Chapter 1158 1158 The Golden Mean
The 67th Academy Awards have come to an end, but the controversy surrounding the feast has only just begun.
In this war without gunpowder smoke, "Forrest Gump" had the last laugh, including five golden figures, becoming the biggest winner tonight; "Pulp Fiction" fought to the end and finally won the best editing and the best original script The award was affirmed accordingly and made history; and "The Shawshank Redemption", which came from behind in the nomination stage, fell short and returned empty-handed.
In addition, "The Lion King", "Life and Death" and "Wood-Ed" all won two golden statues, tied with "Pulp Fiction".
Compared with the news of Tom Hanks being the best actor again, "Forrest Gump" defeated "Pulp Fiction" and "The Shawshank Redemption" and finally became the king, which became the biggest topic of the 67th Academy Awards. The second day of the ceremony sparked a lively discussion in all the media, and it continued to spark a lasting debate for the next two decades.
It is generally believed that these three works are close in strength, and the victory and defeat of each other are very normal. It is too strange and abnormal to achieve a complete victory by one work like this. Because these three works, no matter who they are, have not shown absolute dominance. This year is not like last year's "Schindler's List" thriving. The three works are almost the same in strength in every award, and every victory or defeat is difficult. Expected, let alone a work completed sweeping it?
This kind of doubt has also become the biggest hot topic of discussion after the awards ceremony.
But in fact, people have overlooked one point. Although the Oscar is authoritative, it is an award selected by an independent institution, which means that the Oscar has institutional attributes and is determined by the taste, orientation and hobby of the institution. . This institution is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This is also the most important point.
If you look back at the forty-eighth Oscar, you will find that the fierce competition of that year was also swept away by "Flying Over the Cuckoo's Nest". This work won the best picture, best director, Five heavyweight awards including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, the only heavyweight award that I regret to miss, the Best Editing, was cut off by "Jaws".
This is Oscar. The taste of the academy always ends. After their orientation makes a judgment and decision, the trend of the awards will naturally be inclined and preferred. "Forrest Gump" conforms to the preferences of the academy and won the hearts of the judges, so it achieved a complete victory. , just like "Flying Over the Cuckoo's Nest" back then.
Just as the social aesthetic orientation reflected by the movie box office data, after "Forrest Gump" received good praise, it was enthusiastically sought after by the audience. "Pulp Fiction" is hailed as a rare classic that changed the times and changed history, public opinion rushed to the peak, and the U.S. box office has repeatedly created miracles, winning 172 million US dollars at the box office, but it is far from "Ah". There is still a huge gap that is difficult to reverse.
And "The Shawshank Redemption", which was far behind at the box office stage, was already far behind the two competitors in terms of influence and far-reaching impact at the starting stage, with only 28 million North American box office, even if word of mouth No matter how good it is, the influence is still too much worse after all.
Although there is no direct connection between the Oscars and the North American box office, after all, many commercial popcorn movies can achieve super high box office, but the artistic value cannot stand in-depth discussion; but "Forrest Gump" and "Pulp Fiction" have profound artistic value. At the same time, works with market potential are often able to win big at the Oscars.
In other words, taking a step back, even if the artistic value of "The Shawshank Redemption" really thriving, but in the face of "Forrest Gump" and "Pulp Fiction" that perfectly combine art and business, its defeat is impossible after all. Avoided. Because how to achieve the elegant combination of business and art, this is the ultimate goal of the film industry tirelessly pursued.
At the same time, the pattern reflected by the box office is also the situation of "Pulp Fiction" and "Forrest Gump". The "Pulp Fiction" is slanted and full of personality. Even though it has set off a frenzy in the whole society, it is still not enough to sing the main theme. "Forrest Gump".
Therefore, "Pulp Fiction" won the best original script with absolute strength, and then grabbed the best editing award from "Forrest Gump", showing the firm determination and fierce impact of changing the dynasty, but also It is limited to this, because this is already the best affirmation of this non-mainstream work by the mainstream society - and it is also an affirmation of the limit.
Quentin's defeat in the directing department can be regarded as an unpopular one. Among the five director nominees, Quentin is the most worthy of praise from a purely academic point of view. But unfortunately, he is an outsider, a spoiler, and a rebel, and with his loss to the academy mainstream representative Robert Zemeckis, the road to "pulp fiction" rebellion has come to an end. And Hugo's failure to break through in the competition for the best actor is the last signal, and it will also extinguish the last glimmer of hope.
However, compared to the failure of "Pulp Fiction", people seem to remember the "Shawshank Redemption" empty-handed more. This work, like "Citizen Kane", is a classic forgotten by the Oscars, and countless people have complained about this work.
This is really ironic.
