Tag: 1917

2020 Oscars Winners

The 2020 Oscars just wrapped up and Parasite makes history as it becomes the first foreign language film to win Best Picture and rightfully so. Parasite won the most awards for the evening as it won four, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film. Also, 1917 , which was the front runner to win Best Picture, won three awards. Finally, Ford v Ferrari, Joker, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood all won two awards each. Unfortunately, not everyone can win an award as The Irishman walked away with no awards out of ten nominations, tying a record of most nominations without any wins. But without further ado, here are the winners of the 92nd Academy Awards:

Best Picture
“Ford v Ferrari”
“The Irishman”
“Jojo Rabbit”
“Joker”
“Little Women”
“Marriage Story”
“1917”
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
“Parasite” WINNER

Best Director
Martin Scorsese (“The Irishman”)
Todd Phillips (“Joker”)
Sam Mendes (“1917”)
Quentin Tarantino (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”)
Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”) WINNER

Best Actor
Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”)
Leonardo DiCaprio (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”)
Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”)
Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”) WINNER
Jonathan Pryce (“The Two Popes”)

Best Actress
Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”)
Scarlett Johansson (“Marriage Story”)
Saoirse Ronan (“Little Women”)
Charlize Theron (“Bombshell”)
Renee Zellweger (“Judy”) WINNER

Supporting Actor
Tom Hanks (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”)
Anthony Hopkins (“The Two Popes”)
Al Pacino (“The Irishman”)
Joe Pesci (“The Irishman”)
Brad Pitt (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) WINNER

Supporting Actress
Kathy Bates, “Richard Jewell”
Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”) WINNER
Scarlett Johansson (“Jojo Rabbit”)
Florence Pugh (“Little Women”)
Margot Robbie (“Bombshell”)

Adapted Screenplay
Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit”) WINNER
Steve Zaillian (“The Irishman”)
Anthony McCarten (“The Two Popes”)
Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”)
Todd Phillips and Scott Silver (“Joker”)

Best Original Screenplay
Rian Johnson (“Knives Out”)
Noah Baumbach (“Marriage Story”)
Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns (“1917”)
Quentin Tarantino (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”)
Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won (“Parasite”) WINNER

Animated Feature
“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
“I Lost My Body”
“Klaus”
“Missing Link”
“Toy Story 4” WINNER

International Feature Film
“Corpus Christi”
“Honeyland”
“Les Miserables”
“Pain and Glory”
“Parasite” WINNER

Best Documentary
“American Factory” WINNER
“The Cave”
“Edge of Democracy”
“For Sama”
“Honeyland”

Best Cinematography
“The Irishman”
“Joker”
“The Lighthouse”
“1917” WINNER
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Best Costume Design
“The Irishman”
“Jojo Rabbit”
“Joker”
“Little Women” WINNER
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Film Editing
“Ford vs. Ferrari” WINNER
“The Irishman”
“Jojo Rabbit”
“Joker”
“Parasite”

Makeup and Hairstyling
“Bombshell” WINNER
“Joker”
“Judy”
“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”
“1917”

Original Score
Hildur Guðnadóttir, “Joker” WINNER
Alexandre Desplat, “Little Women”
Randy Newman, “Marriage Story”
Thomas Newman, “1917”
John Williams, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”

Original Song
I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,” “Toy Story 4”
“I’m Gonna Love Me Again,” “Rocketman” WINNER
“I’m Standing With You,” “Breakthrough”
“Into the Unknown,” “Frozen 2”
“Stand Up,” “Harriet”

Production Design
“The Irishman”

“Jojo Rabbit”

“1917”

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” WINNER

“Parasite”

Sound Editing
“Ford v Ferrari” WINNER
“Joker”
“1917”
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”

Sound Mixing
“Ad Astra”
“Ford vs. Ferrari”
“Joker”
“1917” WINNER
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

Visual Effects
“Avengers: Endgame”
“The Irishman”
“The Lion King”
“1917” WINNER
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”

Documentary (Short Subject)
“In the Absence”
“Learning to Skateboard in a War Zone If You’re a Girl” WINNER
“Life Overtakes Me”
“St. Louis Superman”
“Walk Run Cha-Cha”

Short Film (Animated)
“Daughter”
“Hair Love”
“Kitbull”
“Memorable”
“Sister”

Short Film (Live Action)
“Brotherhood”
“Nefta Football Club”
“The Neighbor’s Window” WINNER
“Saria”
“A Sister”

1917 Film Review

Directed by Sam Mendes

Starring: Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays

Rated R for violence, some disturbing images, and language

“1917” is a war drama, directed by Sam Mendes, in which two British soldiers (played by Dean-Charles Chapman and George MacKay) have to deliver a message to stop an upcoming battle. Set in the first World War, the two men will travel through trenches and hell to deliver this message in order to save the lives of others, including of the men’s own brother.

“1917” is not your typical war film, as it has two features that make it stand out from the crowd. First, it is a film about the first World War, a war that is not explored too often in film. Second, it is filmed to be like a long take, almost like how “Birdman” did six years ago. The cinematography is great and its all due to the amazing Roger Deakins. The single take was impressive and I was certainly in awe of it. But I didn’t like it as much as I thought I was going to be. This is not to dismiss the cinematography or the work of Sam Mendes, but I found myself looking where the edits were. The reason why for this is because “Birdman” did this years ago and so have films before that. Did I enjoy the single take shot? Yes, it was fascinating to watch, but I did not enjoy it as much as I hoped.

In addition to the excellent camera work, Sam Mendes proves why he is such a great director. He realistically shows the horrors of war and what these young men had to put with 100 years ago. But Mendes’ work is accompanied by Thomas Newman’s score, a frequent collaborator of Mendes. It’s not a controversial thing to say that Newman always delivers a strong score and “1917” is no exception. Newman as always finds the right notes to put on the screen and does so effectively.

Finally, we cannot forget the two actors who are the main stars of the film. Both Dean-Charles Chapman and George MacKay give strong and emotional performances as two men who are just trying to deliver orders, all while staying alive. When the men were afraid, we were afraid, when they let their guard down, we also did the same. Mendes has mentioned that he wanted unknowns for his film, but we can only hope that “1917” is a start of something tremendous for the two actors. In additon to Chapman and MacKay, we have familiar names such as Colin Firth, Mark Strong, and Andrew Scott. The big names in the film are almost cameo roles and are only on screen for a few minutes. They do a great job for the minutes they are on screen, but there is not much of note for those actors.

Overall, “1917” is a realistic war film that will certainly impress the audience. I personally wasn’t the biggest fan of the single take but I certainly have much respect for the film for going there and having beautiful shots when they are present on screen. The end credits of the film show that “1917” is a dedication to his grandfather, who served in the war. I cannot think of a better dedication to the men of the Great War than “1917”, a film that shows the horrors of war.

3.5/4