The Celluloid Ceiling

I found an article in The Sunday Times culture supplement called 'The Celluloid Ceiling' and I wanted to write about it, not only because of my interest in the subject but also because of the glaring hypocrisy that the article seems to create, along with it's apparent obliviousness to it.

The article, written to coincide with this year Oscars, is about women in the film industry.

As more female writers than ever were nominated in the screenplay categories this year (4 out of the 10 nominated) and Diablo Cody wins for Juno, the article begins by drawing links on the subject matter that the women writers have chosen to cover. They are all realistic, socially relevant, character pieces that reach a level of intimacy not obtained in the scripts written by men. So how is it, with such an abundance of talent, that the same does not apply to nominations for female directors?

Only three women have ever been nominated in the Best Director category at the Oscars; Sofia Coppola (who has the massive advantage of being the daughter of Frances Ford Coppola), Jane Campion and Lina Wertmuller. No woman has ever won.

After quoting some statistics it is easy to see why the article thinks it is hard for women to be nominated: they just don't direct enough films (6% of films made in 2007 had a female director). And its not just the numbers that are blighting them. Just as with the screenplays, women only seem to direct character driven, female centric films, romantic comedies or documentaries. Is this because that's all that women WANT to direct? Speaking to female director Callie Khouri we find out that she believes the blame lies with the studios.

Because the majority of a cinema audience is male, studios just don't trust women with the big budget or themes when they feel a male director will better understand its audience. It then becomes clear that there is a direct correlation between this and the films women direct. They may be more closely linked to issues relevant to women but they are also much cheaper to produce.

OK, so where does the article's hypocrisy come in? Well, the article was written by a man. You only have to take a scan of the staff list inside any film magazine to notice just how many men are writing about films, and just how few women. Can you name a female film critic? chances are you stopped at Janet Street-Porter, and even she only ever does it occasionally.

Is this because women don't care about movies enough to get there? Are we really all far more concerned with fashion and gossip? Or could it be that because the readership of film publications is mostly male, the editors just don't trust female writers to be able to write for a male audience as proficiently as a man can. Do women only want write about chick flicks and famous film stars? I know I don't, but I'm starting to wonder if that might be the ceiling I'm going to hit.

Something tells me this is going to be harder than I thought.


Coxy


See http://moviesbywomen.com/stats_celluloid_ceiling_2005.php for more statistical information.

Article:
Christopher Goodwin, 'The Celluloid Ceiling', The Sunday Times. 24th February 2008.

The Oscars 2008 - Results and Opinion

I'd like to start this post with something of a disclaimer: just because I picked someone as being the person who I thought should win an award does not mean that I think the person who DID win didn't deserve to do so. I think that this year that there wasn't a single nominee in any category, actor or film, who didn't deserve to be there. I'm just telling you how I would have voted had the Academy put a form in front of me and asked me to do so (a girl can dream!).

My choices were picked partly on a sort of justice system. Kind of like the Academy giving Scorcese an Oscar for The Departed when he has made better films in the past, and handing the The Return of the King 11 of them as a way to make up for the previous two winning precious little. But I also picked them on their own individual merits and how much I enjoyed them.

Best Film: my choice - Atonement; Academy's choice - No Country For Old Men.
I chose Atonement for two main reasons, 1: its British, and 2: Joe Wright. British films do notoriously poorly at the Oscars in the best film category and I think Atonement is a fantastic film, adapted from a fantastic book. Its play on the heritage genre, and its sharp, cold, and stark portrayal of the character's lives, along with THAT tracking shot on the beach, make it one of the most memorable and moving films of the year. I also picked it because I felt that Joe Wright, a brilliant British talent and excellent director, was snubbed in the Best Director category, so I wanted this to win Best Film as recompense for that.

