Most of the time, the nominees for Best Director at the DGA simply exemplify the films voters liked best. But when a master is in the house, they are hard to ignore. Such is the case that David Fincher is once again in the Best Director race at the DGA. This in Fincher’s 7th DGA in any category, and his 4th for a feature film. He is so well respected that he was nominated for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo before the Academy put the kibosh on that. He deserved that nomination, just as he deserved a nominations for Gone Girl, Panic Room, Se7en, and Zodiac. His other two DGA film nominations are of course for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Social Network. Fincher is among the best living American directors who has somehow slipped passed the Academy’s radar to join the ranks of Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, and Orson Welles. Mank is not winning the DGA or the Oscar this year but it nonetheless stands apart as yet another example of a director at the top of his game.
Mank is the kind of film that requires a few viewings and a careful analysis to see how great it really is, how dense it is, how brilliant it is. But voters in the DGA, all 18,000 or so of them, knew enough on sight to pull the trigger on Mank for a nomination because they looked at that movie and thought, wow. Even if it might not have been their thing, even if they didn’t exactly get it, even if some of them found it too dense or too cold or too confusing. They still knew enough about the art of filmmaking to think, wow.
From the first shot, the misty clouds that cling to a sign that says “Victorville” to the final shot and coda of a half wasted, half successful life, Mank is the best film of the year that won’t win Best Picture. It’s the full story of the old myth of that time Herman J. Mankiewicz was put up in a “dry” house, trapped there by Boy Wonder Orson Welles to write a draft of The American, a tilting-at-windmills take-down of not just William Randolph Hearst, but of the kind of powerful, moneyed icons who ruled America in the 1930s, pandered to Nazis and dictators, bought elections and people.
Mank lays itself out like Citizen Kane does only it does it backwards (and in heels). If Kane takes each character’s connections to Kane to help tell the broader story, Mank tells the story of a writer’s journey through source material and inspiration; we aren’t here to study the downfall of Mank as we are with Kane. We’re here to understand the why of it. WHY did he write THAT movie? He did it because it was the risky play. He was an addict – gambling and drink – the one thing addicts love to do is play the odds. It somehow turned out that Citizen Kane is the greatest film of all time, but there were so many ways it could have derailed. Mank was called a “throw away genius” because he did everything he could to ruin his own life. Everything I love about Mank is wrapped up in the line, “I’m all washed up, Joe.” It is a reminder that we don’t always know what we got until it’s gone. Time has remembered Mank well. Fincher’s film will make sure of it.
No, Fincher won’t be winning this year, not at the DGA and not at the Oscars. It is nonetheless quite a thing that not only is he nominated at the DGA, but the film has 10 Oscars nominations. That’s because David Fincher is a master who has made a masterpiece. And even if they didn’t completely get the movie, they know that is undeniable.
For the first time in their history, the DGA has two female nominees. All but Fincher are writer/directors and all are first-time DGA nominees.
The commanders are a bright and talented bunch, led by the frontrunner – Chloe Zhao for Nomadland. An exceptional work by an up and comer on the rise, Chloe Zhao, will win on her first nomination with the DGA and with the Oscar. With that, history will have been made and more than a few doors will be open. But it isn’t entirely fair to always bring up the “woman of color” achievement with Nomadland and Zhao. She is a complete artist, a committed auteur that worked with a minimal crew and eventually put the whole thing together in the editing room. She has said that editing was her favorite part of the process. Zhao has the distinction of being only the second person in Oscar history to have nominations as the sole writer, sole director and sole editor of a film (David Lean is the other). Having that kind of command of the work has made her win undeniable this year. A few others have been nominated for co-editing (Jim Cameron, Michel Hazanaivicus and Alfonso Cuaron, who is the only director to win for co-editing his own movie).
To be the sole writer, director and editor on a movie is an accomplishment for anyone – male or female. This should not go unnoticed by those of us who watch the race.
She has captured the zeitgeist at a time when the film community from the critics to the industry are demanding progress. Her film is moving and timely, but really what is driving Zhao’s dominance in this category this year is the experience of watching Nomadland through her eyes. She takes us into the film in a personal and subjective way. There is something to it that people find deeply moving, but it is enhanced, no doubt, by the sweet anticipation of making history with the first woman of color to win the top award. It’s history that’s a long time coming. It is only dampened slightly by not being able to see her on stage winning the award to the roar of an appreciative crowd.
Zhao takes us through the forgotten people and places of America with a film that blends documentary with fiction. She has captured the magic hour, the wonder and unpredictability of the natural world.
Also in command of the story is Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman. Fennell, like Zhao, has Oscar nominations for Producing, Directing and Writing. The writing is, of course, great – funny and tragic, up to the minute on the reckoning of the Me Too movement. But it’s really the directing that makes Fennell’s film stand out. That, and the collaboration with Carey Mulligan whose performance perfectly matches the sardonic wit and black comedy. Promising Young Woman does not let you go easily. It stays with you long after the film has ended. Was it deliberate that the main character’s name is Cassie where the actresses name is Carey, which recalls the scene in the Brian De Palma film Carrie when the high school counselor keeps getting her name wrong by calling her Cassie? There are references to other films throughout this movie that I can’t know are deliberate unless I ask Fennell myself. But I see references to Fatal Attraction and What Lies Beneath. She is a promising voice on the rise.
