I’ve seen three of the Art Direction nominees: Dark Knight, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Revolutionary Road. I’m sure that Changeling and The Duchess are both very pretty, though.
I’ve also seen three in Cinematography: Dark Knight, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Slumdog Millionaire. And honestly, Changeling and The Reader seem out of place in this category.
So, because I’m short on time and squishing Achievement in Art Direction together with Achievement in Cinematography, let me be really clear about making a sharp distinction between cinematography and art direction. The last time I took on the Oscars, I defined art direction as the extent to which the world of the film engulfs the viewer and becomes an essential character in the filmic narrative. Conversely, I’d say cinematography is about capturing that, about how “pretty” the movie is: the representation of the thing versus the thing itself. Last year’s winners break it down neatly: Sweeney Todd, with its lush and gorgeous set dressings and truly distinctive, tangible atmospherics, won for Art Direction. There Will be Blood‘s sweeping shots, gritty fantasticism, and bleak desaturated palette won for Cinematography.
Here’s what I think will happen with Art Direction this year: The Duchess is nominated for Costume Design as well, where there’s basically no competition. Angelina Jolie is not winning an Oscar this year, and Changeling could far more plausibly win in this category than in cinematography or costuming. Button and Dark Knight are also up for cinematography. By the scenery-as-character standard of Art Direction, Button is woefully subpar. Dark Knight is far stronger in Visual Effects. And—bad news for The Duchess—20th century historical films tend to do really well in this category: The Aviator, Memoirs of a Geisha, Chicago, Titanic, The English Patient, Schindler’s List, Bugsy, Howard’s End, et alia. So I think it’s really between Revolutionary Road and Changeling. And as much as I loved Revolutionary Road, and full knowing that this is the only award it has any real chance of snagging, I think it’s going to Changeling.
Also, I’m doling out the first of Slumdog Millionaire‘s Oscars in Cinematography. While much of the competition was very visually arresting (particularly Dark Knight and Button), Slumdog‘s lighting, camera tricks, angles, zooms, swoops, vertiginous use of color and shadows and angles clinch the category for me.
