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The Oscar is the most valuable award in the world of cinema and everyone who is somehow connected with it dreams of receiving it. Most often, the statuette is received by the really best in the past year, however, film academics sometimes make mistakes, making strange decisions and awarding victory not to those who really deserve it.
Today we have collected 10 films that at different times received an award, while other, often more deserving films were left with nothing.
Immediately make a reservation: there are no frankly bad films here. All of them are good in their own way, but their competitors were better, although they went unnoticed.
10 Chauffeur Miss Daisy | 1989
This story about a black driver (Morgan Freeman) working for an elderly Jewish woman (Jessica Tendy) won 4 statuettes: best film, best actress, make-up and adapted screenplay.
In practice, this is a rather boring picture, consisting almost entirely of undeveloped dialogues that even such talented actors are not able to revive.
To be fair, there were no really strong contenders that year, but even “Born on the Fourth of July” or “My Left Foot” were at least as good.
9. 12 years of slavery | 2014
A classic example of the cowardice of film academics, who were simply afraid to ignore the drama about a free black man who is kidnapped and sold into slavery.
It’s a beautiful and uplifting story, but its problem is that it’s banal. There is not a single unexpected twist or anything out of the ordinary: there are hundreds of similar stories in Hollywood.
The Wolf of Wall Street, which was daring and standout, was far more worthy, as was Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks or Dallas Buyers Club. Unfortunately, due to excessive tolerance, they were left out of work.
8. The king speaks! | 2010
The king of England, suffering from speech defects – is not a story worthy of an Oscar? This is probably what those who voted for this film thought, if they thought at all. Is this movie famous? Not really. Has it become a cult? Absolutely not.
But “The Beginning” by Christopher Nolan is still being discussed and will be discussed for more than one year. Directing, acting, plot twists and suspense – all this is a cut above in Inception, but the jury decided otherwise.
7. Dances with Wolves | 1990
“Dances with Wolves” by Kevin Costner grabbed as many as 1991 statuettes in 7, and was nominated for 12 at all. Is it deserved? The award for the “best film” definitely went to him for no reason.
Sterile to the teeth, the story of white conquerors with a predictable ending is no match for what Martin Scorsese showed in his film Goodfellas. This picture has become the standard of the crime drama, which directors are still guided by, while few people dare to revise The Dancer now, especially given its wild timing.
Separate indignation can be expressed about the fact that Costner became the best director that year, and Scorsese was “rolled” even here.
6. Deer hunter | 1978
The highly overrated director of this creation, Michael Cimino, also received an award for his work, but this is a dubious reason for pride: his victory is still considered one of the most undeserved.
The drama about the Vietnam War, lasting 3 hours, is not a spectacle for the faint of heart, and it’s not about the horrors of war, but about the banal boredom that the film evokes.
Heaven Can Wait by Warren Beatty or Alan Parker’s Midnight Express looked much fresher and more original.
5. Chicago | 2002
Musicals are a rather specific product, so their victory at film awards almost always causes a lot of controversy. If Damien Chazelle’s recent “La La Land” really deserved an Oscar, then “Chicago” in 2002 certainly didn’t. That year, Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York and Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers were released, which made far more contributions to cinema than any musical.
The Pianist by Roman Polanski, by the way, was also released in the same year, but at least the director and lead actor, Adrien Brody, was awarded there.
4. Gandhi | 1982
In 1983, at the Oscars, the film Gandhi, directed by Richard Attenborough, was a real triumph, taking 9 statuettes in 11 nominations. The film itself and the lead actor Ben Kingsley, as well as the script, direction, editing, camera work, etc. were recognized as the best.
The picture outperformed Tootsie, which received only 1 award in 10 nominations (Jessica Lange was recognized as the best supporting actress), “Alien” and “Missing”.
The biopic even entered the top 100 best films according to the British Film Institute, although why he received such honors is not entirely clear.
3. Collision | 2004
Paul Haggis’s drama, with a budget of 6.5 million dollars, grossed almost 100 million at the box office, but this was not enough for her, and she also took 3 Oscars, including the main one for best film.
The main contender was the film “Brokeback Mountain” by Ang Lee, which, despite all its scandalous inconsistency, was shot perfectly, and raised quite sharp questions. But, film academics know better, as they say.
2. Shakespeare in love | 1998
Tragicomedy John Madden about the romantic hobbies of young William Shakespeare collected a decent box office, but did not win much sympathy from the audience. According to the classics of the genre, films that were not appreciated by the viewer were “deservedly” appreciated at the awards, presenting her with the main prize.
In the same year, two excellent military dramas were nominated for the statuette at once – “Saving Private Ryan” and “The Thin Red Line”, which became role models, while “Shakespeare in Love” became only a controversial winner and nothing more.
1. Stormlord | 2008
That year was rich in good premieres, which, no doubt, include the drama The Hurt Locker, which tells about the hard life of American sappers in Iraq.
We included the film on this list for one simple reason: it competed with James Cameron’s Avatar, as well as District 9, The Blind Side and Up. Against their background, the history of American peacekeepers no longer seems so amazing, does it?