Lee Isaac Chung takes us into his childhood with the lovely, moving, unforgettable Minari. This is his fourth feature, but he’s also edited and even shot some of his previous works. Minari is his first semi-autobiographical film that depicts a young boy with a heart condition trying to eke out a childhood while his parents fight and try to build a vegetable farm in Arkansas. Minari is so much about those moments that echo over time that he is bringing back in this story: preferring Mountain Dew over the drink his grandmother tries to foist upon him. Wearing cowboy boots. His childhood friend. Sitting awkwardly in church. Sharing a room with his grandmother. His judgment of her evolves into compassion – and that is really how this boy comes of age. He begins to understand what family means. We watch as his heart literally grows and heals itself but also how his heart becomes bigger and more loving towards his grandmother.
Finally, Aaron Sorkin‘s second film, The Trial of the Chicago 7 is the crowd-pleaser of the bunch, one that has been mostly flying under the radar. Sorkin’s first film, Molly’s Game, didn’t quite get there. But here, he has built something that honors the rhythm of his distinctive writing. He is working with many different themes and moods at once but always keeps the film humming along through shifting perspectives to help tell the story of a famous trial that would decide the fate of the ragtag crew that helped stopped the Vietnam war. Sorkin celebrates them because he is able to take what was great about them but also show what was not so great about them. Although Sorkin did not get an Oscar nomination for directing, a DGA nom the second time at bat is nothing to sneeze at. He has found in directing a way to extend his writing to become an auteur.
The Best Director race seems decided. Chloe Zhao will win in Feature and at the Oscars, but there are five more directors nominated at the DGA for First Time Director:
Radha Blank, The 40-Year-Old Version
Fernando Frías de la Parra, I’m No Longer Here
Regina King, One Night in Miami…
Darius Marder, Sound of Metal
Florian Zeller, The Father
Last year, Alma Har’el won this category for Honey Boy, which means that if a woman wins here it won’t make history, but I suspect they might lean that way anyway. That could mean the three women split the vote and either Marder or Zeller win. Regina King, however, earned a Golden Globe nomination for Directing, which means she certainly has the momentum heading into the race.
The DGA Awards are this Saturday.
Since the film was not profitable, the sequel that the filmmakers wanted did not give the green light, and 17 years later there are still no plans for Master and Commander 2, despite Crowe hinting in 2017 that he ‘whispers’ heard that the sequel could finally happen. by
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If the three women split the vote, that means that the voters were just voting for “a woman” and not for the actual filmmakers. Splitting the vote is when two films are almost tied for first place, but because they’re so close, neither gets enough votes to win and the third-place film gets in instead. This would be where the preferential ballot would help.
Since the film was not profitable, the sequel that the filmmakers wanted did not give the green light, and 17 years later there are still no plans for Master and Commander 2, despite Crowe hinting in 2017 that he ‘whispers’ heard that the sequel could finally happen. by cheap essay writing service
Hitchcock Kubrick Welles — and Altman?
Sadly, it’ll be Zhao, but hope Marder wins First Time Director.
My TV picks;
Drama: Vince Gilligan, Better Call Saul, Bagman (NGNG)
Comedy: Anything but CYE or drama The Flight Attendant. So Ted it is (The Hope That Kills You)
TV Movie/Limited Series: Scott Frank, The Queen’s Gambit
Not the only one. Jim Cameron won Best Editing for Titanic.
And should’ve won for Avatar as well.
Is just me or are there way more errors on this site than usual this season?
Only a Wokester would say something like that!
I thought that Fincher’s ‘Fight Club’ was one of the best movies of 1999 along with ‘American Beauty’, ‘Being John Malkovich’ and ‘Topsy Turvy’. I would also put ‘Fight Club’ ahead of ‘Panic Room’ which was also terrific. Meanwhile Zhao will join Mendes and Affleck in winning the DGA on their first nomination (the main category).
and Kevin Costner and James L. Brooks and Robert Redford and Delbert Mann
And Mankiewicz, Rossen, Stevens, Ford, Lean, Robbins, Harvey, Schaffner, Friedkin, Coppola, Forman, Avildsen, Allen, Cimino, Benton, Stone, Levinson, Demme, Eastwood, Marshall, Ethan Coen, Boyle, Bigelow, Hooper, Hazanavicius, Cuarón, Chazelle and Del Toro. Not that uncommon
Most of them won the Oscar apart from Marshall and Affleck.
Yes, those two, Rossen and Harvey didn’t win the Oscar. And considering Bong’s and Gibson’s Oscar wins despite losing the DGA, there seems to be no particular proof that the Oscars would be against awarding first-time DGA nominees to a larger extent than the DGA does
Does Warren Beatty (for Reds) belong on this list?
He co-directed Heaven Can Wait, which was DGA nominated so as a sole director, yes but in general no
Thanks. HCW was in the back of my mind, but you had it at your fingertips. I woulda/coulda/shoulda looked it up.
