No Surprises, Please!

Published in Wiener Zeitung
(Austria) on 29 January 2023
by Christina Böck (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Kirsty Low. Edited by Wes Vanderburgh.

 

 

 

There's a kind of rule in Hollywood. We know who will be nominated for the Oscars in advance. Well, not with certainty. After all, it's a huge secret — almost as huge a secret as who will win Best Picture. But all the same, we know. The Oscars take place at the end of the awards season. So, everyone who will win an Oscar has already cleaned up at the BAFTAs, the Golden Globes, etc. As a result, the ceremony is not particularly exciting.

That is why people were so astonished when they saw that the list of Oscar nominees, which was released this week, featured a name that was not on anybody's radar. Andrea Riseborough has a shot at winning the statuette for Best Actress in "To Leslie." This is hardly surprising given her role as an alcoholic single mother in the U.S. who blows her lottery winnings and becomes homeless — classic Oscar material. But Riseborough was not a name on anyone's lips at the preceding awards ceremonies. She was not on any bookmaker's list.

That's good, you could say. They are finally giving a chance to a fresh face instead of one of the usual suspects. You could say that. Or you could launch a review because it's so suspicious that it reeks of corruption among the members, which is what the Academy is now doing. It is sad when predictability is the only conceivable status quo. However, admittedly, that is typical Hollywood.


Bloß keine Überraschungen!

Es ist schon eine Art Gesetz in Hollywood. Wer für die Oscars nominiert wird, weiß man schon vorher. Also nicht fix. Denn es ist ja ein Riesengeheimnis, fast so ein Riesengeheimnis, wie wer den Filmpreis dann gewinnt. Aber man weiß es trotzdem. Denn die Oscars stehen ja am Ende der sogenannten Award Season, also der Preissaison. Also haben alle, die dann einen Oscar gewinnen werden, schon vorher Bafta, Golden Globe et cetera abgesahnt. Das macht die Veranstaltung nicht gerade zu einer übertrieben spannenden. Umso erstaunlicher war, dass unter den Oscar-Nominierungen diese Woche ein Name war, den niemand so wirklich am Schirm hatte. Andrea Riseborough kann nämlich auf eine Statuette als beste Darstellerin in "To Leslie" hoffen. Sieht man sich ihre Rolle an - alleinerziehende und alkoholkranke Mutter in den USA, die einen Lotteriegewinn verjubelt und obdachlos wird - ist das zwar kaum überraschend, so etwas ist klassisches Oscar-Material. Aber Riseborough war kein Thema bei den vorangegangenen Preisverleihungen, kein Buchmacher hatte sie auf der Liste.

Schön, könnte man sagen, endlich einmal bekommt ein frisches Gesicht, das nicht aus dem Kreis der üblichen Verdächtigen stammt, eine Chance. Könnte man. Oder man leitet eine Untersuchung ein, weil das so verdächtig ist, dass es nach Korruption bei den Juroren riecht - wie es die Academy nun macht. Schon traurig, wenn Berechenbarkeit die einzig vorstellbare Normalität ist. Gut, passt aber auch wieder zu Hollywood.
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