The Academy Awards nominations were announced last week, and once again the voting body comprised of 6,000 members checked off all the familiar boxes: #OscarsSoWhite Part Deux? Check. A rebuffing of any dark-horse nominees (Michael Shannonin99 Homes,Paul DanoinLove & Mercy,Jason MitchellinStraight Outta Comptonto name a few) so each category reflects exactly what the early Oscar forecast predicted they’d be months ago? Check. The further memefication ofLeonardo DiCaprio’s war of attrition against himself to finally strike Best Actor gold? Check. Overall, another by-the-numbers ceremony in a year full of radical, box-smashing filmmaking.
It’s the last bullet point in my jeremiad above that inspires this piece. DiCaprio, now a five-time nominee at the chipper age of 41, is widely trumpeted as a victim of ritualistic sacrifice from constant Oscar oversight. I’d beg to differ. I wish the public cacophony centered on cinematographer par excellence, the man nominated an astoundingthirteentimes without a single win since his first nomination twenty years ago forThe Shawshank Redemption:Roger Deakins. I get that Best Cinematography isn’t as sexy a category as Best Actor, and that Deakins himself isn’t as sexy a man as DiCaprio, but c’mon already.
At the risk of controversy I’ll say no one has done more for the visual vocabulary of modern cinema than Deakins. Opting for undecorated realism over the ornate technical wizardry employed by, say, anEmmanuel Lubezki(Birdman), Deakins captures the true interdependence between visual elements and thematic truths without drawing attention the camera or himself. From the rustic, death-dealing landscapes of Texas and New Mexico inNo Country For Old Men, to the sweeping vistas of Morocco inKundun,Deakins has a master’s instinct for wresting every ounce of tension, heart, humor, or beauty in every frame. Not a single shot is wasted, nor is one ever weighed down by overambitious technique. Deakins creates iconography without drowning out narrative. He has the rare gift of realizing striking images that can be celestial, yet chilling and grimy at the same time.
On the heels of his thirteenth Best Cinematography nomination for his claustrophobic, silhouetted interiors and boundless Mexican exteriors inSicario, here are four films for which I believe Deakins should’ve won that elusive Oscar already.
The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)
Lost to:Andrew LesnieforThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The chips were stacked against Deakins here. A Best Picture nominee (with multiple others),Peter Jackson’s first installment inThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy set a new precedent for visual effects that transcended the fantasy genre. Contrasted with simple yet immaculately framed black-and-white neo-noir elements of theCoen Brothers’The Man Who Wasn’t There, Deakins’ quiet work on a film that grossed only $7 million domestically was bound to get overlooked. But Deakins should’ve been rewarded for pushing the textural limits of what monochrome movies can not onlylooklike, but alsofeellike. With intimate close-ups on his actor’s faces and expressions, Deakins madeThe Man Who Wasn’t Therefeel like a 1940s Hollywood classic, illuminating the darkness of characters and narrative with a loving glow.
The Man Who Wasn’t Thereremains one of the Coen Brothers’ most overlooked pictures, and Deakins’ cinematography was the film’s only nomination. It was just another opportunity for Deakins to further prove just how deftly he can hit minor keys and intricate genre details with equal aplomb.
The Reader (2008)
Lost to:Anthony MantleforSlumdog Millionaire
I might be in the minority here, butThe Readerthe movie did not doThe Readerthe novel any justice. Aside fromKate Winslet’s tour de force performance and Roger Deakins’ splendid photography, the film ultimately feels emotionally manipulative; the kind of Oscar bait that loves telling the viewers how they should feel at every turn. Deakins was able to elevate this Lifetime movie to genuine importance with his use of a desaturated color palette that madeThe Readerfeel less like a somber Holocaust movie and more like an intricately detailed courtroom sketch that came to life. Unfortunately the kinetic, kaleidoscopicSlumdog Millionaireabsorbed all of the Academy’s attention, with awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing, and, of course, Best Cinematography.
Fargo (1996)
Lost to:John SealeforThe English Patient
A small, snowy Minnesota comedy competing against a sweeping desert epic, Deakins found himself in another David vs. Goliath bout. Perhaps I’m a bit naïve to say this shouldn’t have been such a cut-and-dry expectation forThe English Patient(also the Best Picture winner that year) to win for its cinematography. The minimal scope ofFargo’s story and setting allowed Deakins to provide a melancholic antithesis toThe English Patient’slush, gorgeous visuals.Fargowas stripped down, bare and frigid, and it was the perfect backdrop for the Coen Brothers’ humor and surreally quirky characters to pop as brightly and memorably as they did. Deakins plays to the genre, to the directors, and to the actors, never getting in their way.
I hate clichés, but Deakins’ work here was a prime example of how less can be more. WithFargo,Deakins took the dreamlike simplicity of flyover country and carved out a hilarious hell-on-earth.
Skyfall (2012)
Lost to:Claudio MirandaforLife of Pi
Oh, the beautiful blockbuster. Critics bicker back and forth about whereSkyfallranks amongst theDaniel Craig-led Bond canon, but I think we can all agree that it’s the best-lookingBond, no? This was only Deakins’ second time shooting on digital and there’s a heightened sense of immediacy and brio within each action sequence. Deakins hit each end of the color spectrum with aplomb: the vibrant greens and blues of the countryside as they whip by during the opening train fight, to the gloomy, dank insides of Bond’s home during the final climatic shootout – all captured with stunning clarity. When the fight spills into the outdoors, the scenery feels as stylized as it does real, much like Deakins was able to pull off inJarhead.
Life of Piwon for Best Director and Best Cinemtography that year, but to this day I maintain that nothing fromAng Lee’s mystical Malick-esque dreamscape enthralled me more than the pristinely psychedelic lighting of the Shanghai set piece in theSkyfallclip above.
