12 great films that undeservedly did not receive an Oscar

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Citizen Kane, Taxi Driver, The Green Mile and other films that film academics did not notice.

1. Great dictator

• USA, 1940.
• Comedy, satire, drama.
• Duration: 125 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 4.

A Jewish barber from the fictional state of Tomania receives a shell shock during the First World War. Having lost his memory, he ends up in the hospital for many years. Meanwhile, power in the country is seized by the dictator Adenoid Hinkel, who is very similar to the protagonist. This similarity becomes the reason for both funny and sad situations.

Charlie Chaplin conceived his comedy in 1937, when many people still did not consider Hitler a serious threat, and the United States maintained neutrality with Germany. While the filming of "The Dictator" was going on, a lot had changed in the world, and at the time of release, the Nazis had already occupied France. Hollywood still hesitated whether to release such a controversial picture in the theater. Nevertheless, it went to theaters for 15 weeks.

Despite the audience's love - in the United States, The Great Dictator exceeded its budget by about four times - the film failed at the Oscars. The tape was nominated in five categories at once, but it did not receive any awards then, and the main prize went to "Rebecca" by Alfred Hitchcock.

2. Citizen Kane

• United States, 1941.
• Drama.
• Duration: 119 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 3.

Newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane dies in his home, having managed to finally utter the cryptic words "rosebud". The death of such a famous person causes a violent reaction from the public. Reporter Jerry Thompson is assigned to investigate the deceased's past, and the journalist manages to find out many secret details.

The ingenious self-taught Orson Welles has turned the idea of how to make a movie. A story told from multiple angles, a non-linear plot, a mixture of genres, innovative framing - all this was new in those days. And for the director himself too: I had to learn a lot right during the filming.

Citizen Kane is regularly ranked # 1 in The 100 greatest American films / BBC Culture on a diverse list of the best films of all time. Without him, "In the Last Breath", "Pulp Fiction" and other wonderful works would hardly have appeared. It's funny that in 1942 the Oscar was taken over by the family drama How Green Was My Valley, which is now unlikely to be remembered by many.

Of the nine nominations, Citizen Kane took only the Best Screenplay award, which Orson Welles shared with co-writer Herman Mankiewicz. The history of their relationship, by the way, is very interesting. You can learn it from the biopic "Munk" by David Fincher - also a participant in the Oscar race.

3.12 angry men

• USA, 1956.
• Drama, detective.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• IMDb: 9, 0.

America, 1950s. A slum boy is accused of killing his own father. The teenager faces the death penalty in the electric chair - the fate of the guy is in the hands of 12 jurors. It seems to most of them that everything is obvious, but during the voting in the deliberation room, it is revealed that not everyone is unanimous in their decision.

Sidney Lumet's directorial debut won the hearts of viewers of different generations with a magnificent detective intrigue and a wonderful acting. Moreover, even the story of the playwright Reginald Rose itself, no matter what time or country it is transferred, does not lose its relevance. Nikita Mikhalkov, for example, rethought Lumet in a very peculiar way and shot a remake of "12", where the action takes place in the realities of modern Russia.

Alas, the picture was not immediately appreciated. The film grossed a modest box office, and out of three Oscar nominations, it did not get a single victory - the military drama "The Bridge over the River Kwai" drew all the attention.

4. Psycho

• USA, 1960.
• Thriller, horror, detective.
• Duration: 109 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 5.

Marion Crane steals money at work and secretly leaves his hometown. On the way, she stops at a motel run by an outgoing young man named Norman Bates. But behind his affability hides a dark secret, and the girl will soon have to regret her choice.

One of the most frightening works of the horror king Alfred Hitchcock claimed four gold statuettes at once, but was left without a prize. The film academy in general often ignored Hitchcock's works, and he never received an Oscar for directing. Only in 1967, the genius's merits were noted with a gold statuette, but not for any particular film, but in general for his contribution to cinema.

5. Taxi driver

• USA, 1976.
• Drama, thriller, neo-noir.
• Duration: 114 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

Vietnam War veteran Travis Bickle suffers from chronic insomnia and therefore works as a night taxi driver. He has a hard time adjusting to a normal life and gradually turns into an angry loner. At some point, the hero buys a gun to cleanse the world of violence, and finally goes crazy.

Director Martin Scorsese managed to convey the all-consuming loneliness of the protagonist, thrown to the sidelines of life. Of course, this is largely also the merit of Robert De Niro, who played the main role. All this, however, did not prevent the film from flying past four nominations, losing to the boxing drama "Rocky" with Sylvester Stallone.

Perhaps the point was that Scorsese's painting was taken as a slap in the face. After all, the authors were not afraid to show all the pain of a generation that went through the Vietnam War, and to point out to the American society its problems.

6. Once upon a time in America

• USA, Italy, 1983.
• Drama, crime.
• Duration: 229 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 4.

The story of friendship and betrayal of a group of gangsters. Natives of the Jewish quarter of New York met as children during the Great Depression and together they go from small bootleggers to criminal tycoons.

Sergio Leone's painting has become a cult film among moviegoers and, along with the Godfather trilogy, is considered the standard of gangster cinema. This is the rare case when a truly great film not only did not receive nominations for the main film award, but in general flew past the Oscars.

It's all about the shortsightedness of the producers. The studio decided that US viewers would not watch the original 229-minute version, so the tape was cut in the US box office. Moreover, the film was re-edited in chronological order, apparently to make it easier to understand the non-linear plot.

