I’m surprised I completely forgot about this little, some might say meaningless statistic, but with all the predictions for “Slumdog Millionaire” taking the cinematography win at tomorrow night’s Oscar ceremony, the Oscarweb seems to be in the same boat.
You have to go back to 1999 and “American Beauty” to find a film that won the Oscar for Best Cinematography but was not even nominated in the art direction field. Before that, 1995 and “Braveheart,” 1992 and “A River Runs Through It” and 1991 and “JFK.”
“Mississippi Burning” (1988) and “The Killing Fields” (1984) were the only examples from the 1980s and then you see some more frequency in the new American cinema hey-day of the 1970s. But if you stretch the timeline back to 1979, you only find six films in 20 years that managed to win the lensing trophy despite coming up short of a nod with the designers.
The only films nominated in both categories this year are “Changeling,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “The Dark Knight.” Most might use that as the ultimate excuse to throw their money behind “The Dark Knight,” which was revolutionary behind the camera with it’s implementation of IMAX technology and because, dang it, it looks amazing. And God knows my fingers are crossed for Wally Pfister, but I think all of this might make a better case for Claudio Miranda and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”
When you look back over the years, in addition to at least an art direction nomination you’ll notice that many times, these awards go hand-in-hand and one film dominates the pair. “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Memoirs of a Geisha,” “The Aviator,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Titanic,” “The English Patient,” “Schindler’s List,” “The Last Emperor,” “Out of Africa,” “Fanny & Alexander,” “Ghandi” and “Tess” are 13 examples from our 20 year sampling. And since most seem to think “Button” is likely to walk away with the art direction prize (yours truly included), this could be serious food for thought.
There is also that interesting piece of trivia Nathaniel Rogers brought up a week ago: the camera loves Brad Pitt. Of course, Pitt isn’t on full, perfected display in “Button” given all the makeup and visual effects, but Nat’s points are well taken:
Most of the technical branches within the Oscars (with the exception of rogue creatives in the MakeUp and Costume Design fields) tend to limit their selections to Best Picture candidates so it says something when a film can get nominated in a category without being in play for the big prize. No cinematographer who has ever caressed Brad’s cheekbones with a golden filter or outlined his musculature with a back light needed Best Picture momentum to be nominated (Benjamin Button is only Brad Pitt’s second appearance in a Best Picture nominee — Babel was the first but strangely missed a cinematography nod).
So maybe you’re itching to make a prediction switch in this category because you just don’t think “Slumdog” is “pretty” enough to win, or you expect the Academy will want to spread the love. Here’s a good reason to bet on “Button” (or “The Dark Knight”), but don’t blame me if I steered you wrong. I’m just the messenger!