The Directors Guild will announce Saturday – or the event I like to call “the night all pretty dreams come to an end.”
Well, perhaps not if you happen to be someone who likes the consensus choice. Most of the time, I find myself on the opposite end of it, and I surf that wave of dread and failed expectations all the way through to Oscar night. Whomever wins in this category is going to be a good choice. They haven’t had a really disappointing choice since 2010, which was ghastly and unforgivable. Since then, though, the directors have chosen well. In truth, any of these five would be a decent choice, though I personally think only one is the best choice.
Three out of five of the DGA’s choices here are brilliantly experimental films and two are by American directors. Whoda thunk that when all was said and done the Americans would be the experimental, outside the box thinkers rejected by the Academy for being not traditional enough? Yet that’s mostly where we find ourselves in 2015 – directors like Wes Anderson and Richard Linklater, but also Bennett Miller, Dan Gilroy, Paul Thomas Anderson and of course the master David Fincher all pushing the envelope and helping to define brilliant new American cinema. Oscar, though, he can’t catch up. So we mostly dwell in traditionalist. This is a good year, though. Two of the most likely winners have delivered fantastic films -three if you toss in Wes Anderson and four if you give credit to the old timer, Clint Eastwood, for delivering his highest ever grossing film and what will be the highest grossing film of 2014, American Sniper.
1. Richard Linklater for Boyhood – it is all too easy to say “if you took out the 12 years thing it wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary.” To take out the 12 years thing is like taking out the black and white thing or taking out the tracking shot thing or taking out the singularly brilliant performance. Cinema is shaped by what goes into making it. Probably Linklater didn’t know what the film would ultimately be – no director does. What is most remarkable about Boyhood is how restrained it is considering the many years he spent putting it together. He holds the characters and the story as though it were all happening in real time. His patience and dedication has built a time piece, a film that will be worth revisiting through one’s life. I know that much of what I see in Boyhood comes from being a mother. I came to motherhood at around age 32 after a young life comprised entirely of chaos. The trouble I’ve seen, the trauma, the many boyfriends who drifted in and out of my mother’s life, the shit jobs, the men…growing up and then raising a child are two distinct things. I’ve never seen any filmmaker capture that dynamic until Boyhood. It tells the story of both the parents growing up and the children. It captures the speeding train that is time and life.
2. Alejandro G. Inarritu at last made a funny film with Birdman. Its rapid-fire dialogue is well matched by the intense camera work and solo drum beat throughout. It all works beautifully together, like one long epic rock song. What holds the film firmly in place, what elevates it from being merely a gimmick are the actors, but chief among them, Michael Keaton. It is the relationship between Keaton’s face and Chivo’s lens that makes Birdman work. Sure, the dialogue is funny and the supporting performances are brilliant. It says much about the way Hollywood is changing, and it definitely sides with the filmmakers over the audience, over the studios, over the critics. Black satire, odd magical realism – it’s really a delight, all the way through.
3. Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper was underestimated by awards pundits and critics when it was first seen. While it did make the top ten lists of both New York Times’ critics, and did escape the kill-it-dead controversy Selma endured (when it’s a male director no one can really topple it the way they can with a female). The war scenes are some of the best filmmaking Eastwood has ever done. He kept the focus on Chris Kyle’s inner pain and struggle with his wife, and paid homage to a man many think of as an American hero. Eastwood is on the level of John Ford with the directors in the industry and it’s an unshakable level of admiration. Though he did not earn an Oscar nod for directing, Affleck proved that you could still win Best Picture without one. I see Eastwood as the dark horse in this race.
4. Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel is unlike any other film I can think of. Anderson’s oeuvre is identifiable, to be sure, but he did the right thing in casting Ralph Fiennes in the lead role. Fiennes humanizes the film in a way most actors aren’t allowed in Anderson’s films. They must sort of follow his vision — and the certainly do here. This is a director’s movie through and through – every scene is breathtakingly original. Every color, every piece of music and set decoration. But it’s really Fiennes that takes Budapest past the level of visual excitement and into the many layers of the human experience.
5. Morten Tyldum’s The Imitation Game – A great many people were moved by this film. They liked it so much they gave Tyldum the nomination over so many other exceptional directors this year. That really speaks for itself. Sure, a lot of it was the Weinstein Co. owning awards season but in Imitation Game you find the kind of film lots of people love – a good story well told. It would be shocking to see it win, however. It might happen – one never knows. The best thing about the film, other than Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance, is how it moves through time, shifting to his childhood and then up through adulthood, through the police interviews and then back to Enigma. Films like this work for everyone on ever level, and tend to be most popular with consensus voters.
