DO ‘BIOPICS’ PROVIDE A BETTER SHOT AT OSCAR GLORY?

(Quizmaster Phanindra Ivatury from the Netherlands reflects on the increased likelihood of biopics achieving acclaim at the Oscars)

UTRECHT (The Netherlands), May 5 (Bernama) -- Global cinephiles bid adieu to yet another glittering Oscar ceremony in March with Christopher Nolan’s epic biographical thriller Oppenheimer, which depicts the life and times of J. Robert Oppenheimer, an American theoretical physicist who was instrumental in developing the first nuclear weapon during World War II. The biopic swept almost all of the year’s major categories, including Best Picture, Actor, Supporting Actor and Director, thereby landing a bounty of seven Oscars from among the 13 categories in which it was nominated.

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The Wide Divide Between Box Office and Oscar Glory – An Instant Case Study of 2023

In July 2023, the global release of Oppenheimer famously clashed with that of another biggie Barbie, a movie centred on the iconic doll starring Margot Robbie (who is among the highest paid actresses in Hollywood) in the title role.  Both movies simultaneously set the cash registers ringing at the worldwide box office, earning a common reference moniker “Barbenheimer” carved out of their respective titles. 

Barbie which also earned eight Oscar nominations this year, only managed to win one in the “Best Original Song” category.  While Cillian Murphy’s forceful portrayal in (and as) Oppenheimer won him the Best Actor, Robbie who received a thunderous box office response for her turn as Barbie, ended up at the receiving end of a perceived Oscar snub, even missing out on a “Best Actress” nomination. 

Actor Ryan Gosling, who received the “Best Supporting Actor” nomination for playing the famous character “Ken” in the Barbie movie, had bemoaned the lack of recognition for the film’s lead star Robbie and its director, Greta Gerwig, who also failed to receive an Oscar nomination in the “Best Director” category.  Gosling had said: “Against all odds with nothing but a couple of soulless, scantily clad and thankfully crotchless dolls, they made us laugh, they broke our hearts, they pushed the culture and they made history.  Their work should be recognised along with the other very deserving nominees.”

Two highly anticipated movies released simultaneously, garnered global love and appreciation through monetary returns but only one went on to reap the award harvest. Noteworthy here is Oppenheimer is a biopic. Barbie is not. 

‘Biopics’ and Their Love Saga with the Golden Statue

The year 1982 was that time of my adolescent life when an international biopic on a man hailed as the “Father of the Nation” in India caught global attention.  Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (based on the life and times of Mahatma Gandhi) took home eight Academy Awards from among 11 category nominations in 1983.  As a youngster with Indian roots, it was an exhilarating feeling for me to learn about how the Late Bhanu Athaiya became the first Indian to ever win an Oscar when her work as a costume designer for Gandhi fetched her the coveted trophy in the “Best Costume Design” category.

Famous Flourishes

Over the years, biopics kept a steady “nominations/wins ratio” at the Oscars.  To quote a few occurrences, in 1988, The Last Emperor based on the life of Puyi, the final monarch of China won all the nine Oscars it was nominated for;  Steven Speilberg’s Schindler’s List (in 1994) won seven from 12, Mel Gibson’s Braveheart (in 1996) based on the Scottish knight Sir William Wallace won five from 10; A Beautiful Mind (which celebrates the life of American mathematician and Nobel Laureate John Nash) managed half from its eight in 2002, and 12 Years a Slave (based on the moving story of Solomon Northup) won three out of the nine Oscar nominations it received in 2014. 

A Star’s Debut Ticket to Oscar Paradise

In the current century, ever since Julia Roberts’ maiden “Best Actress” Oscar win in 2001 (for Erin Brockovich), there has been an unmistakable pattern of celebrated actors picking up their first Oscars through portrayals in biopics.  Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club in 2014, Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything in 2015 and Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant in 2016 are some resounding examples of big names striking first Oscar gold that way.

More recently in 2022, notwithstanding the infamous Oscar ceremony slap which host Chris Rock received from Best Actor nominee Will Smith, the actor still went on to win his first Oscar for starring as  Richard Williams, the father and coach of iconic tennis pair Venus and Serena in a biopic named King Richard.

Oscar Bait

“Oscar Bait” is a term which refers to those movies which are probably made with a firm eye on Oscar glory.  Biopics in general entail extensive detailing, character arks akin to real life, physical transformation of actors and blending of real story to reel.  All such dynamics coupled with multiple other convincing facets probably aid the “biopic” to emerge as a pre-eminent genre appealing to the interests of Academy voters.

Going back to where I started, even if one overlooks the fact that Robbie’s money spinning Barbie act has slipped off the Oscar nomination radar this year (as her colossal blockbusters continue to amass millions for the studios), it would rather be intriguing to reminisce that she earned her first ever Oscar nomination in 2018 for her biopic portrayal as American figure skater Tonya Harding in the 2017 movie I, Tonya.

To more biopics.  To more Oscar glory.

-- BERNAMA