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1995 Best Picture:
Braveheart
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Competition:
Apollo 13, Babe, Il
Postino, Sense and Sensibility Other Winners:
Best Actor: Nicholas
Cage, Leaving Las Vegas
Best Actress: Susan Sarandon, Dead Man Walking
Best Supporting Actor: Kevin Spacey,
The Usual Suspects
Best Supporting Actress: Mira Sorvino, Mighty
Aphrodite
Best Director: Mel Gibson, Braveheart
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Cast:
Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Catherine McCormack, James
Robinson, Sean Lawlor
Storyline:
Based loosely on the true story of William Wallace, the 13th century Scot
who defies the British rule that has overtaken Scotland, and rallies his
troops to fight back.
Did it
deserve to win:
Aye ...
don't think so! While Braveheart was a favorite among many, I have
to go out on limb on this one, and state emphatically, that it was not the
Best Picture of the year!
Apollo 13
continued the winning streak for Tom Hanks, and dared to talk about the
space mission that almost became a disaster. Babe was children's
fable in which a pig dared to believe that he was a dog. Sense and
Sensibility dared to bring Jane Austin back to popularity. The
film that I felt should have won was the poignant and simple Italian
effort, Il Postino. The film was a true work of blood, sweat and
tears from its writer, co-director and star, Massimo Troisi.
Critique:
Braveheart is an action packed, emotionally charged, 'let's all hate
the Brit's for what they did to us' epic, that is beautifully filmed and
very well told. Mel Gibson proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he
has the ability to assemble a great production crew, and to complete a
masterful film. Overall,
there is very little about Braveheart that I disliked, except for one
glaring problem ... Mel Gibson. I
think Mel Gibson is a good actor, provided he is given the type of role
that is suited to him. Mel never seems to go against type - that
being the macho buffoon that he seems to play in all of his
movies. Even here, playing William Wallace, the rebel with a
cause, you can still see Mel paying homage to his heroes, The Three
Stooges, but unfortunately, his style of acting has an negative impact on
the overall tone of the film. Mel
Gibson got into hot water in the early nineties for homophobic comments
made in an interview. He tried to refute those comments by
submitting to an interview with The Advocate magazine. Braveheart,
with its outrageous (and inaccurate) portrayal of Edward II, the gay king,
seemed to demonstrate that he wasn't over his anti-gay ideals quite
yet. There
has been lots of criticism about Braveheart not sticking to the facts, but
that's something that I cannot comment on. Even with my Scotch
background, I don't know much about the history of this man, nor of the
time, but I don't think that matters too much in selecting the Best
Picture. My concern is that Mel Gibson's interpretation is merely a
'beer guzzling' action flick disguised in period costumes.
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Behind
the Scenes: Braveheart was
nominated for ten Academy Awards, and won five of them. Mel Gibson
joined the ranks of Warren Beatty, Robert
Redford, Kevin Costner and
Clint
Eastwood, who all won directing Oscar's, whilst the acting honor still eluded
them.
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Mel tries his
own brand of buffoonery, by pulling out his list of people to
thank! |
Braveheart's win seemed
like a surprise, in that this film did the least amount of campaigning,
in what turned out to be a milestone year for Oscar campaigns
everywhere. Gibson was competing during interesting
times. His rivals included a pig, a British women, and of
course, the great Miramax machine, who by this time, were writing yet
another chapter in their book on how to get an Oscar. The
Academy was already clamping down on creative campaign strategies that
seemed to influence previous years. This year it was duly
noted that gift giving, and the like, which Miramax was known for, was
to stop. Video cassettes of films in contention could be given to
Academy members, but there were clear rules as to how those videos could
be presented. This
year, Miramax promoted the hell out of Il Postino, yet managed to stay
within the new guidelines. Their strategy - capitalize on the
tragic success story that went on behind the scenes. Il
Postino is a gorgeous little film that stands well on its own, but who
could resist schmaltz that went into making it. The
film seemed to face a number of obstacles, including a smack in the face
by Italy, when it was eliminated by its homeland for contention in the
Foreign Language category, (where it would surely have won) on the basis
that the director was British. The
coupe de gras was with its lead actor and writer. Massimo Troisi
was hardly the name that Mel Gibson was, but his own personal conviction
to the film was a true inspiration to film lovers everywhere. The
actor postponed heart surgery to make his movie, and would later die as
a result. He would become the third actor in history to receive a nomination
posthumously. Mel
Gibson and his epic, Braveheart may have taken home the trophies that
evening, but the victory seemed to belong to the smaller films.
Indies made inroads that year in the acting categories, and through the
mere fact that so many were in contention for Oscar's.
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Nicholas Cage is
Best Actor for playing a drunk, and Susan Sarandon is Best Actress
for playing a nun. |
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| Emma Thompson
had just got back from visiting Jane Austin's grave, where
discussed her film's grosses with the dead writer. |
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