Here are the five nominees: (Winner in Bold)
Biggest Snub:
Paul Mazursky – An Unmarried Woman
My Overall Thoughts:
This is another year with 5 great nominees yet one is slightly better than the others in presenting such a complex story that really hit hard for many people because the ideas are still quite fresh in most people’s minds.
My Rankings:
Directing
5. Woody Allen
4. Alan Parker
3. Warren Beatty and Buck Henry
2. Hal Ashby
1. Michael Cimino
Movies
5. Interiors – Allen does an amazing job with this drama which shows the effects on family members when they realize that things are changing when the adult parents choose to split up. Excellent cast help us understand the internal and external conflicts that each of the characters face over the course of the story. Allen does a great job tackling a non-comedy and proves his range as a director. His nomination for an Oscar for Best Direction was definitely warranted even in such a powerful year.
4. Midnight Express – Powerful story of having to deal with such a horrendous sentence for a mistake. The way that the prison system is shown to us can make anyone scared of committing a crime there. Stone showed even here how great a storyteller he can be which is no surprise once you realize that he wrote this script.
3. Coming Home – Excellent anti-war film that deals with soldiers returning to their lives after seeing combat. Great performances by everyone involved. Voight and Fonda won Oscars for this movie.
2. Heaven Can Wait – Beatty and Henry wrote a superb modern adaptation of Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) that is funnier and even more poignant than the original. Excellent cast keeps this funny yet interesting. Loved the chemistry between Beatty and Christie but the best relationship actually is between Beattty and Warden. Such a fun premise gets done right here.
1. The Deer Hunter – Very well made movie, but be warned that it’s very powerful. cast is superb and it really hits the mark over and over at how difficult the war was for the men who fought in it and for the families and loved one waiting for their return.
Do I agree with the Oscar winner? – Most Definitely! TDH is an amazing film and was quite groundbreaking at the time since it depicted the horrors of war both physically and mentally on those men and women who needed to go through so much.
Let me know what you think about these films and my rankings!
