Vote Ledger
I, for one, hope that Heath Ledger is nominated for and wins the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor next March. He’s been nommed for the Golden Globe and that’s a step in the right direction, but the Globes are generally more populist and eager to notice things beyond the usual award fodder. Now it’s easy to be snobbish and claim that this is a superhero film, a blockbuster, not a ‘proper’ film, but let’s look deeper.
For a start, what is a ‘proper’ film? Can only ‘Schindler’s List’ or ‘The Piano’, etc, qualify as being worthy of being awarded trophies for achievement in movie-making? The Dark Knight can stand next to virtually any film as an outstanding example of writing, directing and acting, not to mention the more technical aspects which action films generally have to excel at. Ledger is monumental here, a towering performance which could be the breakthrough that comic-book films need to be ‘legitimised’. Look back to last year. Javier Bardem won the supporting award for ‘No Country for Old Men’, playing a psychopathic killer on a rampage, with no conscience, doubt or mercy. Sound familiar? Ah, but you can win awards if you star in a Coen Brothers film. They are legitimate. They are award-worthy. I, personally, don’t think ‘No Country…’ has a particular message, a meaning or a point to it all. I have no idea what it’s about; it’s just a cracking good story and I respond to it. Arguably, the Dark Knight has more to say about the world we live in and the debate about how to fight terrorism/anti-social elements/scum, without losing your soul/decency and all that is worthwhile about the society you are trying to protect. How do you stop someone who isn’t afraid of death and just wants to destroy peace and stability?
Spiderman and X-Men (and their superior part 2’s), followed by Batman Begins and now Iron Man have lead the charge of comic books becoming the predominant action blockbusters of the decade only because they are good. If the 80s was the ‘one-man army’ decade (Arnie, Sly, Bruce) and the 90s were all disaster films (Independence Day, Armageddon, Godzilla), the 00’s surely belong to the comic books. This is largely because they have been given to great directors with passion and ideas who have cast good actors (i.e. not Vin Diesel) and they have blown away the competition. Yes, there are still weak superhero films and they are definitely weak blockbusters released every year (so-called event movies, which are no longer really events and are forgotten so soon – I am Legend, The Day After Tomorrow, The Mummy films and anything starring The Rock can all stand up – God knows what else I’ve forgotten; I guess that’s the point). The Dark Knight is merely the pinnacle of these films so far and I pity anyone trying to follow it.
Titanic and Lord of the Rings managed to be both massive box office hits and massive Oscar winners. So did The Silence of the Lambs. The Godfather was the biggest box office hit of all-time (at the time) before it was an Oscar-plated classic. The Fugitive was nominated for Best Picture and it’s a classic Hollywood action thriller.
These are the exceptions. Hollywood, bizarrely, would often choose to ignore its own kind and reward the tiny indie film with a message and only 11 viewers. If that happens to be the best movie of the year, so be it, God bless. But sometimes, just sometimes, the biopic of the black musician who has struggled against oppression and disadvantage might be quite a straightforward, unexceptional example of movie-making and the man with the cape and rubber mask might be starring in the best, most visceral, exciting and thought-provoking thing out there.
I don’t expect a Best Picture nomination, or Best Director (richly deserved though they would be), and things won’t change overnight. Forrest Gump beats Pulp Fiction after all. And why is that exactly? Is Gump more ‘important’ because it mentions Vietnam and Watergate? It isn’t saying anything about those things, or saying much about anything at all really, anymore than Pulp Fiction is really ‘about’ anything. Few would argue now that Gump is the better film. Pulp Fiction may be style over substance, but my god, what style. And sometimes style, on its own, is enough. Or at least it should be every once in a while.
If Ledger does win, the debate will continue. Snobs will say it makes a mockery of awards for excellence in film to reward a comic book movie. Some will say it’s only because he died so young and so tragically. But let’s forget that for one moment and just appreciate a wonderful performance by an exceptional actor. Truly the ‘best performance by an actor in a supporting role’ this year. And, do you wanna know where he got those scars…?
