewing pleasure! (All listed times are Eastern Standard, check your local listings or TCM.com for actual air times in your area. Each day's schedule begins at 6:00 a.m.; if a film airs between midnight and 6 a.m. it is listed on the previous day's programming schedule.)

5/1: Billy Wilder Comedies
8 PM - A Foreign Affair (1948)
10:15 PM - Some Like It Hot (1959)
12:30 AM - The Fortune Cookie (1966)
2:45 AM - The Major and the Minor (1942)
One of the reasons I love Billy wilder is his knack for making me laugh. Though his material can sometimes be a bit too broad for me, when he gets it right, it's perfection. To see this perfection for yourself watch Some Like It Hot followed by The Fortune Cookie.
BONUS: 4:30 AM - Billy Wilder Speaks (2006)
This documentary is highly enjoyable, especially if you are a Wilder fan, because you get a real glimpse of the director's personality. I would also recommend Cameron Crowe's book Conversations With Wilder which was compiled from numerous interviews Crowe conducted with Wilder around the same time as this film was made.

4/3: Robert Osborne's Musical Picks
8 PM - Can't Help Singing (1944)
9:45 PM - Moon Over Miami (1941)
11:30 PM - Cover Girl (1944)
1:30 AM - The Harvey Girls (1946)
Tonight, Robert Osborne takes his turn as programmer with four musicals starring some of his favorite actresses (that is my guess anyway). This evening of lovely leading ladies starts off with the delightful songbird Deanna Durbin followed by Moon Over Miami starring Betty Grable at her best. (This one is a favorite of mine, so I was surprised to see that it is a TCM premiere! I must have seen it on AMC when they used to show older films.) Then, the graceful Rita Hayworth dances with Gene Kelly in Cover Girl. And finally, plucky Judy Garland tames the Wild West in The Harvey Girls; Angela Lansbury (another personal favorite of mine) also stars as a woman of somewhat ill-repute.

5/16: Respect Your Elders Night
2:00 AM - Tokyo Story (1953)
This is probably Japanese director Yasugiro Ozu's best-known film and tonight you will see why. Speaking from my own experience, this story about an elderly couple whose family considers them an inconvenience is so heart-breaking it will stay with you forever. Many people may find the pacing slow, but hang in there, it's worth it.
4:30 AM - The Sunshine Boys (1975)
Keeping up the theme of elderly main characters this film stars Walter Matthau - hilarious as usual - and George Burns - in his Oscar-winning role - as a cantankerous pair of vaudeville comedians. These now-feuding former partners prove to be just as vexing to their younger caretakers as they are to each other. Even though he was only 55 at the time, Walter Matthau is totally convincing here as an ornery old coot alongside the 79 year old Burns.

5/28 - 5/31: Memorial Day Weekend Military Marathon
This weekend is heaven for military buffs with several days programming devoted to war films. I've picked out several that fall into my favorite category of war picture which seems to have peaked in popularity during the 60s. I'm talking about films in which a group of men (preferably misfits of some type) are brought together to complete one daring mission. Whether it be an escape or an invasion, they all end up heroes, even the dirty ones.
5/28, 10:15 PM - The Great Escape (1963)
5/29, 4:45 AM - The Secret Invasion (1964)
5/30, 12:00 PM - The Dirty Dozen (1967)
2:45 PM - The Guns of Navarone (1961)
5/31, 5 PM - Where Eagles Dare (1969)
8 PM - Kelly's Heroes (1970)
BONUS, 10 PM - The Eastwood Factor
May 31 is technically devoted to the films of Clint Eastwood in celebration of his 80th birthday. So, after catching Clint in two war films, stick around for this TCM original documentary. It is another in the fine series of documentaries made for TCM by film historian Richard Schickel. If the other docs were any indication, after watching this one, I'm sure to be inspired to seek out Eastwood films I've never seen and revisit those that I have.