As is always the case (so far), the nominees for Directing are mostly men, with Justine Triest’s nomination for Anatomy of a Fall making her the seventh woman to be nominated in this category. Alongside Jonathan Glazer for The Zone of Interest, the low-key style of these films is certainly impressive but perhaps not enough to impress the voters sufficiently. Yorgos Lanthimos is the most outlandish of the directors nominated, and his delivery of Poor Things shows a truly singular vision that does not care what others think. Maybe this will put voters off, such as if it comes across as too showy and being odd for the sake of being odd, but it would be lovely to see such oddness being rewarded. Still, a nomination is still a form of recognition. Martin Scorsese is the only previous winner out of the nominees and has been nominated multiple times. He could possibly win again for Killers of the Flower Moon, but after the BAFTA and Directors Guild of America wins, it seems a pretty safe bet that a certain Mr Nolan has this in the bag.
Nolan is demonstrably a titan of modern Hollywood, having produced a series of blockbusters that bring in the money while also receiving critical acclaim. It might surprise readers to know that Oppenheimer is only his second nomination for Directing, his first being Dunkirk, though he was also nominated for writing and as producer for Inception’s Best Picture nomination as well as co-writer on Memento. Directorially, Oppenheimer could be described as all over the place yet precisely disciplined, a controlled explosion where the continuous cutting between ‘Fission’ and ‘Fusion’ demonstrates a fluid and active development of the cinematic form. While the subject matter of Oppenheimer may seem standard and even conservative – lots of white men arguing – the adventurousness of Nolan’s direction is very likely to earn him an Oscar.
Vincent's Views 