This barbaric approach affected the fate of the film rolling. In Europe, the audience applauded Leone, but in the USA the tape (or rather, what was left of it) was defeated by critics, and "Once Upon a Time in America" was quickly removed from cinemas. Of course, an Oscar nomination was out of the question.

In addition, soundtrack author Ennio Morricone also dropped out of the Oscar race. He was disqualified for a very offensive reason - the composer's name was not in the opening credits to the film.

7. Nice Guys

• USA, 1990.
• Drama, crime, biography.
• Duration: 140 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 7.

Young guy Henry Hill dreamed of becoming a gangster since childhood. At first, he worked as an errand for one of the local gangsters, after which fate brought him together with like-minded people - Jimmy Conway and Tommy De Vito. Together, the heroes go through fire and water, but the time comes when Henry has to confront his former accomplices.

Another picture with which Martin Scorsese was unlucky at the Oscars. It became a hit with the audience and is now considered the most important milestone in the history of gangster cinema. In the struggle for the main prize, the film lost to "Dancing with Wolves", and Scorsese received an Oscar 16 years later for the drama "The Departed".

8. The Shawshank Redemption

• USA, 1994.
• Drama.
• Duration: 142 minutes.
• IMDb: 9, 3.

Accountant Andy Dufrein is accused of murdering his wife and her lover. Now he has to face all the horrors that are happening in a prison called Shawshank. However, the hero does not lose hope of breaking free.

Movie fans are still arguing over who was more Oscar worthy in 1995: Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, or Frank Darabont's The Green Mile, based on the Stephen King novel. Such competition overshadowed even "The Shawshank Redemption" - the picture as a result did not take any awards, but it still firmly holds the first places in various viewers' ratings.

9. Save Private Ryan

• USA, 1998.
• Drama.
• Duration: 169 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 6.

Three brothers from the Ryan family died at once on the fields of World War II. In order to somehow alleviate the mother's grief, Commander-in-Chief George Marshall gives the order to find her fourth son and demobilize him. Captain John Miller is sent on this almost suicidal mission with a squad of eight.

Steven Spielberg's heartbreaking film eloquently told the horror of the war on screen, but at a ceremony in 1999, Shakespeare in Love unexpectedly took the main award away. According to rumors, this film was not even going to be nominated at first. Everything was decided by a lot of money, which producer Harvey Weinstein spent on promoting his picture.

Spielberg lost in this production war, although he also invested heavily in the promotion of Private Ryan. However, in consolation, the film still got as many as five Oscars, including a prize for directing.

10. Green mile

• USA, 1999.
• Drama, crime.
• Duration: 189 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 6.

Overseer Paul Edgecomb works in a prison where death row is held. One day a dark-skinned man of enormous stature named John Coffey is brought to them. He is accused of rape and murder of two girls. The giant's behavior betrays him a childishly naive person, incapable of crime.

Soon, Coffey begins to work miracles: it turns out that the giant is able to heal living beings and even bring them back to life. Now Paul is sure that there is some mistake and John is not guilty, but the verdict has already been signed.

Another work of Darabont on the work of Stephen King, like "The Shawshank Redemption", undeservedly deprived of awards. The film is capable of hurting even the most callous viewers, and the image of John Coffey has become very recognizable and has been parodied more than once in popular culture.

Of the four nominations, the film did not get a single victory. Alas, the Green Mile was opposed that year by too strong competitors - American Beauty and The Sixth Sense.

11. Brokeback Mountain

• USA, 2005.
• Drama.
• Duration: 134 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

Two of the most ordinary American guys - the laconic Ennis and the emotional Jack - are hired to graze sheep on Brokeback Mountain. They spend a lot of time together and themselves do not notice how they fall in love. Having received the calculation, the heroes go home, marry girls, raise children - in a word, they try to forget about what happened. But feelings do not go anywhere, so cowboys do meet from time to time.

The Brokeback Mountain, awarded with the Golden Globe and BAFTA, was considered the favorite of the race, but it was unexpectedly bypassed by clearly not the most powerful picture of the Oscar clip - Paul Haggis's "Collision". This twist surprised everyone, including Jack Nicholson coming out to announce the winner (be sure to check out the reaction of actor Jack Nicholson present 78th academy awards best movie / Jacknicholsonfansclub1 / YouTube, which alone speaks volumes).

For many, the situation looked as if the Oscar academics were simply afraid to give the main award to a film on an ambiguous topic. Unsurprisingly, such a controversial decision provoked a heated debate in the film community.

12. La-La Land

• USA, Hong Kong, 2016.
• Musical, drama, melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 128 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

Aspiring actress Mia and talented jazz musician Sebastian meet in Hollywood. She dreams of acting in a real movie, he wants to open his own jazz club. But on the way to the desired heroes have to sacrifice something.

The ceremony "Oscar-2017" is very indicative in the sense that the opinion of spectators and critics does not always coincide. Fuel to the fire was also added by the fact that a terribly ugly incident took place in the finale. Due to a miscalculation of the organizers in the hands of the actor Warren Beatty, who announced the best film, was the wrong envelope.

As a result, they managed to summon and award the La-La Landa team to the stage, and the news of their victory was immediately published by all the publications that followed the ceremony. However, very soon the Oscar had to be given to its rightful owners. The statuette went to "Moonlight" by Barry Jenkins, a modest drama about an Afro-Cuban homosexual man who trafficked in drugs.

Later, the film academy apologized for the confusion with the envelopes, but this embarrassment was then discussed for a long time on social networks. In addition, many were disappointed that the Oscar went to an art house drama, which was praised mainly by professional critics. The touching and understandable "La La Land" was much closer to ordinary viewers.