The night could belong to Inarritu or it could belong to Linklater. Or it could belong to Eastwood! Who knows. They do not choose the preferential ballot the way the Academy will for Best Picture so you don’t see the same conjoined choice for both that we’ve seen in all of the many years before they changed their procedure. Now, Picture and Director remain kind of separate entities, weirdly enough. So much so that Eastwood could win the DGA and Sniper still might not win Best Picture.
But the likely scenario is that what wins the DGA will either win Picture or Director – Picture most likely but one never knows. This year is very nearly impossible to predict.
My prediction: Richard Linklater for Boyhood
Spoiler, obviously: Inarritu for Birdman
Dark horse: Clint Eastwood for American Sniper
(polls)
And now, the contest:
Please check back – having technical difficulties on that.
The DGA Awards
won DGA | won Oscar
*film nominated/+ won Best Picture at the Oscars
2014
Richard Linklater, Boyhood | Richard Linklater, Boyhood |
Alejandro G. Inarritu, Birdman | Alejandro G. Inarritu, Birdman |
Wes Anderson, Grand Budapest Hotel | Wes Anderson, Grand Budapest Hotel |
Morten Tyldum, Imitation Game | Morten Tyldum, Imitation Game |
Clint Eastwood, American Sniper | Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher |
2013
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity | Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity |
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave | Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave |
Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips | Alexander Payne, Nebraska |
David O. Russell, American Hustle | David O. Russell, American Hustle |
Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street | Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street |
2012
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln | Steven Spielberg, Lincoln |
Ang Lee, Life of Pi | Ang Lee, Life of Pi |
Ben Affleck, Argo | David O. Russell, Silver Linings |
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty | Michael Haneke Amour |
Tom Hooper, Les Miserables | Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild |
2011
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist | Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist+ |
Martin Scorsese, Hugo | Martin Scorsese, Hugo* |
Alexander Payne, The Descendants | Alexander Payne, The Descendants* |
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris | Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris* |
David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Terrence Malick, Tree of Life* |
2010
Tom Hooper The King’s Speech | Tom Hooper the King’s Speech+ |
David Fincher, Social Network | David Fincher, Social Network* |
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan | Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan* |
David O’Russell, The Fighter | David O’Russell, The Fighter* |
Christopher Nolan, Inception* | The Coens, True Grit* |
2009
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker | Bigelow, Hurt Locker+ |
Lee Daniels, Precious | Lee Daniels, Precious* |
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air | Jason Reitman, Up in the Air* |
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds | Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds* |
Jim Cameron, Avatar | Jim Cameron, Avatar* |
(best picture that didn’t match director)
2013 | Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity | Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity* (12 years) |
2012 | Ben Affleck, Argo+ | Ang Lee, Life of Pi* (Argo) |
2011 | Michel Hazanavicious, The Artist | Michel Hazanavicious, The Artist+ |
2010 | Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech | Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech+ |
2009 | Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker | Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker+ |
2008 | Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire | Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire+ |
2007 | Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country | Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country+ |
2006 | Martin Scorsese, The Departed | Martin Scorsese, The Departed+ |
2005 | Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain | Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain* (Crash+) |
2004 | Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby | Clint Eastwood, MDB+ |
2003 | Peter Jackson, Return of the King | Peter Jackson, Return of the King+ |
2002 | Rob Marshall, Chicago | Roman Polanski, The Pianist (Chicago) |
2001 | Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind | Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind+ |
2000 | Ang Lee, Crouching Tiger | Steven Soderbergh, Traffic (Gladiator) |
