It’s raining awards in the US. As for us, should we consider this proven model of making people go see movies they otherwise wouldn’t see?
What is our equivalent of the Oscars? Every year, this question sits on my lips as I watch awards season unfurl across the US, a big red carpet snaking all the way to the Oscar podium. This week, at the 21st annual Gotham Independent Awards, Beginners and The Tree of Life tied for Best Feature. (They could call it “Best Picture,” like everyone else, but then what makes this award for the year’s best picture any different from all those other awards for the year’s best picture?) The rest of the recognitions come bearing equally distinctive names. Felicity Jones won “Breakthrough Actor” for Like Crazy. Dee Rees was recognised as “Breakthrough Director” for Pariah. The award for “Best Ensemble Performance” went to Beginners. Girlfriend got the “Audience Award.” Better This World walked away with the chillingly normal-sounding “Best Documentary.” And – in the tradition of saving the best for last – Scenes of a Crime was honoured for “Best Film Not Playing At A Theater Near You.” They could institute an award for these awards themselves: “Best Awards Not Going To Be Announced At An Oscar Telecast Near You.”
Elsewhere, the Spirit Awards, which honour films made outside the Hollywood studio system, announced their nominations. The Artist and Take Shelter led the pack, followed by Beginners, The Descendants, Drive, and Martha Marcy May Marlene. Finally, The New York Film Critics Circle declared its winners. The Artist – the unlikeliest breakout film in these sensation-addicted climes, a black-and-white silent movie about black-and-white silent movies – won “Best Picture” and “Best Director.” Brad Pitt, who, in the tradition of Paul Newman, has segued from a merely handsome star to a serious actor capable of pulling crowds into almost any kind of movie, was recognised as “Best Actor” for his work in Moneyball and The Tree of Life. And Meryl Streep, who wins acting awards by never letting us forget she’s acting, won for her Margaret Thatcher impersonation in The Iron Lady. This time, it’s a British accent – her 237th, at last count.
These aren’t simply listings of year-end achievements. The other critics’ awards (LA, Chicago, The National Board of Review) will soon be announced, and these whispers of recognition will accumulate into the great roar of the Oscars, the grandest award of them all. Are these lesser-known awards, then, important only because they influence Oscar voters? No. They are significant because they direct the attention of the movie-going public towards non-escapist cinema. Left to its own devices, a starless drama like Martha Marcy May Marlene may not find too many takers, but once the nominated-for tag sticks, it becomes a curiosity. “Everyone’s talking about this film. Let’s see what it’s like.” The lead-up to the Oscars, therefore, is important not because it predicts who will win on the big day – and let’s face it; how many Oscar winners from last year do you instantly recall? – but because it sparks a small fire of excitement that illuminates films without caped crusaders and 3-D imagery.
The pre-Oscar season sees a vital surge of films that aspire to greatness (even if they end up not-so-great), and the success of these films at the marketplace is driven, to a large extent, by these pre-Oscar awards. The awards, themselves, are meaningless, the consecration of apples over oranges and pears. But the strategy of releasing non-summery films late in the year, making a tradition of it so that viewers anticipate these kinds of movies in December, bestows on small and difficult films the opportunity to find an audience. Can we do something similar? Of course, we do not make as many non-summery movies, but if we respected our awards more, can we benefit from this model, where the small films, the difficult films, are released just before the Big Awards Ceremony, and spurred by critical recognition we are driven to seek them out? But that big awards ceremony, that singularly significant recognition of talent – do we have it? Hence my opening question: What is our equivalent of the Oscars?
Lights, Camera, Conversation… is a weekly dose of cud-chewing over what Satyajit Ray called Our Films Their Films. An edited version of this piece can be found here.
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Mohan
December 2, 2011
Went ROFL when, for a second there, I imagined TR hosting our future Oscar-equivalent. 😀
Wow. That would be a sight for sore eyes.
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vikram
December 2, 2011
Our National Awards and Filmfare awards?
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Gradwolf
December 2, 2011
“who wins acting awards by never letting us forget she’s acting”
Sly.
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Tyler Durden
December 3, 2011
In a country like ours with such divided sentiments & regional sensibilities,it’s hard to see the national award winning movies garnering popular interest unless they are , at-least,hindi-speaking.And the pop award shows in India have reduced to the level of being such badly scripted,laughter-challenged,schmaltzy gigs run by the inside-industry mutual admiration societies.The critics-choice awards that run in the middle of these shows are sadly nothing but the 4-10 min boring bit where the viewers can have their extended bio-breaks.
Maybe we don’t have a precedent but can’t we have new critics guild awards constituted outside of the pop-award shows where the movies are awarded for their ‘spirit’ rather than marketing wizardry? Without all the glitz,tuxedos & the canned laughter I wonder how the funding & coverage would work for such events,but at-least if the critics can temporarily log out of their never-ending social media errands,& unite to offer credit where its due,it would be a start,wouldn’t it?
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rameshram
December 4, 2011
http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/the-men-and-woman-behind-kolaveri-di/217598?hp
summa sollakudathu chittappa ponnu ginthila polanthu kattara!
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rameshram
December 5, 2011
sonu nigam’s son.
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Arun
December 7, 2011
Shouldn’t it be more like ‘What is our equivalent to NY film critics circle or National Board of Review awards?’ We have no Oscar, but worse in my opinion is we seem to have very few awards given out that fly in the face of prevailing box office wisdom. As far as Tamil is concerned, I am impressed with Vijay Awards, as they seem to be making an effort to be balanced. They’re not perfect and seem to dig up an award for every superstar who’s made it to the function, but it looks like they’re at least trying to be fair.
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