A lot was written about the Academy Award showdown between The King’s Speech and The Social Network, but no one got jobbed. This wasn’t a case of The Greatest Show On Earth beating out High Noon and Singing In the Rain. It wasn’t Crash over Brokeback Mountain. It was the case of two very good (and different) films in a battle that had no clear-cut winner. It was a rather inconsequential decision. It wouldn’t have been a surprise if either film had won the Oscar and no one was shocked The King’s Speech took home the gold. Disappointed maybe, but not shocked.
There were, however, a couple of people in the audience that have been consistently slighted. Both of whom sat in the audience as key members of their crews won several awards indicating that the Academy is very much aware of their work.
I’m talking about two of the best directors making films right now, Christopher Nolan and Tim Burton. For those who think David Fincher has been unfairly treated because he’s been nominated twice and never won an Oscar, consider this fact: Burton and Nolan have zero directing nominations between them.
That’s right. No nominations for Burton for Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands or Big Fish. No nominations for Nolan for Memento, The Dark Knight or Inception.
That’s not to say no one has recognized these two major talents. Burton’s Ed Wood was nominated for the Golden Palm at Cannes. They’ve both been nominated as Best Director at the BAFTAs and Nolan has been nominated twice by the Directors Guild. And, of course, audiences around the world line up in droves to see their films, but their peers in Hollywood have shut them out completely.
In Burton’s case this isn’t entirely surprising. His films are extremely inventive and creative, but many film critics consider the quirky Burton to be a popcorn filmmaker. They think his films are a case of visual sizzle in search of a narrative steak. Still, Burton hasn’t even been nominated for his more serious fare like Ed Wood or his much loved Sweeney Todd musical, a film that actually won him Best Director from the National Board of Review.
Of course if you make an argument that Burton has been overlooked, the question is who would he have replaced over the years. I think he could have easily replaced Woody Allen (Bullets Over Broadway) or Robert Redford (Quiz Show) in 1995 when he directed Ed Wood. Or Peter Weir (Master and Commander) or Clint Eastwood (Mystic River), the man he did replace at the BAFTAs in 2004 when he directed Big Fish.
But the biggest injustice was giving Tony Gilroy the nod over Burton in 2008. There is nothing special about Michael Clayton in terms of directing. While in Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Burton took on Stephen Sondheim and won. That’s a feat no other director working right now would even try, let alone succeed at.
And what’s the deal with the exclusion of Nolan? He has to be considered one of the preeminent directors working today. With Memento, he made one of the truly inventive independent films of the last decade. Then he gave new life to the moribund Batman franchise, after Tim Burton’s previous installments were followed up by a pair of Joel Schumacher abortions, with his work on Batman Begins. The Prestige was a terrific film, if somewhat overlooked and his last two films are monumental achievements that electrified audiences around the world, the latter of which was nominated for Best Picture.
Who would Nolan replace in 2009? How about everyone. With The Dark Knight Nolan pulled off the rare trifecta of pleasing the fanboys, casual film fans around the world and the critics. And he managed to put his own stamp on the movie as well and he did it in a way that made him a household name. A name in which you simply need to mention it and ears perk up. The same can’t be said for too many directors nowadays.
It’s become a matter of looking at each of these directors’ films and wondering, If not now… when? While many were surprised Nolan was snubbed for Inception I don’t think the same can be said for Burton and Alice in Wonderland
Both men have promising projects coming out in 2012, but Burton’s Frankenweenie is unlikely to see him recognized seeing how no one has been nominated for Best Director as the result of helming an animated film. However, at the very least he may be able to break the continued domination of computer-animated films in the Best Animated Film category that only Wallace and Gromit (beating Burton’s Corpse Bride) and Spirited Away have been able to top.
On Nolan’s plate is The Dark Knight Rises, a film that should be such a monster the Academy will have a hard time ignoring Nolan this time around. After all, the third time is always the charm… right?
Unfortunately, Nolan, like Burton, has given the Academy an out. The Dark Knight Rises is a comic book film. If you think there’s a bias against animated fare, there’s just as much, if not an even bigger, bias against any film where an actor dawns a cape. Unless of course, it’s a period piece. Then it gets showered with Oscar noms.
That means it’s very possible that Burton and Nolan still end up on the sidelines come Oscar time even if they create the two most creative, inventive and successful films in 2012. And that would be a shame.
