The race to next year’s Academy awards came into clearer perspective this weekend as the 42nd Telluride film festival unspooled its awards-friendly lineup of hard-hitting dramas and period biopics.
Sandwiched between the Venice and Toronto festivals, both of which also screen Oscar-hopeful fare (Venice recently premiered Tom Hooper’s new bid for hardware, The Danish Girl, which next screens at Tiff), Telluride boasts fantastic Oscar odds: six of the last seven best picture winners premiered at the festival – four of them (Slumdog Millionaire, The King’s Speech, Argo, 12 Years a Slave) were world premieres.
No slam-dunk screenings occurred at this year’s edition to rival the rapturous receptions 12 Years a Slave and Birdman received in years past, but a number of films – including Steve Jobs and Spotlight – made strong impressions, and will surely factor into the race to Oscar night.
The sure bets
Steve Jobs had everything going for it going into Telluride. And it delivered, emerging as the probable frontrunner among the pack. Directed by Oscar-winner Danny Boyle (who also received a career tribute at the event), written by The Social Network scriptwriter Aaron Sorkin and starring Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs is fast-paced, smart entertainment – the kind Academy voters that love.
Fassbender is commanding as the Apple maverick, with Winslet and Jeff Daniels both providing solid supporting turns that merit consideration. Sorkin’s script is expectedly very talky, but it also surprises with an ingenious three-act structure that defies the typical biopic template.
David Fincher was originally slated to direct the project, but Boyle manages to put his own distinct imprint on it: the film has Boyle’s characteristic frenetic energy, and boasts colourful visuals. Sorkin’s treatment and Boyle’s pacing lend Steve Jobs a creative edge that drew comparison’s to recent Oscar-winner Birdman.
Likely major nominations: Best picture, director, actor (Fassbender), supporting actress (Winslet), screenplay.
Following a strong showing at Venice, Tom McCarthy’s bracing account of the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer prizewinning investigation into a massive child molestation cover-up within the local Catholic archdiocese earned similarly rave notices at Telluride. Expertly paced and acted by a stellar ensemble led by Michael Keaton, Spotlight is robust entertainment that emerged as a favourite among festivalgoers.
Likely major nominations: Best picture, supporting actor (Keaton), screenplay.
Emma Donaghue’s novel was never going to make for an easy film to watch, and yet despite the grim nature of the material – a mother and son confined by a kidnapper – Lenny Abrahamson’s adaptation managed to win over critics and audiences at Telluride, largely thanks to Brie Larson’s raw performance as a woman abducted and raped at a young age. Newcomer Jacob Tremplay, playing her son, is arguably the lead of the film, and astonishes with a remarkably assured turn for such a young performer.
Likely major nominations: Best actress (Larson), supporting actor (Tremblay).
Already a hit at Cannes, Todd Haynes’s lush period lesbian romance Carol arrived in Telluride with plenty of goodwill. Rooney Mara, who plays a young store clerk who falls for Cate Blanchett’s regal housewife, tied to win best actress honors at Cannes. She continued her victory run at the festival, receiving a career tribute despite her young age. In the months since its Cannes premiere, Mara’s performance has come into focus as the standout of the two for its remarkable subtlety and precision. Blanchett is terrific as always, but Mara’s haunting gaze lingers even longer in the mind.
Likely major nominations: Best picture, director, actress (Mara), screenplay.
Another major hit with critics at Cannes, where it won the runner-up prize to the Palme d’Or, Son of Saul stopped by Telluride to devastate audiences and build momentum. The intense Holocaust drama achieved both goals, earning further acclaim for Géza Röhrig’s deeply felt debut performance as a Hungarian-Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz tasked with a horrifying duty, and the amazing work by first-time feature director László Nemes.
Likely major nominations: Best foreign language feature.
Possibilities
After debuting to good word of mouth in Venice, Scott Cooper’s gangster epic Black Mass played in Telluride. As rumoured, Johnny Depp makes a hell of a comeback as Irish/American Boston crime lord Whitey Bulger, and should factor into the best actor race for his transformative and eerie turn. Matching him every step of the way is Joel Edgerton, who’s having a great year, having just released his stellar directorial debut, The Gift. Edgerton has the less showy role as a corrupt FBI agent, but he’s arguably the lead of the thriller, and holds the entire enterprise together with deft assuredness.
Possible major nominations: Best actor (Johnny Depp), supporting actor (Joel Edgerton).
Carey Mulligan gives a layered and powerful performance as a young mother who fights for equality in the late 19th century by joining the Women’s Social and Political Union. The film is well-intentioned and moving in parts, but unfortunately lacks the urgency that made similarly themed historical dramas like Selma feel bracingly current. Meryl Streep always helps boost a film’s Oscar chances, and while she leaves a lasting impression as the founder of the movement, Emmeline Pankhurst, she only appears in a few minutes of screen-time, and probably won’t factor into the race.
Possible major nominations: Best actress (Mulligan), screenplay.
Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay drew further raves for their performances in 45 Years, months after winning acting prizes at Berlinale for their work as a long-married couple whose relationship is put under severe stress. Andrew Haigh’s accomplished follow-up to his gay romance Weekend is too small and subtle to go the distance this awards season, but Rampling, who has yet to score an Oscar nomination, shouldn’t go ignored.
Possible major nominations: Best actress (Rampling).
Of the documentaries to premiere at Telluride this year, He Named Me Malala was the most high-profile due to its subject, Pakistani Nobel Peace prizewinner Malala Yousafzai, and pedigree (it’s directed by Davis Guggenheim, Oscar-winner for An Inconvenient Truth). Although audience reaction was strong, reviews were tepid at best, with the Guardian’s Catherine Shoard saying: “it is all but impossible for such a study to not stray into hagiography, and Guggenheim doesn’t really put up much of a fight.”
Possible major nomination: Best documentary feature.
