Oscar: Democratic Distribution and Absence of a Great Film?

For some, the fact that all the main award nominees at the unusually elegant Oscar party, except “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” may have gotten at least one statue — leaving none at the end of the ceremony for other films like in other years — a film that scored a heavy victory indicates that the crop of 2012 was of exceptional quality. From the base of the same observation, others interpret that, in the absence of a great outstanding film of the season (either because there wasn’t one or because it wasn’t discovered at the time of the nominations), the members of the Academy preferred simply to award the best individual performance in each category. A very similar production would also explain, for example, that there might have been many changes of humor in the votes — or many advances and setbacks in the prognostications made by professional predictors — from when the nominees were announced on January 10 until the time of the ceremony.

Forty days ago, everyone assumed that “Lincoln,” by Spielberg, would triumph, although a few also reserved their tickets for the hunt for bin Laden, reconstructed by Kathryn Bigelow, or for the anticipated spaghetti Western from Tarantino, despite the fact that neither of the two were Oscar nominees for best director. Few, instead, had bet on “Argo.” However, Ben Affleck, whom the Academy had also ignored in the category, received the Critics’ Choice Award that evening in January for best film and for best director; soon the Golden Globes and honors from producers, directors, actors and writers were added, besides those from the British Academy, while certain historic distortions in Spielberg’s and Bigelow’s films were questioned. (Affleck, however, made the proper clarification with respect to the liberty that he took in recreating the famous Hollywood rescue of the hostages in Iran.) There is also a detail that should not be overlooked, about which the Oscar is very sensitive: Remember that “The Artist” beat “Hugo” last year (which also talked about film, but that of Méliès). Hollywood has direct participation in the history that is told. So things began to change.

When the award show started, “Argo’s” win for best film was already as certain as the wins that Daniel Day-Lewis, Anne Hathaway and “Amour” (foreign-language film) had from the beginning, though it was noted that it was the second film in 80 years that was going to win the Oscar without having its producer nominated. And it was already easy to infer that that statue would go to Ang Lee, not only for his admirable work in “Life of Pi,” but because he seems to be an Academy favorite: He had already won the award for best foreign film with “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and the one for best director with “Brokeback Mountain.” Parallels and asymmetries at random: The two titles that gave the Oscar for best director to Ang Lee did not win in the best film category. He shares this with George Stevens, who went through the same experience with “A Place in the Sun” (1951) and “Giant” (1956).