By Francisco Peyret
Awards of any kind are always controversial, because it is impossible to satisfy everyone, even when there is a consensus majority. Everything has changed in film production since the entry of platforms like Netflix. Until recently, award-qualifying films were those presented for the first time in movie theaters, and the Oscar awards chose the best of those each year. With the entry of streaming platforms, it is not necessarily so anymore. Many films no longer reach traditional movie theaters. Currently, the multiple streaming choices offer a seemingly endless number of movies, series, and documentaries. It often seems impossible to make a good selection; which may be a good thing for us in some ways. In past film festivals, it was easier to follow favorite directors like Scorsese, Allen, Coppola, Fellini, Kurosawa, or Wenders. They were always there, on the cinema catwalks, and even if they did not win, their presence gave us a clue about their new films.
On many occasions, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), seemed to award the symbolic statuette to the wrong film. Many films now considered classics, and form part of film history, were originally Oscar losers at the awards ceremony. We have many notable examples, like the cult film “Citizen Kane,” directed by Orson Wells. It was nominated for nine academy awards, but won only one: an Oscar for best original screenplay. The film, however, marked a watershed in the way of making movies. Another notable case is that of Martin Scorsese, who won the Palme d’Or at Cannes with “Taxi Driver,” (1976), and was always among the Oscar nominees, but it took 40 years for the Academy to award him the Oscar as best director, and best film for “The Departed,” (2007). From my point of view, “The Raging Bull,” (1980), is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen, but it lost the Oscar to a Robert Redford movie, “Ordinary People,” (1980), which no one remembers anymore.
We also have cases like that of Stanley Kubrick, who has several film classics in his filmography: “Dr. Strangelove,” “A Clockwork Orange,” “Barry Lyndon,” but only won an Oscar for special effects in 1969 for “2001: A Space Odyssey.” In the list of the biggest losers of the Oscar for the top awards for best film, or best director, we have a long list: Quentin Tarantino, Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Altman, Charles Chaplin, Orson Wells, David Lynch, and Sydney Lumet, among others. Finally, it is evident that with or without awards, even amid the sea of information and streaming platforms—where it often seems impossible to find high-quality films—we will find the best ways to discover the new classics. The history of cinema has shown that it is impossible to outshine true genius. In the end, festivals and awards are like a bit of seasoning added to a dish called cinema; a final touch that makes the dish complete.
