2018 Road to the Oscars: Actor in a Leading Role

2018 Road to the Oscars

Actor in a Leading Role

Timothée Chalamet v. Gary Oldman

Call Me by Your Name              Darkest Hour

It has been a fantastic year for movies. Blockbuster fans have had their fill, from summer box office smash Wonder Woman to the latest installment in the Star Wars franchise. Independent film has had an especially notable year, with Lady Bird and The Florida Project maintaining strong critical acclaim heading into awards season. Even Get Out, which came out way back in February 2017, has a real shot at collecting more nominations. The Independent Spirit Award nominations are out, but we will have to wait until January 23rd for the big list: the 90th Academy Award nominations. As we await this season's picks, let's look ahead to the race for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role.

[Note: In the past, I tried to keep posts spoiler-free in order to foster a safe environment for moviegoers to get a preview of films to watch out for. It has become apparent that the only way for me to properly dissect films and related topics is to be willing to dive deeper and include pivotal plot points when investigating actors' choices, filmmaking techniques, et cetera. For safe, spoiler-free reading, feel free to go back to any post prior to 12.26.17. The few posts that have spoilers contain clear warnings before anything is ruined. For more thought-provoking, investigative reads, see all posts written on 12.26.17 and beyond.]

While five men will be chosen for this honor, two future nominees seem to be where the competition lies. In Call Me by Your Name, Timothée Chalamet plays seventeen-year-old Elio, coming into his own in 1983 Northern Italy. When Oliver (Armie Hammer), a grad student, arrives for the summer, Elio expands his sexual horizons. With Darkest Hour, Gary Oldman adds himself to a long list of actors who have given Winston Churchill a whirl. The film begins just before Churchill comes into power, chronicling the early days of his first term as Prime Minister of the U.K.

The storytelling style of each film makes our reception of Elio and Churchill inherently different. Call Me by Your Name is told from Elio's point of view, just like its source material. We follow Elio around for all the mundane moments in his day. These are the scenes in which Chalamet shines. In one particular scene, he lies down on his bed, tingling with summer boredom and restlessness. He buries himself in the sheets, then retreats. The moment develops organically as Elio struggles to find an outlet for his conflicting feelings. Chalamet makes scenes that sound dry on paper thoroughly captivating. His performance is transparent and honest. There appears to be no separation between actor and character: a masterful illusion.

Churchill's story, on the other hand, is told with more omniscience. The film starts with Parliament discussing potential replacements for Prime Minister, so we do not even meet Churchill right away. Luckily this does not end up hurting the development of the audience's relationship with the character. It is actually the cinematography and editing choices that create a bit of a disconnect. Bruno Delbonnel is a very skilled cinematographer, and that should not be discounted. He did Amélie and has been trusted by such auteurs as Tim Burton and the Coen brothers. And there are some smartly-photographed and wonderfully-lit scenes in Darkest Hour. Nevertheless, different choices could have been made by director Joe Wright to further showcase Churchill, the whole reason the film exists at all. There are a few moments in which we cut to wide shots when it might have been more powerful to stay close-up and focus on the performances. Similarly, we cut away from Churchill's final speech of the movie far too many times. I was surprised to discover that it was the last scene of the movie, Oldman's last chance to wow us and leave a lasting impression of Churchill. Instead, we cut away to see the boring reactions of the subpar supporting actors. It is a wonder Oldman delivers as memorable a performance as he does with his lackluster scene partners. In particular, Lily James gives a bland, cookie-cutter performance as his typist, a woman who shares much of his screen time. Despite some weak directorial choices, Oldman is given a grand moment to shine. Churchill decides to ride the subway for the first time to get a sense of what his constituents want. In the subway car, the physical constraint of the space serves the scene well. The cinematography features point-of-view shots to convey the townspeople's surprise. In this intimate setting, and heartfelt, fish-out-of-water scenario, Oldman delivers in the most successful scene of the film.

Back in Northern Italy, the onscreen chemistry is palpable. Elio's complex relationship with Oliver is just the start of it. Chalamet appears to effortlessly fill in the seventeen-year-old relationship with his onscreen parents, as well as a long-winded, casual relationship with Marzia, a local girl. These strong scene partners help to elevate Chalamet's performance. Unlike Churchill, we get to be there with Elio for impressionable moments in his adolescence. Some of these moments are perhaps a bit more universally-relatable than being Prime Minister of a sovereign nation. I do not mean to imply that Elio's actor was destined to be superior to Churchill's, but that our reception of the characters affects how we connect with the actors' portrayals. That is not to say that Oldman's Churchill is heavily guarded or formidable. In fact, we spend a significant amount of time at home with him in his robe, or even less clothed. However, as is the case with many historical movies, we lose time with him to the overarching plot. In Call Me by Your Name, we have the luxury of time and focus on the characters.

In dissecting these men's performances, we cannot push aside how the filmmakers showcased them. We receive a different experience witnessing Elio's slow-and-steady coming-of-age amidst beautiful, Italian landscapes, than we do watching Churchill's time-sensitive political moves transpire in dark interiors. Film is such an emotional medium, and at the end of the day, I feel more watching Chalamet take on Elio than I do with Oldman's Churchill. With that said, I will be thrilled to see both actors win nominations for their committed portrayals.

JP