I've never really cared much for the Oscars in the past, but this year I am making it my priority to watch all the Best Picture nominees before the Awards take place. I watched these two films over the last couple of days:
12 Years a Slave (2013, Steve McQueen)
This is a ferocious and callous depiction of the slave industry, told with both heart and candor. McQueen's vision does not seem to be hindered at all here - it adopts the same savagery approach of
Hunger and the same unconcealed candidness of
Shame. Considering its subject matter, this is the type of film that could have easily been plagued with sentimentality, but it stays mostly restrained throughout, never feeling like a mawkish or unduly dramatised story. From a technical standpoint, is a well-crafted piece, but to me, not the unreservedly gripping and compelling masterpiece some have claimed. It more or less met my expectations (in terms of how McQueen told the story), but I couldn't help but shake the fact that the film never felt like it stretched twelve years. Call it implausible or just ineffective, but it bothered me. Nonetheless, it is a good film - brutal, plaintive, and poignant, but nothing more than that from where I am standing. Maybe a 6.5 or a 7. This is "the" perfect Oscar film, though, especially in a time where American cinema is becoming increasingly more attentive and aware of the tragic history of the slave trade, a subject largely disregarded of prior.
Nebraska (2013, Alexander Payne)
A tender and human film that thrives in its simplicity. An effortless tale about trying to obtain independence and value in one's later years, Payne tells this adeptly written tale with both a remarkable deal of unfeigned fraternity and deadpan humour. The black and white photography is beautiful, furnishing the film with this sense of timelessness, but also a distinctively wretched undercurrent. It is such an undemanding and and 'steady' film that greatly impressed me on all levels, particularly Bruce Dern's performance and Payne's self-controlled presence behind the camera. It is a wonderful tale that had vague reminiscences of David Lynch's
The Straight Story - a compassionate and human portrayal of seniority, told with flawed (but highly relatable) characters. It also has a lovely soundtrack. I'll give this an 8 or maybe a bit higher.
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