American Beauty hasn’t aged well but the others are fantastic. The best film of 1999 was Magnolia
Certainly Fincher is the best director of the lot (to date), but I disagree he had the best film of the group.
I’ll be watching first time director closer and rooting for Zeller.
Mank is the best film of the year that won’t win best picture . Yeah like when Kramer v Kramer beat Apocalypse Now , Ordinary People beat Raging Bull , Chariots of Fire beat Reds and Terms of Endearment beat The Right Stuff . When does this end ? And speaking of Chloe Zhao : Why doesn’t anybody talk about how much more Nomadland the book was more political and heartbreaking then that whitewash of a movie was . Is Chole Zhao getting a pass because she’s Asian and a woman ? If anyone is interested on what that movie could have been they can check out an article on Feb.. 22 , 2021 by Wilfred Chan in Vulture called What Nomadland Gets Wrong About Gig Labor .
She herself did address it. She didn’t want to make an obvious political movie. It’s an artistic choice, not flaw.
Everything is political . Life is political unless you deliberately and convenie3ntly ignore what’s in front of you for political reasons .
Or she ignored that particular element so that she could focus more on other elements that are also inherently political because as you say, everything is political.
Avoiding politics can also be a political move. If everything is political, then why do you and everyone always complain about who wins what bc of politics?
That probably would have made Nomadland interesting to watch.
‘Mank’ is the best film of the year that won’t win best picture. Like three of Fincher’s other movies – ‘The Social Network’, ‘Gone Girl’ and ‘The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button’. Getting to be an unfortunate habit.
Really I found Nomadland to be surprisingly emotional. I expected it to be a plotless bore.
Are you going on and on here again about this very same issue and referencing that same article you did a week ago?
And you should ask yourself why pictures like Ordinary People or Kramer vs. Kramer or Terms of Endearment win, besides being expertly written and acted — it’s because they are emotionally powerful and affecting dramas that strike people in the hearts.
And that is what people vote on. And that is why Mank will lose big-time.
First it wasn’t the same article the one a week ago was in the L.A. Times . There is also another one in The Guardian on March 23rd entitled Amazon Is A Disaster For Workers , Nomadland Glosses Over That by Jessa Crispin .As to why the films i mentioned won , Don’t you think i know that . Why do you think Rocky beat Taxi Driver , Network and All The Presidents Men . And since you mentioned Mank , that’s also why Citizen Kane lost to How Green Was My Valley . Maybe by using your logic we should change Best Picture to Most Emotional film !
It doesn’t end. It never will.
Also: no Rocky or Dances with Wolves on your list?
I’m always confused by some of the “yeah,but” about Zhao by Sasha who justifiably complains that film awards give rural America the back of its hand. Zhao’s entire filmography is about rural Americans and her three films are overflowing with empathy and human respect. This should be praised to the nines because isn’t this what you and many people want instead of pandering bullshit? Yes, Zhao is Chinese by birth. So what. She produced the film you said needs to be produced more.
Mank is this years Roma. Respected but not adored.
Yes, but Zhao is not the female Steinbeck, no matter how hard that narrative is being pushed. Steinbeck knew story.
Who called her that? I sure didn’t.
Didn’t say you did, but that’s how the media is building her up.
I’m not sure some of your criticisms are entirely 100% fair, because her style is very a fly on the wall stream of consciousness Wong Kar-Wei kind of groove. The mood of the Rider for instance was very much like Wong’s Days of Being Wild, where mood was emphasized over three act storytelling. I doubt she’d call herself Steinbeck based on interviews I’ve read.
Honestly, I don’t really mind it when a super oddball film crashes the Oscar party. The COVID schedule shuffling just happened to let a LOT of oddball stuff hit.
Once again, she never referred to herself in that way. It’s the press that has built her up.
It’s especially weird since the movie being championed as the better choice is a black and white film about a Hollywood insider who was bitter about California not electing a socialist governor.
Mank is an excellent film, but it’s weird to complain about AMPAS ignoring middle America while also throwing shade on Nomadland. You can just say you like Mank better, you don’t need to come up with political-themed explanations for why Nomadland is winning.
Which three women in “first feature’? Only Blank and King are women.
King is least deserving but I’m afraid that she might win. I’m hoping for Marder or Frias.
I like Regina King but ooof, I really didn’t think her direction was good. I feel like it’s blasphemous to say, but I thought One Night in Miami was pretty bad. Hoping Marder pulls out a deserved win here.
If it’s bad than no blasphemy in saying it’s bad. It obviously wasn’t good enough to make Picture and/or Director cut.
I will give King praise for taking the chance and parlaying her Oscar into an opportunity most black actors or actresses don’t normally get. Hopefully she improves her eye next film out
It was fine, nothing special. It was certainly better than George C. Wolfe’s direction of Ma Rainey thho
I think King was greatly helped by Miami’s better writing as well
Yeah I hope they hold their ground and don’t give it to King despite Film Twitter outcry. fingers crossed for Marder.