Drum roll please.... Oscar Nominations!- Page 4

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/27/11 at 9:11am

It's true with the (almost) eight HP films, so many of the BBC bonnet-and-bustle crowd have been tapped and are now widely known for their character roles in those movies.

As for the focus of the final scenes in The King's Speech ...


POTENTIAL SPOILER ***********************



It's not about the historical crisis at hand, it's about the leading character of George VI, and his struggle to overcome a major personal hurdle that could affect the morale of the his subjects during wartime. An enormous pressure, even if he himself thinks it shouldn't matter. He knows it does. If I (as an audience member) wanted to focus on the history at that point, I'd watch a British documentary on WWII. To me, this is exactly when historical dramas fall apart. When they lose sight of the characters and main storyline and try to get too much overall history in there. It suddenly becomes generic and academic and loses the uniqueness and momentum entirely.

Have you ever seen Raintree County? MGM wanted it to be another Gone With the Wind, but it flopped miserably and for good reason. The first parts of the film are fine and engrossing enough, but when the Civil War breaks out, it's suddenly about the war itself, and we lose Elizabeth Taylor's character and Montgomery Clift's character to big battle scenes and exposition. We only pick up the pieces after the war, but there's a 20-minute or so section in the middle that "drowns them out." As a result, the interest in the story is lost. It's now a generic civil war film. Yawn. With GWTW, you never lose sight that it's Scarlett and Rhett's story. Even during wartime, when one of the most famous shots in the film shows the dead and dying soldiers on the Atlanta city street. The shot actually follows Scarlett the whole time, trying to cross over them to tell Doc Mead that Melanie is about to have her baby. As the camera pulls back, we see the devastation around her. But it's secondary to the primary storytelling. We never lose Scarlett and her personal motivations in the process.

That's good storytelling. And so is The King's Speech.

[Q]

Posted: 1/27/11 at 11:34am

Best - I thought his choices were cartoonish, and absolutely ruined every frame of the film he appeared in. The kind of performance you describe is what I experienced watching Cate Blanchett in AVIATOR (even though I essentially loathed the movie, I appreciated her,) so I get not being bogged down by superficiality.

But it's good that you are there to remind us of what really should matter.

[nygrl232]

Posted: 1/27/11 at 1:42pm

I totally understand all of what you said--it's a given that the character is the focus. I just wouldn't have minded a little bit of a balance to the stuff that was going on behind the words. A twitch, a slightly furrowed brow, something, as an undertone. Instead it looked as though he won a bunch of money in the lottery.

Timothy Spall--yeah, that was a pretty unusual take on Churchill.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/27/11 at 4:39pm

I just wouldn't have minded a little bit of a balance to the stuff that was going on behind the words. A twitch, a slightly furrowed brow, something, as an undertone.

I took that in from the reactions of the people listening to the broadcast. It beautifully illustrated the effectiveness of the work from Rush's character. He wasn't just delivering the speech, but he was truly being heard. He knew the gravity of what he was saying, but it was not being capable of conveying that message to his entire kingdom that was the source of his anxiety.

To me, the strongest element of this film was its tight focus. I was genuinely intrigued by this man who so desperately did NOT want to be king. His anxiety, fear and frustration were palpable from the opening scene to the end. And that is why I believe Firth deserves the Oscar for this role. I didn't get that feeling from Gosling in Blue Valentine. There was a lot of gritty crunchy Method emoting, but nothing that felt genuine to me. Michelle Williams made me feel contempt for her, but I really didn't feel much for Gosling's character other than perhaps a bit of pity.

[nygrl232]

Posted: 1/27/11 at 6:52pm

Yes, Matt--you're totally right. I kinda just wanted to see something in the faces of the royal peeps. Dammit I paid $13 (plus $7 for Whoppers and a bottle of water)...I demand a haunted brow furrow.

Hee.