Objectively speaking, "The Shawshank Redemption" is at most works on the same level as "Forrest Gump" and "Pulp Fiction", and if you really want to compare the overall completion and historical status of the works, the three rankings should be "Pulp Fiction". Novels", "Forrest Gump", "The Shawshank Redemption". What really makes people embarrassed should be the failure of "Pulp Fiction". Quentin made an unprecedented "Pulp Fiction", but it was abandoned by the conservative and traditional academy judges because of its bold and alternative style.
"Forrest Gump" is the work most in line with Oscar's aesthetics, with biographies, light weights, positive thoughts, grand layouts, and inspiring people. Although this work is quite satisfactory, its directing skills are not comparable to "Pulp Fiction", and its core idea is not comparable to that of "The Shawshank Redemption", but its overall strength ranks among the best.
So, even if history repeats itself, even if "Pulp Fiction" can grab the best editing award, it's "Forrest Gump" that wins in the end.
The reason why "The Shawshank Redemption" is hailed as a masterpiece by people is that, on the one hand, the film conveys inspirational thoughts, and the yearning for freedom and persistence in dreams make the film exude infinite charm; on the other hand, it is because the film The ups and downs of the story: from being ignored by countless people and being unknown, to reversing and becoming an Oscar nominee at the last moment, and finally returning to nothing, the regrettable beauty brought by this imperfect ending makes people over-exaggerate the wonderful work degree.
As a result, twenty years later, "The Shawshank Redemption" defeated "The Godfather", an absolute classic, and held the top spot on the IMDB 250 list for ten years.
However, relatively speaking, the overall structure of "The Shawshank Redemption" is not as atmospheric as "Forrest Gump", and the narrative is exquisite and not as good as "Pulp Fiction"; most importantly, although the ideological spirit is positive, the United States was in the recovery after the economic crisis. Relatively speaking, "Forrest Gump" is the optimistic factor that society needs, and "Pulp Fiction" is the innovation that Oscar needs to encourage. It is not surprising that "The Shawshank Redemption" failed.
This is indeed a very ironic fact, which makes people laugh and cry.
Because those fans who pursued "The Shawshank Redemption", on the one hand, questioned Oscar and disdained Oscar; but on the other hand, they were angry because Oscar did not give "The Shawshank Redemption". This self-contradictory approach is undoubtedly blind. .
"Pulp Fiction" misses the Oscar, which is a historical necessity, because independent films have not yet ushered in the best time to break through, and Quentin's maverick is too avant-garde for the 1995 Oscar; "The Shawshank Redemption" Missing the Oscars is inevitable for the Academy's aesthetics, because the Academy's style orientation has always been fond of "Forrest Gump"-style adult fairy tales.
If you doubt this result, it is not necessary. Because first of all "Forrest Gump" is an excellent work, secondly, it is a work that conforms to the Oscar orientation, and thirdly, this is a "game" belonging to the academy, and the rules of the game are formulated by them.
Questioning the victory of "Forrest Gump" is actually questioning the Oscar itself - even disdain Oscar, so why should "The Shawshank Redemption" rely on a golden statue that everyone disdains to prove itself? In this way, "The Shawshank Redemption" missed the Oscars for granted, so why regret it?
The so-called golden mean has been perfectly played in "Forrest Gump", and he was unwilling to break through and choose the Oscar of "Pulp Fiction", and at the same time he was unwilling to be conservative and choose the Oscar of "The Shawshank Redemption", and finally chose the Oscar. "Forrest Gump".
However, "Pulp Fiction" can still raise their heads proudly, because in the confrontation with conservative, disciplined, and academic academy judges, they have opened up a new world under the circumstances of the right time and place, which is even better than last year. The history-making achievements of "A Farewell to the Piano" are even more grand and difficult; in the confrontation with the masterpiece "Forrest Gump", which is a masterpiece of aesthetic representatives of the academy, they won the best editing award in their arms.
This is the biggest victory!
"Pulp Fiction" and "Forrest Gump" presented a great duel, and "Pulp Fiction" persisted until the last moment, which also made "Forrest Gump" always tremble and continued the suspense to the end. But unfortunately, "Forrest Gump" still had the last laugh and shot the final prey.
Perhaps, history should give "The Shawshank Redemption" a proof, which is indeed a masterpiece, but not a masterpiece; perhaps, history should also give "Pulp Fiction" a proof, which is indeed a masterpiece and a classic .
Fortunately, Hugo's Butterfly Wings awarded Pulp Fiction a Best Original Screenplay and a Best Editing Award.
Maybe "Forrest Gump" won the 67th Oscar, but the Oscar statuette is only a part of the film industry, and history will eventually give "Forrest Gump", "Pulp Fiction", "The Shawshank Redemption" three the status it deserves.