Here are the five nominees: (Winner in Bold)
Cabaret
Deliverance
The Emigrants
The Godfather
Sounder
Biggest Snub:
My Overall Thoughts:
This was a pretty competitive year and the two top films according to most critics are such very different movies that they usually split most of the awards during the season.
In retrospect, there is no question which is the better of the two films, but the fact that they both split Picture/Director awards says so much about the minds of the voters at the time.
My Rankings:
Movies
- 5. – The Emigrants – Extremely boring three hour Swedish epic that has a simplistic story but some amazing camera shots of landscapes
- 4. – Sounder -Film about a young boy’s coming of age in the south during the depression after his father is arrested for stealing food. A better book than film tho.
- 3. – Cabaret – Flashy and fun musical that shows how talented Minnelli and Gray are. The story isn’t as good as the music tho.
- 2. – Deliverance – After 5 friends get in to trouble while on a hunting vacation, they must find a way to survive when they are stalked by the locals.
- 1. – The Godfather – One of the best movies ever. It depicts the way a family of gangsters keep hold over organized crime in NYC.
Do I agree with the Oscar winner? – Most Definitely. As far as films go, they usually don’t get better than The Godfather and Coppola showed here how great a director he could be. None of the other films are as impactful on the history of films as The Godfather was and despite it having much competition from Cabaret and Bob Fosse that year, the voters eventually made the right decision
Let me know what you think about these films and my rankings!