By
Darius KADIVAR
Still in
the Race
Šimdb &
OscarŽ
Payvand.com - Well It is a
tough competition after all added to the fact that with the screenwriters on
Strike in
Hollywood,
the annual Golden Globes ceremony was reduced to an official announcement
deprived of any glitter and glamour as in previous years. The Golden Globes
result usually indicate strongly what will be the ultimate choice of the Oscar
Academy even if the
Oscars
are always unpredictable and the suspense make the waiting painful but also
exciting and hopeful. France's choice for the
Oscars:
Marjane
Satrapi
and Vincent Parronaud's
Persepolis
deserved to be also or at best nominated in the Animated Film Category
probably the most logical choice for its genre which was not the case. It would
have by all accounts been a favorite had it been in direct competition with this
year's animations like
Ratatouille,
Bee Movie
or
The Simpsons. I continue to believe that this is a great shortcoming of
the Golden Globe's Academy and unfair categorization for Persepolis not
to have had the opportunity to run in the Best Animation Category and have a
fair "fight" with fellow competitors. Instead it has to run against films which
are competing on totally different grounds both in shape and content. Being an
Animation
Persepolis
strikes a cord for its humor and unconventional approach as an
adult
oriented
cartoon where emotional scenes are always at the threshold of humor. If it can
compete on nearly the same theme grounds with Mark Forster's
Kite
Runner
by dealing with issues related to War and Exile and the call of the return to
one's roots, it appears as totally miscast with the other films in its category
all of which are hardly what one can consider as "Funny" or "Ironic" films be it
the Rumanian
2 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days which deals with the issue of abortion,
Taiwanese
Lust, Caution
(
Ang Lee
same director of
Brokeback Mountain)
which offers extra ground for its director in exploring onscreen graphical sex
and stirring more controversy over his reputation as a provocative director or
finally
the nevertheless powerful French US co-production
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly that
won the Golden Globe.
There are
certainly no given rules in selecting films to run in the various categories but
the categorization of
Persepolis
outside its
natural choice ANIMATION seems particularly unjust and quite suitable for the
three ALL AMERICAN Animated films of the Year:
Bee Movie,
The Simpsons and of course Ratatouille. Given that the
LA Critics Awards placed Ratatouille and Persepolis on
equal grounds
by Awarding them ex-equo. Persepolis also did very well at various film
festivals across the US notably the very selective New York Film Festival where
it rallied both critical and public ovation.
France
remains honored however thanks to
Marillon Cotillard's convincing Performance in
La Vie en
Rose
as French Diva
Edith Piaf,
probably because of Piaf's image as the quintessential
French
Icon
but also because she is as much part of France's post
WWII
collective memory as of that of the US recurrent fascination with French
Seduction which has fascinated
Hollywood
through other French Ambassadors as
Louis Jourdan
or
Maurice Chevalier.
Strangely
La Vie En Rose
did not seduce French critics until recently given the Box office success of the
movie ( 5 Million viewers) due to the positive echoes it recieved in the US but
also in
Germany. The
lack of enthusiasm of the French critics was most probably due to the fact
that they saw in
La Vie En Rose a
more commercially designed product aimed at a non French audience. Unlike in
Hollywood
or even British Cinema, Bio Epics, are not a genre in which French cinema has
ever truly excelled in until recently. So in many ways the success of
La Vie En
Rose as
proved most French critics wrong and probably for the good reasons that is: The
audience's identification with the extraordinary destiny of a tragic yet
Cinderella like character who conquered its fans worldwide. Cotillard certainly
captured the necessary magic and Truth about the real life Edith Piaf which
explains why the French Icon's life but also voice continues to last the Test
of Time. The choice of
The
Diving Bell and the Butterfly
as best foreign language film based on Jean-Dominique Bauby true autobiography
who, in 1995 at the age of 43, suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body,
except his left eye (which allowed him to communicate and write his book with
the help of a nurse ) seems a just tribute ( even if I personally would have
preferred to see
Persepolis
win) to the power of Man's imagination but also determination to leave a legacy
and thus in a way vanquish both his his predicament and ultimate death.
Marillon Cotillard Golden Globe for
Best
actress
(musical or comedy) Šimdb.com
Not every
Oscar ceremony Awarding list is shaped by a common theme or common denominator
but sometimes they do reflect a certain preoccupation of what seems to have
generated interest during the past year in the Film community. Last Year the
choice of
Al Gore's
An Inconvenient Truth
seemed to echo strongly in
Hollywood
and rally everyone beyond political preferences on global awareness and need for
responsibility towards
Mother
Nature.
Also in 2007 the Oscar Academy seemed to find an opportunity to celebrate its
"Own Royalty" by conferring the Best Actress Award to
Helen Mirren
in
The Queen,
and
Forest
Whitaker
as Best Actor for his breathtaking yet ambiguous performance as Uganda's
dictator
Idi Amin
Dada in The
Last King of Scotland. So it would seem to me that
this year's Golden Globes choice of
Julie
Christie
for best actress in
Away from Her
a film about rediscovering a new identity ( albeit involuntarily due to an
incurable disease i.e.:
Alzheimer's)
that destroys an otherwise happy married ageing couples relationship somehow
joins the choice of The
Diving Bell and the Butterfly for Best Foreign film.
If this years Oscar's follows the same choice, then it would certainly draw
attention and debate on issues related to Health Care in the US as denounced by
Michael
Moore
in
Sicko
which should run for the
Oscars
in Best Documentary category this year.
This also
places La Vie En Rose's Star Marillon Cotillard as a direct rival to Julie
Christie in
Away from Her
for
the most prestigious Award of them all the Golden Oscar Statuette so May The
Best Win !.
However whatever the ultimate choice of the Oscar Academy for its 80th annual, Marjane
Satrapi
and Vincent Parronaud's
Persepolis have
nevertheless achieved their goal in seducing fans and critics worldwide and for
a first film by first time directors it has made film History. The Oscar would
be the Cherry on the Cake of a Wonderful Year for its directors but also a
hopeful production for Diaspora directors in general who are slowly but
gradually shaping our culture and in doing so also bridging Iranian Artists with
non Iranian colleagues. We can only be proud and grateful to the talented duo
Satrapi-Parronaud for their remarkable Achievement to date.
ALLEZ MARJANE &
VINCENT WE LOVE YOU AS YOU ARE ! ;0)
VIVE LE CINEMA !
Authors Notes:
Recommended Readings
On Persepolis:
Recommended Readings On Iran and French Cinema:
Recommended Readings On Iranians in Hollywood:
About the Author: Darius KADIVAR is a Freelance Journalist, Film Historian, and
Media Consultant. He contributes
OCPC Magazine and
The MiddleEast Magazine.
... Payvand News - 01/14/08 ...
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