1999 | Sam Mendes, American Beauty | Sam Mendes, American Beauty+ |
1998 | Steven Spielberg, Saving Private Ryan | Steven Spielberg (Shakespeare in Love) |
1997 | Jim Cameron, Titanic | Jim Cameron, Titanic+ |
1996 | Anthony Minghella, English Patient | Anthony Minghella, English Patient+ |
1995 | Ron Howard, Apollo 13 | Mel Gibson, Braveheart+ |
1994 | Robert Zemeckis, Forrest Gump | Robert Zemeckis, Forrest Gump+ |
1993 | Seven Spielberg, Schindler’s List | Steven Spielberg, Schindler’s List+ |
1992 | Clint Eastwood, Unforgiven | Clint Eastwood, Unforgiven+ |
1991 | Jonathan Demme, Silence of the Lambs | Jonathan Demme, Silence of the Lambs + |
1990 | Kevin Costner, Dances with Wolves | Kevin Costner, Dances with Wolves+ |
1989 | Oliver Stone, Born on the Fourth of July | Oliver Stone, Born on the Fourth of July (Driving Miss Daisy – director Beresford not nommed for Oscar or DGA) |
1988 | Barry Levinson, Rain Man | Barry Levinson, Rain Man+ |
1987 | Bernardo Bertolucci, Last Emperor | Bernardo Bertolucci, Last Emperor+ |
1986 | Oliver Stone, Platoon | Oliver Stone, Platoon+ |
1985 | Steven Spielberg, Color Purple | Sidney Pollack, Out of Africa+ |
1984: | Milos Forman, Amadeus | Milos Forman, Amadeus+ |
1983: | James Brooks, Terms of Endearment | James Brooks, Terms of Endearment+ |
1982: | Richard Attenborough, Gandhi | Richard Attenborough, Gandhi+ |
1981: | Warren Beatty, Reds | Warren Beatty, Reds (Chariots of Fire) |
1980: | Robert Redford, Ordinary People | Robert Redford, Ordinary People+ |
1979: | Robert Benton, Kramer Vs. Kramer | Robert Benton, Kramer Vs. Kramer+ |
1978: | Michael Cimino, Deer Hunter | Michael Cimino, Deer Hunter+ |
1977: | Woody Allen, Annie Hall | Woody Allen, Annie Hall+ |
1976: | John Avildson, Rocky | John Avildson, Rocky+ |
1975: | Milos Foreman, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest | Milos Foreman, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest+ |
1974: | Frances Coppola, Godfather II | Frances Coppola, Godfather II+ |
1973: | George Roy Hill, The Sting | George Roy Hill+ |
1972: | Frances Coppola, The Godfather | Bob Fosse, Cabaret (Godfather) |
1971: | William Friedkin, The French Connection | William Friedkin, The French Connection+ |
1970: | Franklin J. Schaffner, Patton | Franklin J. Schaffner , Patton+ |
1969: | John Schlesinger, Midnight Cowboy | John Schlesinger, Midnight Cowboy+ |
1968: | Anthony Harvey, Lion in Winter | Carol Reed, Oliver+ |
1967: | Mike Nichols, The Graduate | Mike Nichols, The Graduate (In Heat of the Night) |
1966: | Fred Zinneman, A Man for all Seasons | Fred Zinneman, A Man for all Seasons+ |
1965: | Robert Wise, The Sound of Music | Robert Wise, the Sound of Music+ |
1964: | George Cukor, My Fair Lady | George Cukor, My Fair Lady+ |
1963: | Tony Richardson, Tom Jones | Tony Richardson, Tom Jones+ |
1962: | David Lean, Lawrence of Arabia | David Lean, Lawrence of Arabia+ |
1961: | Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise, West Side Story | Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise, West Side Story+ |
1960: | Billy Wilder, The Apartment | Billy Wilder, The Apartment+ |
1959: | William Wyler, Ben Hur | William Wyler, Ben Hur+ |
1958: | Vincent Minnelli, Gigi | Vincent Minnelli, Gigi+ |
1957: | David Lean, Bridge on the River Kwai | David Lean, Bridge on the River Kwai+ |
1956: | George Stevens, Giant | George Stevens, Giant (Around/World in 80 Days) |
1955: | Delbert Mann, Marty | Delbert Mann, Marty+ |
1954: | Elia Kazan, On the Waterfront | Elia Kazan, On the Waterfront+ |
1953: | Fred Zinnemann, From here to Eternity | Fred Zinnemann, From here to Eternity+ |
1952: | John Ford, The Quiet Man | John Ford, The Quiet Man (Greatest Show on Earth) |
1951: | George Stevens, A Place in the Sun | George Stevens, A Place in the Sun (An American in Paris) |
1950: | Joseph L. Mankiewicz, All About Eve | Joseph L. Mankiewicz, All About Eve+ |
1949: | Robert Rossen, All the King’s Men | Joseph L. Mankiewicz for A Letter To Three Wives (All the King’s Men) |
1948: | Joseph L. Mankiewicz for A Letter To Three Wives | John Huston, Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Hamlet) |
1947 | Elia Kaza for Gentleman’s Agreement | |
1946 | William Wyler for The Best Years of Our Lives | |
1945 | Billy Wilder for The Lost Weekend | |
1944 | Leo McCary for Going My Way | |
1943 | Michael Curtiz for Casablanca | |
1942 | William Wyler for Mrs. Miniver | |
1941 | John Ford for How Green Was My Valley | |
1940 | John Ford for The Grapes of Wrath (Rebecca) | |
1939 | Victor Flemming, Gone with the Wind | |
1938 | Frank Capra, You Can’t Take it With You | |
1937 | Leo McCary, The Awful Truth (The Life of Emile Zola) | |
1936 | Frank Capra, Mr. Deed Goes to Town (The Great Ziegfeld) | |
1935 | John Ford, The Informer (Mutiny on the Bounty) | |
1934 | Frank Capra, It Happened One Night | |
1933 | Frank Lloyd, Calvalcade |