Films in 2019—Beyond the Oscars
It is perhaps a rite of passage for every cinema-lover to realize that the Oscars are not some objective source for the ranking of the best films of the year.
Obviously, art is subjective, and even film critics themselves disagree with which film is “better” than the other. For instance, Green Book sparked controversy at the Oscars just last year. When it won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, many considered the win to be a snub, mentioning how other nominated films deserved to win instead.
Still, there are still thousands upon thousands of high-caliber films that aren’t even considered as nominees each year for the most prestigious awards ceremony in the world.
In 2019, I watched quite a few films, many of which I enjoyed, but three in particular stuck out to me.
First was The Lighthouse, directed by Robert Eggers. Shot completely in 35mm black-and-white film, this film brought a refreshing spin on the Greek story of Prometheus with a 19th-century-esque aesthetic rarely seen today. The Lighthouse is gritty, both in its photography style and depiction of its two main characters. At first, it’s easy to be confused about what exactly the message is—dialogue only appears 15 minutes in, and most of it is drunk ramblings around the dinner table, and old fishermen songs in such a heavy New England accent that the characters are nearly unintelligible. Sure, Lighthouse may start out slow and strange, but it accelerates quickly in the middle, ultimately ending on a peculiar note, leaving one dumbfounded yet amazed. Out of these three films, The Lighthouse was the most fun to analyze—there are limitless ways to interpret it.
Second came Portrait of a Lady on Fire, directed by Céline Sciamma, a French film depicting the love story between two women in the late 18th century. If there is one word that has been frequently used in conversations about the film’s cinematography, it’s “gaze,” and the clever use of it that is employed throughout each scene involving the two lovers. In Portrait of a Lady on Fire, one of the women is hired to paint the other’s wedding portrait without her knowing. Although at first, each glance from the painter is presumably purposed for this difficult job, it eventually becomes a heartbreaking symbol for the love between the two women destined to end due to the social expectations of the time. Heartbreaking as the premise of this film is, one of the things I loved about Portrait of a Lady on Fire was the way that each seemingly ordinary scene in the film seems to all come together and make sense at the powerful end. Every line and look has its purpose and artfulness.
Lastly was Honey Boy, directed by Alma Har'el, which illustrates the complicated relationship between child actor Otis and his alcoholic, abusive, and emotionally unstable father. Perhaps the most unexpected and down-to-earth of these three films, Honey Boy’s plot and setting are reminiscent of earlier films like The Florida Project and Lady Bird, both of which intimately portray American poverty and parenthood from interesting perspectives. All of the performances in Honey Boy were astonishingly honest, particularly that of Shia LaBeouf, who plays the father in the film. In fact, LaBeouf wrote the screenplay and based the story on his own relationship with his father, whom he is still trying to forgive today for traumas of the past.
Over time, I believe that the cultural significance of a film will always prove itself to history through the number of awards it won. Films like American Psycho, The Big Lebowski, and Zodiac never even earned Academy nominations, but are nonetheless still relevant today.
by ATHENA LI