Lead Actor: my choice - Viggo Mortensen; Academy's choice - Daniel Day-Lewis.
I picked Mortenson for Eastern Promises just because he excites me so much as an actor. In this very physical role, his ability to act with every muscle of his body is shown off to its full effect, and his ability to convey so much through performance means that even if he was mute for the entire film, a huge essence of the character would come through. Each of his roles seem to posses him in some way, so that like a true chameleon he seems to be a perfect fit for any roll he chooses. In my opinion one of the finest and under appreciated actors of his generation. However if he had to lose out on an Oscar to anyone, I couldn't be happier with British actor Daniel Day-Lewis taking the statue. Another extremely fine actor, and an outstanding performance in There Will Be Blood.

Lead Actress: my choice - Julie Christie; Academy's choice - Marion Cotillard
I went British again for this one (I sound like a broken record) but Julie Christie's performance in Away From Her is up there, for me, with her Oscar winning performance in Darling. And after all, if she was good enough then, I figured she was good enough now. But that doesn't do credit to her fellow nominees and Marion Cotillard was equally superb as Edith Piaf, so I can't really complain!

Best Director: my choice - Joel and Ethan Coen; Academy's choice - Joel and Ethan Coen!
To be honest I picked them because there's two of them and they're great and I am a huge fan. Even if they had made Norbit I would have wanted them to win (not that they would have, of course, but you get my drift). For once the Academy agreed!

There are 4 more of the 12 categories that I made choices for that the Academy also agreed with me on. I am extremely happy that Ratatouille, Sweeney Todd, The Bourne Ultimatum and Juno all won. I think they were the right choice in each of their categories and, for those nominated at least, on the night, the Academy got it more or less right.

Coxy

The Oscars 2008

Since when has "Who are you wearing?" been an acceptable thing to ask someone?

Because, aside from the fact that I can't help but think of Jeepers Creepers every time I hear Joan Rivers screech it at someone, quite frankly, who cares?

Although its easy to see that the whole event is descending into little more than a beauty pageant, there is still a morsel of dignity and value to winning an Oscar and you would think they could at least pretend to care about the films.

Right, rant over. Down to business. I'm going to keep this post simple and just give you two lists. The first one is going to be who I would like to win in the top categories (having not seen some in the documentary/ short/ foreign categories I really can't form an opinion, however I will guess for my prediction list!), and the second one is who I think actually will win, just for the record. I'll leave my choices hanging in cyberspace to provoke thought and I'll post again tomorrow to justify my choices in the big categories and talk about those that actually did win. And who knows, the Academy has surprised us before, this year those two might even be the same thing!

Coxy's choices:

• Best film - There Will Be Blood


• Best director - Joel and Ethan Coen


• Lead actor - Viggo Mortenson


• Lead actress - Julie Christie


• Supporting actor - Casey Affleck


• Supporting actress - Saoirse Ronan


• Animated feature - Ratatouille


• Art direction - Sweeney Todd


• Cinematography - Atonement


• Editing - Bourne Ultimatum


• Original screenplay - Juno


• Adapted screenplay - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Coxy's Predictions: (updated: all those I got right are marked with an asterisk)

• Lead actor - Daniel Day-Lewis *


• Supporting actor - Javier Bardem *


• Lead actress - Marion Cotillard *


• Supporting actress - Cate Blanchett


• Animated feature - Ratatouille *


• Art direction - There Will Be Blood


• Cinematography - The Assassination of Jesse James


• Costume design - Atonement


• Director - Paul Thomas Anderson


• Documentary feature - Sicko


• Documentary short - Sari's Mother


• Editing - The Bourne Ultimatum *


• Foreign language - Counterfeiters *


• Make up - Pirates of the Caribbean


• Music score - Atonement *


• Song - That's How You Know - Enchanted


• Best picture - No Country for Old Men *


• Animated short - Peter and the Wolf *


• Live action short - The Tonto Woman


• Sound editing - The Bourne Ultimatum *


• Sound mixing - 3.10 to Yuma


• Visual effects - Transformers


• Adapted screenplay - Atonement


• Original screenplay - Juno *

Coxy